Known in Senate circles as the Senator who must have her way – even if it means a few tears in the leader’s office – Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) is the queen of wanting to have it both ways. She wants to run for Governor of Texas without giving up her Senate seat. She wanted to move up Senate leadership without taking a risk to run. She wants to be the “conservative” in the primary, and the candidate with “broad appeal” in the general election. She wants to be pro-choice and pro-life. This leaves one scratching his head a bit.
Everyone knows that Senator Hutchison is running for Governor of Texas – and challenging sitting Republican Governor Rick Perry in the process. But no one knows whether Senator Hutchison will actually step down from her Senate seat if she loses to Governor Perry.
Oh sure, she claims she will step down after the primary regardless of the result. But no one in Texas politics is willing to bet on it – and for good reason. Earlier this year, she was adamant that she would step down in the fall of 2009 to run for Governor, only to decide she needed to stick around to “fight Obamacare” and otherwise represent Texas.
Of course, that may be a difficult schedule to maintain, as was evident in this WFAA news story regarding her back-and-forth travel and somewhat unsuccessful efforts at taking on both just now, as well as a missed vote against a terrible Obama judicial nominee in November.
The Senior Senator from Texas has never been one to give up something she holds in order to get something she wants. Back in 2007, when she was the #4 Senate Republican, and the #2 Senator Lott retired, she could have moved up the chain – but didn’t want to give up her guaranteed spot to run for the #3 spot. That’s not “how she rolls,” as they say.
This, of course, leaves Republican candidates set up like a bunch of dominos sitting on their edge, holding their breath… and risks, should she lose and not step down, leaving great candidates like Michael Williams and Ted Cruz on the outside looking in. Is that good for Texas? Is that good for the Republican Party? Or, should the question really be, “is it good for Kay?”
She also likes claiming to be “the conservative” in the race, while also noting she is the candidate with “broad appeal” for the general election. Wayne Slater, with the Dallas Morning News, wrote a piece earlier this week entitled “Two Sides of Senator Hutchison As She Files to Run for Governor.” In it, Slater observed the following:
“Primary Kay and General Election Kay. Like hyperkinetic twins, they tended to talk over each other. Primary Kay is very conservative… General Election Kay promises to expand the party — save it, she says — by appealing to the broad Texas electorate in November.”
Of course, all of this has an effect. In a recent NY Times article, after she clarified her vision for Republicans by saying about her race against Perry, “[i]f we don’t see the losses in the House and Senate as meaning that we need to retool our party and our message and our governing strategy, then we’re going to keep losing,” she made the following interesting point: “Hutchison, for her part, acknowledges that her popularity is somewhat ephemeral. ‘When it comes to specifics, I haven’t had one thing that resonates with a whole focus group,’ she told me…”
Uh-huh.
Steve Maley
KnightsofMalta
Dan Spencer
Moe Lane
Dan McLaughlin
I don't believe for a second that Hutchison is actually going to step down after the primary.
Third Street (Diary) Friday, December 11th at 4:51PM EST (link)And I don’t think Bill White does, either, seeing as he’s recently switched over to the governor’s race.
“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.” –Wilkins Micawber, “David Copperfield”
Texas Kay vs. Washington Kay
izoneguy (Diary) Friday, December 11th at 4:55PM EST (link)The point cannot be made often enough: Modern liberalism, as embodied in the Obama presidency, is the defender of the status quo. And the status quo is a road to economic ruin. Political forces cannot redistribute the wealth that the economic system does not produce.
I live in Texas
irishgirl Friday, December 11th at 5:34PM EST (link)and this woman has been in Washington too long and needs to retire. Period. Her running for governor because Perry’s “been there too long” is laughable. I hope she gets spanked in the primaries here in Texas. Then retires. We’ll see.
yeah, Im with you Irishgirl
kyle8 (Diary) Friday, December 11th at 6:33PM EST (link)I never much liked governor Perfect Hair, but Kay has really been out of touch for a long time. Of course she is still better than 50% of the other senate Republicans, but I hate when they linger too long.
She has so far offered nothing new to the governors race. No position to differentiate herself from the boy scout.
“Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty”
Kyle
yes, call her and let her know if you get a chance.
skicougar (Diary) Friday, December 11th at 5:35PM EST (link)her lines get freed up since she’s not a blatant rino.
she’s trying to pull a mccain election financial crisis stunt and she’s going to come off looking just as bad unless obamacare is stopped.
meanwhile, she’s hurting the whole party. even Houston’s Limbaugh – dan patrick has been noting this publicly; because its true.
the only good news is at least the senate seat isnt in trouble no matter what GOPer it is, or white would have stayed in and tried to pull it out from under kay.
it is exactly officeholders like kay that the people are hesitant on coming back to the GOP.
WAY TO GO KAY !
Eat ‘em up Houston Cougars !
Radio stations here (Bryan/College Station) have been playing ads
tcgeol (Diary) Friday, December 11th at 5:40PM EST (link)of a KBK endorsement by Cheney. Has he really endorsed her and, if so, why? I can’t conceive of the reasoning for this.
