When will Sen. Hutchison resign to run for Governor?
* Never, & she loses to Perry - 63 votes (57.8%)
* Only after she defeats Perry - 30 votes (27.52%)
* December - 9 votes (8.26%)
* January - 4 votes (3.67%)
* October - 2 votes (1.83%)
* February - 1 votes (0.92%)
* November - 0 votes (0%)
Who do you support in the Houston Mayoral run-off? Vote here. Burnt Orange Report will reconsider the runoff field and issue an endorsement so we appreciate getting a quick read of where our readers stand.
Of course there is not a civil war brewing in the Republican Party. Someone just made it up. But a leading conservative has recently called the non-civil non-war an impending bloodbath.
After the havoc the Republican Party and its newly formed teabagger faction have wreaked on this country from Ronald Reagan to George H.W. Bush and culminating with the horror of George W. Bush and his neocon policies, a bloodbath sounds just fine by me. Indeed, one is long overdue.
According to yesterday's Houston Chronicle, the teabaggers in Texas are fed up and want to throw all of the bums out. In Texas, the bums happen to be Republicans.
Even Rick Perry is a target of this group because he apparently is not conservative enough.
While it's too early to determine if the Tea Party movement will prove to be a durable political force, its candidates could prove a costly and unwanted distraction for establishment Republicans who would rather be aiming their fire at Democrats. Case in point: the GOP race for governor, where Tea Party ally Debra Medina of Wharton has announced her candidacy for the Republican nomination against incumbent Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, whom she dismisses derisively as "get-along-style politicians."
Recently, Houstonians for Health released it's latest video providing viewers their opinion of what's wrong with the health care system in Houston. Houstonian's' for Health is an unknown group, that I still can't identify. The very detailed video shows how Dan Wolterman, CEO of the powerful Memorial Hermann Health System, tried to "dump" one of their hospitals on tax payers. What's scary about it is the reason that Dan gave for trying to get the Harris County Hospital District to bail him out.
When asked by the Houston Chronicle reporter, Wolterman said he wanted to get rid of it because there was a "demographic decline" in the area. According to the video, the area is 31% Hispanic, 23% African American, and 12% Asian. I'm not sure what Dan doesn't like about those demographics, but he better get comfortable with them given the changing face of Texas.
After seeing the video, I spent some time calling around to learn more about this ground and Wolterman. The information people were willing to give about Wolterman was interesting.
Apparently Wolterman is facing two civil law suits alleging antitrust violations, he threw his doctor's under the bus during the sale, he upset most of the Harris County officials to the point he was compared to a "car salesman," and then had a "political pep rally" with Kay Bailey Hutchison opposing health reform--upsetting local Democrats, probably, Rick Perry as well. With that many powerful enemies.
What's scary about Mr. Wolterman's statement is that it creates the perception, rightly or wrongly, that he would rather serve patients living in the suburbs who are rich/insured patients, rather than underserved patients in the inner city.
You may remember the the first video from Houstonian's for Health Care. You can see Wolterman, front in center, celebrating Kay Bailey Hutchison and pleading for her and her party to slow down the process in reforming health care. Now we see the latest video and understand why.
Texas can't stand for this kind of reckless attitude and "leadership." The problem in health care is less about the system, and more about greedy guys like this who run our institutions. Perhaps it is time to create a system that limits the negative influence of men like Wolterman
Last Friday, Michael wrote a good post on Senator Hutchison's decision to postpone her much-delayed anticipation of a future resignation from the Senate at some indeterminate time in the future, choosing instead to once again ensure she has the proper time to "reassess" the options that have been identical for the past decade.
I know when I make the decision to lead, I always try to make it in the least inspiring way possible. (Eye roll).
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison's commitment to continue to do nothing in Washington instead of doing nothing in Texas befits her non-legacy. As the senior Republican Senator from the largest Republican state in the country -- who enjoyed unprecedented power in Washington for eight years while a President from her state sat in the White House -- why does Hutchison think she can have any affect now? What is it she hopes to accomplish in Washington -- further her own legacy of ineffectiveness?
