Kay Bailey Hutchison Got it Right the First Time: Perry's Cronyism

by: Matt Glazer

Wed Mar 31, 2010 at 01:19 PM CDT

Kay Bailey Hutchison may not make decisions the fastest way, and she may change her mind a lot, but she did get one thing right the first time:

Rick Perry cannot be trusted. If refusing to let him appoint her successor is the only way Hutchison can stop his cronyism, then so be it.

Remember Hutchison's ad "Fueled"? Watch it again here or below:

Kay Bailey Hutchison announced today that she will stay in the U.S. Senate and serve the remainder of her term through 2012. What is clear from her announcement is that she didn't want to let Rick Perry -- who she just spent months and months slamming for his croynism -- to appoint her successor.

Chris Cillizza, with the Washington Post, said it well earlier today:

If Hutchison did resign, Perry would have the ability to choose an interim successor who would then almost certainly have a leg up in the special election to serve out her remaining two years. The idea that the person who had just all-but-ended her political career would also be able to pick her replacement was an unsavory one that Hutchison almost certainly wanted to avoid.

Hutchison wanted to avoid it, to be sure, but I don't think it has as much to do with petty personal differences as conventional wisdom would immediately suggest.

Hutchison, throughout her campaign, slammed Rick Perry for his cronyism, and the fact that he can't be trusted. While politics makes strange bedfellows, Hutchison is not going to play nice with Perry now. In today's announcement, she didn't say a single thing about Rick Perry. She may make a campaign appearance or two with him in the fall, but that's it. She won't be traveling the state with him.

Why? Because Kay Bailey Hutchison knows, as well as anyone, that Rick Perry is a failure who can't be trusted.

The ad above is a perfect example. Hutchison was constantly reminding her supporters that Rick Perry makes selfish appointments that have more to do with politics than anything else. She knew that if she resigns, his appointed replacement won't necessarily be who is qualified -- it will be who best helps Perry, politically. And the thing is, the newspapers knew it, too. That's why Hutchison received all her endorsements.

Hutchison's announcement today shouldn't surprise anyone, but not because we always thought she'd stay in office. Today's announcement shouldn't surprise anyone because it was Hutchison doing what she did for months before: whatever she could to prevent another act of Perry cronyism.