Perry isn’t the greates governor and, before last year, most didn’t really consider him a conservative, but he shines compared to Hutchinson.
Just your typical bitter gun- and God-clinger
Even the Left admits we’re Right
In Austin her ad during Rush's show
burbmom (Diary) Friday, December 11th at 6:32PM EST (link)she talks about staying a senator at of risk her political career because feels it is that important to stop ObamaCare. Every time I heard the ad something about it just irritated me. I figured it out the other day. She was elected to go to DC to be our representative. Now, she claims by doing her job, it is a risk to career! Comes across as very selfish.
Michael Williams would be a true conservative voice from Texas. He could even show Cornyn a thing or two!
I have heard those here in Aggieland
TxCon (Diary) Monday, December 14th at 1:19PM EST (link)as well. In any event, I’m voting for Medina in the primary.
Another KBH video.
WILLisms (Diary) Friday, December 11th at 5:42PM EST (link)www.WILLisms.com
And another.
WILLisms (Diary) Friday, December 11th at 5:44PM EST (link)By the way, KBH skipped yet another vote today.
www.WILLisms.com
Legacy
houtxconservative (Diary) Friday, December 11th at 5:58PM EST (link)KBH will lose the primary here in Texas and she will never be forgiven for causing Perry to spend millions of unnecessary dollars in the primary.
Join other grassroots conservatives and take the 1776 Challenge @ www.1776challenge.com
KBH: Kween Bee Hutchinson
Swamp_Yankee (Diary) Friday, December 11th at 6:03PM EST (link)Fun with acronyms.
I received and email from Williams campaign saying....
JadedByPolitics (Diary) Friday, December 11th at 6:46PM EST (link)they don’t CARE what KBH does he is RUNNING! I say good for him and of course gave more money. He is the Conservative in the Senate race and he is the man to beat. KBH needs to go home and rest as she has been drinking the water in DC for too long and is obviously dehydrated in her soul!
Unified Patriots – How-To:
Activists Taking Action
meh....that should be "an"...its Friday :0...nt
JadedByPolitics (Diary) Friday, December 11th at 6:47PM EST (link)…
Unified Patriots – How-To:
Activists Taking Action
'Hold your nose' voting
ss396 Friday, December 11th at 7:45PM EST (link)Perry took it in 2006 with a plurality just south of 40%. And yet he is better than Hutchison. Ah, how I yearn for a time when:
(a) legislation is passed on its merits instead of its sponsorship; and,
(b) I can vote for something, instead of always having to vote against its antithesis.
I write to her pretty regularly. Has anyone ever gotten a response from her that wasn’t just a recital of the Republican Party talking points? I have not ever discerned an independent thought from her. She knows here catechism, but cannot explain it. She is a Republican, such as they are nowadays; she is even conservative.
But she is not a conservative. She will lose the gubernatorial primary; her Senate seat comes up in 2012. We have three more years before we can retire her.
If you pay someone to sit on his butt, you can’t be surprised when he does.
I don't think Perry is as bad as many here think...
AceInTX (Diary) Saturday, December 12th at 12:10PM EST (link)Texas has a better economy than any state in the country mainly because he held the line on spending and didn’t raise taxes in the 2000 recession…many didn’t like him because of that…now it’s paying dividends while the rest of the country is under water…I think he’ll beat Kay in a walk…she’ll refuse to resign leaving Williams with the choice of sitting around waiting for her to stop playing her fickle games….or primary her…
I hope he primaries her!
50% of all jobs being created ...
MathMom Friday, December 11th at 10:11PM EST (link)…are being created in Texas. When you’re in serious economic times, and your governor goes to San Francisco and brings home Medtronics, and people keep moving here because there are jobs here, it doesn’t seem to be the time to kick your governor out. Can’t quite figure out Dick Cheney supporting her in this effort, but I’ll forgive him., and vote for Perry anyway.
I’m glad KBH is my senator, as opposed to having up-Chuck Schumer or someone like that, but I just don’t think KBH would threaten to secede.
Every now and then you need someone who will get his back up like Perry did and make people think about getting a Texas passport. Makes you feel alive, y’know?
Sher has a history of saying she's going to run and then backing out at the last minute.
AceInTX (Diary) Saturday, December 12th at 11:50AM EST (link)I can tell you I did some pro bono work locating office space for a campaign office for a guy, (I don’t remember his name) who was planning on running for Henry Bomilla’s seat because Bonilla was expected to run for Kay’s seat after she said she was going to run for Governor against Perry last time around…Bonilla spent his money setting up to run for her seat and subsequently lost his reelection bid to the House. It was a close race and he lost as much for redistricting as much as anything…but I can’t help but think the drama Key played into several different campaigns didn’t have an effect.
This is the third time she’s made noise about running for governor. She’s actually running ads here which is more than she’s done in the past…We’ll she if she sticks this out all the way but someone in the party needs to tell her this time she needs to commit to running for Governor and step aside for Williams…because when push comes to shove…she’ll lose the primary…and keep her Senate seat wasting everyone’s time who has worked for Williams.
All in all…when this all comes out in the wash…and she decides to stay and run for reelection in 12 I think it is…I hope Williams decides to challange her