She's quitting. She's not quitting. She might be quitting. No, she wants the governor to be the quitter -- and quit thinking about re-election.
If Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is trying to keep the rival camp in Texas' gubernatorial primary -- and all of Washington -- guessing about how long she'll keep her current job, she's a success.
Over the course of just a few hours on Wednesday, she sent nothing but mixed signals.
First, she told a Texas radio interviewer that she intends to resign her seat in the Senate.
In Washington a short time later, Hutchison said she might stay in the Senate through next year's gubernatorial race and really didn't intend to indicate a change in her anticipated timetable.
"I did not realize this was going to be something that would be construed as different from what I've been saying," Hutchison told reporters. "I had said that I would be leaving probably some time toward the end of the year, late fall. And that's what I said in this interview."
Hutchison said her comments were meant to convey that she believed Gov. Rick Perry might -- and maybe should -- drop out of the race, given that it was "pretty unprecedented to have a governor trying to serve 15 years."
"I was trying to say that I stepped back once before," Hutchison said, referring to two occasions on which Hutchison has eyed and then backed away from challenging Perry.
Hutchison said that "nobody expected [Perry] to run for 15 years, and I think there's a chance that he wouldn't run because he would see how divisive it is and that he's trying to stay too long and that he can really help in many ways if he doesn't run, in which case I could then be able to stay in the Senate all the way to the end."
Hutchison said her preference would be "to stay all the way through the election but for it being very difficult with the governor continuing to run."
"I was really trying to say to him he could step back here, and he's really trying to hang on too long and maybe he'll rethink," she said.
In other words, she was nudging Perry to step out and clear the field for her.
Hutchison said she likely would formally announce her intention to run for governor over the August recess but that the announcement would not specify for sure her intentions about remaining in the Senate.
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Comments
Who the hell is Hutchison to say that Perry shouldn't run because it would be divisive? If he is still popular with rank and file GOP-leaning voters (Texas doesn't register voters by party) then they should be able to vote for him. If you don't like it, work to pass a term-limit law in the state.
What she should do is keep herself in the senate seat she was elected to until if and when she's elected governor. The GOP doesn't need another expensive special election to deal with. Think of your collegues for once instead of yourself.
Posted by: NObama
| July 29, 2009 10:50 PM
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