| Junior John Cornyn has been pressuring Kay Bailey Hutchison to hold her seat in the Senate even if she decides to run for Governor.
According to the Star-Telegram, Hutchison is likely to take Cornyn's advice.
Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, is unlikely to leave the Senate this spring after coming under tremendous pressure from Senate Republican leaders not to resign to pursue a bid for governor - and give Democrats an opening for a powerful 60-vote majority.
"If I step down, it would be in late 2009, if at all," Hutchison said, as relayed by Todd Olsen, spokesman for her gubernatorial exploratory committee.
This announcement came just days before Evan Smith asked some questions about Kay Bailey Hutchison's real level of support.
Ever since Kay Bailey Hutchison semi-kicked-off her race for governor in Austin a couple of Saturdays ago, I've been hearing from people not connected with the Perry campaign that several of the folks on her now-famous list of supporters were not, in fact, committed to her campaign. One such uncommitted soul, former Austin mayor Roy Butler, approached me at a gala for UT's Blanton Museum on Saturday night and explained that he's been a donor to both Kay and Rick - has had fundraisers for both, in fact - and never intended to take sides in the primary. He couldn't believe his name was used, he said, without being asked first. A second Prominent Texan's place on the list was called into question that very same night by a close associate, who said PT was put in a terribly awkward spot by the Kay campaign - again, not asked in advance or even told in advance about the planned release of the list, and now certain that the Governor and his minions will call B.S. on sincere assertions of neutrality in the primary. I'm checking into the possibility that a third person on the list, a Houston establishment type, is likewise unhappy to have been identified as a Kay man when he is, in fact, playing it down the middle. This has been described to me as a slam-dunk certainty, but I want to be sure before I name him.
It is starting to look like Hutchison's support is weaker than we all originally assumed, and may be one of the main reasons Cornyn has been pushing KBH so hard to stay in the Senate. Losing the seat to Democrats would literally make the Senate Republicans irrelevant and thus John Cornyn.
Like I told FoxNews.com, we need bipartisanship and to be united in these troubled times, that isn't something John Cornyn is equipped to do. Kay Bailey's presence in the Senate empowers Cornyn to play political games and put partisanship ahead of people's needs.
That's why he is pushing Kay to stay in the Senate and run for Governor from Washington. Her presence means he doesn't have to work with Democrats and play the role of Republican attack dog. He can threaten to filibuster important legislation and hold up the president's nominations and hide behind is 41 vote caucus.
Seems like Kay Bailey Hutchison is empowering Cornyn to play these games.
Phil's editorial note: I was gonna add this as a comment, but decided to do it here instead: I think this is purely a story to mess with the White and Sharp campaigns. I think Republicans are banking on the idea that if Democrat donors think the race won't be until 2012, the donors will hold onto their funds and everyone (re: Texas Monthly) will say, "why did Sharp and White sit on the sidelines for three years?" I think it's purely an attempt to stall White and Sharp's fundraising, and I challenge Democrat donors not to bite on the see-through plan. |