Kay Bailey Hutchison's latest decision to continue to do nothing in Washington only cements the fact that when Texans ask who the real KBH is, they are left scratching their heads -- because they don't know what she does or what she believes in any more than Kay does.
Hutchison's commitment to not commit stirred up a lot of flurry over the weekend. The Rick Perry talking point blog, Rick vs. Kay, captured lots of quotes from various Republican elected officials praising Kay for living up to her lifelong career of doing as little as possible. I've captured their quotes below, and added my own commentary following each statement:
Senator John Cornyn (R-TX): “I applaud Sen. Hutchison for once again putting Texas first and remaining in the Senate this year..."
Former Senator Phil Gramm: “It is the right thing for Texas and America. … Having worked with Kay, I am confident that she can both protect us in Washington and run successfully for governor.”
State Representative Dan Branch: She, like other professional women, can multitask as well as men or better,’ Branch said.
Me: Dan, thanks for deciding not to run for higher office. You would have been too sensible for a statewide Republican ticket.
Jason Embry also used the bulk of this morning's First Reading blog for the Austin American-Statesman to game out the various electoral calculus that is better defined (or better ill-defined) following Hutchison's declaration that she still wasn't going to do anything.
Ultimately, though, none of this matters. None of it. KBH could never win the Governor's primary, and even if she did -- how would she win the general election? She has almost no political instinct, and has not defined herself at all. To date, she has allowed Perry to define her completely.
Meanwhile, the Texas Democratic Party has done work of their own to define Hutchison -- or ill-define her, as the case may be. Below is their top ten list that answers the question, "Who is the Real KBH?" -- follow the links, and try to imagine how she could ever get elected for any office again:
With her recent announcement that a resignation will not come before the March primary, Kay Bailey Hutchison hopes to balance
successfully fending off healthcare reform by herself,
following that up by destroying the idea of a Cap and Trade Bill, and
topping it off with a win over Rick Perry in the the party that Rick Perry seems to control.
She has a lot on her plate, doesn't she? Well, she might, but that's obviously not challenging enough for someone like Kay Bailey Hutchison.
So. Time to make the task harder for the apparent star politician. How to challenge this GOP and Texas champion? I know! Work the weekends in the Senate!
Senator Harkin, give this ambitious student of politics her extra work:
The Iowa senator laid out an ambitious schedule for the final weeks before the end of the year. He said Democrats expect to hold the first big test vote by Friday on a motion to proceed to the bill. But no amendments will come up until Nov. 30, at the earliest. He said Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is committed to working through every weekend in December if that’s what it takes to pass the bill before lawmakers break for the Christmas holiday.
"We're going to be going long days — I've already talked to Leader Reid about this — long nights, weekends — constantly, from then until right before Christmas, when I think we'll have the votes, hopefully, to pass the bill," he said.
Weekends and long nights in the Senate, too? I'm sure you can pull it all off, Kay Bailey! You're great at time management, so I'm sure you'll still find your time to campaign for governor. You could probably beat Rick Perry and the Democrats' agenda with a hand tied behind your back and your eyes closed!
But that meanie Harkin guy really wants to test you now. So, Missy Hutchison, show us what you're made of!
Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, a Republican, refused to rule out a run in any potential special election race should Kay "Will she or Won't she" Hutchison eventually resign.
It took three times for Brad Watson and Gromer Jeffer's with WFAA's Inside Politics to pull an answer from Leppert that didn't have your stomach queasy from all the political spin:
Opportunities and obstacles come up and if they come up I will deal with them. I am very happy with what I'm doing right now. We are making great progress in the City of Dallas and I think people recognize that. If the opportunity comes up then I'll look at it.
Clearly Leppert is making some of the same calculated assumptions that Mayor Bill White is making. Leppert is a popular Republican mayor of a major metropolitan county that has trended heavily Democratic since 2006. Leppert recently muscled through a sweeping Ethics reform package in the wake of former councilman Don Hill's corruption trial--the same corruption charges that now engulf State Representative Terri Hodge.
Leppert has momentum, and certainly has potential, to shave off quite a few votes in his favor in the North Texas region where his name identification is high. In a special election race with very low turnout numbers that could be just enough to pull him into a runoff. It is the same calculations the White campaign is making: a popular mayor from a major metropolitan area that has trended blue in the last few election cycles. Shave off enough votes in favor of Mayor White in a low turnout special election and it should be enough to catapult him into a runoff.
But again, all of these calculations are based on whether or not Kay "Will she or Won't she" Hutchison eventually resign her senate seat and the answer, as she indicated on Friday, is she will not. Based on this past week's Rasmussen poll showing KBH down 11 points to Perry less than four months away from a GOP primary election is a terrible spot to be in. However, it is indicative of the terrible campaign she has run for governor as well.
It may be intriguing for Leppert to consider a special election run, and I do believe he is giving it very serious thought, but he is a smart enough politician to know that I'm staying right where I am. Hutchison is the most deceptive, stick my finger in the air to figure out which way the political winds are blowing, type politician that we've ever seen. Leppert will position himself to launch a campaign should the opportunity arise, but ultimately it will be for nothing because Hutchison won't resign.
The AP's Jay Root first reported that Kay Bailey Hutchison will not resign until after the March primary.
U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who is challenging Gov. Rick Perry in the Republican primary, plans to announce Saturday that she won't resign her Senate seat until after the March primaries are over.
Campaign officials provided The Associated Press a copy of her prepared speech to Republican women in Galveston on Saturday.
In it, Hutchison will say she is stepping down in 2010 regardless of who wins the Republican primary for govenor.
But she says there are too many important issues facing Congress for her to quit this fall as she had planned.
The senator says in the written speech that she "will be resigning this Senate seat" next year. "Make no mistake, this is going to happen," Hutchison plans to say.
Although this original report states that the announcement will come in Hutchison's speech tomorrow, the Texas Tribune reports that she already "began calling other Republicans Friday afternoon to tell them to make other plans."
This obviously changes the dynamics of the Gubernatorial race. It changes the way she will campaign, as it will be shrouded in a sort of cowardliness. There is also a very good chance it will push Bill White and/or John Sharp into the race for Governor, even if she plans on resigning no matter the outcome of the primary. I don't think her word on resignation can really be trusted anymore.
We will keep you updated as we get more info.
UPDATE: Both the Sharp camp and the White camp reiterate that they are still running for Senate.
John Sharp stated, "I said when I got into this process last December that I would be a candidate when the seat becomes available, whether that is in 2012 or anytime before then. I'm campaigning full time and will continue to."
White spokeswoman Katy Bacon gave me the blunt statement, "Bill is running for the U.S. Senate regardless of when this election takes place."
I prodded, and Katy insisted that yes, that even means 2012.
Also, according to the Statesman, Senator Hutchison will state in her speech that not only is she waiting for the Health Care fight to end but also for Cap and Trade to conclude.
UPDATE 2: Via an @TexasTribune tweet, we learn that a Hutchison campaign spokesperson said, "I never envision a situation where she would lose the GOP primary."
I responded by laughing, because this campaign surely has been quite jokey so far. If she does pull of a surprise to come back and beat Perry, though, she might face Hank Gilbert or Tom Schieffer.
Gilbert's website, The Scoop quickly had a comment on this news:
Naturally, Kay's Magic 8 Ball was predicting this (and many other things) weeks ago.
Hutchison wants to have it both ways. This will cause a lot of issues in the overall Republican field-and could create a lot more contested primaries up and down the ballot.
When asked, Tom Schieffer's campaign declined to comment.
UPDATE 3: For a direct quote from Hank Gilbert, here is his statement:
Anyone who says they are shocked by her announcement hasn't followed the lengthy trail of broken promises she's left in her wake, starting with her promise to serve only two terms. She is an unreliable and undependable public servant who dodges and weaves as it suits her political ambitions. Senator Hutchison has left her supporters and contributors holding the bag.
The American Spectator, one of the stalwart conservative publications in this country, gives us reason from the other side of the aisle to believe that Kay Bailey Hutchison would be an equally disappointing Governor in comparison to Rick Perry.
Just in case you still prefer Ms. Hutchison due to her "moderate" views, here is William Murchison (emphasis mine):
It all seems to me part and parcel of an argument going on around the country among Republicans: can we "play to the base" and succeed, or should we tweak a few things, rethink matters of policy and emphasis and tone? Kay says, to the latter question, you bet.
"I...want to build a Republican majority," the senator says. It's an unexceptionable objective from the Republican standpoint. So what policies get the job done? She enumerates them: better education, better transportation, healthier respect for property rights, opportunities for health care. We get there...how? Not through regulation. She isn't for that. Not through higher taxes. She wouldn't go there even if she wanted to, and I don't think she does, actually. A Hutchison administration, at the end of the day, probably wouldn't do things very differently than the Perry administration has been doing them. Maybe with kinder, gentler voice -- that's all I can think of, and it isn't a lot for purposes of differentiation from the man she would unseat. Nor am I sure by any means how many brownie points that would earn her with voters.
This being from a Republican. You want Kay Bailey Hutchison as the alternative to Perry? She's just a milder version. Rick Perry with less of a kick.
The Burnt Orange Report has been saying this for a while now, but a Conservative with no particular stake in this primary agrees with us. If Rick Perry loses in the primary, we get rid of a fire-breathing Conservative. But in Kay Bailey Hutchison, we have no moderate; we definitely still have a Conservative with a capital C.
Remember reading yesterday about John Cornyn punching at a reporter/blogger's camera? Well, something must have been in our Senators' water yesterday, because Senator Hutchison had a problem with a reporter, too. In some ways, her story falls farther than Cornyn's.
Mike Stark, some may say, blindsided Senator Cornyn to ask him a question. Kay Bailey Hutchison, however, abruptly stalled the journalistic process when she received a question from a reporter she called upon. That reporter, the Dallas Morning News' Todd J. Gillman, relates the story:
Then Hutchison posed for some pictures, and stepped over to a scrum of a dozen or so reporters to take more questions. One asked about net neutrality, a rather complex issue of special to Texas-based AT&T. Hutchison turned to me for the next topic. She really did seem open to taking more questions.
I offered a toss-away to the effect that she has already said she'll leave the Senate soon, any hints yet about timing. No she said. Then, apparently, I crossed a line. Basically, I asked why she feels a need to stay in the Senate while running for governor.
GILLMAN: "Do you have some qualms that a replacement for you will not have essentially the same positions on important issues, to Texas, like cap and trade, like net neutrality, for instance?"
HUTCHISON: "Ok, thank you."
And then, dear readers, she turned abruptly and walked away, leaving a gaggle of journalists dumbstruck.
We had a problem with Senator Cornyn about a crummy policy position he conveyed in his vote. In this anecdote, however, there are no such legislative disputes we have with Kay Bailey Hutchison, but we see a problem here that was prevalent with both our state's Senators in D.C.
Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn each deliberately ignored and impeded the journalistic process. We deserve better from our U.S. Senators.
According to the DCCC there are 67 House Republicans who voted against the stimulus package. But when these no voters are back in their home states they like to brag and swagger about bringing home the bacon. On a different level, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison joins these ranks. She voted against the stimulus bill and yet she criticized Rick Perry for turning down federal funding for extended unemployment benefits.
Texas has its fair share of outstanding hypocrites. Check the list below to see if your U.S. House Rep. is included in the GOP Hall of Hypocrites. I must admit that I am not shocked to learn that my U.S. Rep., John Culberson, is among them. I betcha your U.S. Reps are too.
