Aside from all the developments so far, the one race Cornyn brought up unprompted in a lengthy interview with The Hill was Texas, where Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) is aiming for the governor's mansion and could vacate her seat at any time, paving the way for an open, no-primary free-for-all in the Lone Star State.
Indications lately have been that she will remain in her seat, which isn't up until 2012. But her Texas colleague made it clear Monday that he's not counting his blessings just yet.
What I am concerned about is that it will be a special election that will be held perhaps as early as May 2010," Cornyn said. "I don't want this to turn into a situation where we elect a Democrat in Texas and further erode our possibilities."
Democrats hold 58 votes in the Senate - a figure that is likely to hit 59 once the Minnesota Senate race is certified. A special election in Texas could bump the number up to 60.
Wow, such a defeatist attitude coming from the Chair of the RSCC. So much for Republican Congressman Pete Sessions efforts to mold the GOP into the Taliban. Although Sessions might consider hiring Fox News to help him round up some tea party cell groups and maybe that'll energize the Republican base enough to be a more optimistic 'insurgency.'
Cornyn is rattled by the fundraising numbers that former State Comptroller John Sharp and Houston Mayor Bill White raked in for the first quarter of 2009. He is also nervous, and knows from memory, that Hutchison makes decisions based on which way the political winds blow. First she is in a race, then she is out of a race. First she says this then she does that. "FLIP FLOP!" If a Special Election occurs it is assuredly a different electoral ballgame and Cornyn knows that. He already has the daunting task of maintaining what the GOP has left without losing even more senate seats and giving up ground to a Democrat majority that is close to filibuster proof. But to lose one on your home turf of Texas would be extra embarrassing for junior in his new gig.
Hutchison will need to resign soon. She can't keep allowing Perry to hop across Texas unanswered jazzing up the core of the Republican base. If she is serious about running for governor she has to get her head out of the DC clouds and start breathing some environmentally toxic Texas air again. She's got to build a whole new Republican Party if she wants to win a primary and that is no cheap or easy task to accomplish within a winnowing timeframe. She'll have to resign her senate seat if she truly intends to run for governor, build a new Republican Party, and compete in a general election for the mansion. She can't do that in DC.
The pizzas weren't the only hot item on the menu at the monthly meeting of the Mid-Cities Democrats. The 2010 campaign season blew into Hurst like a spring thunderstorm last night before a group of almost 100 Democrats from various counties in North Texas. John Sharp, candidate for U.S. Senate, and Tom Schieffer, exploring a run for governor as a Democrat, made arguments that they are the best guys to win their respective races.
Sharp went on to discuss his political accomplishments including the creation of the Lone Star Card and the Texas Tomorrow Fund. The former Railroad Commissioner and Comptroller explained the importance of having at least one Democratic senator with a Democratic controlled Congress and why he's the candidate to win in a special election for the seat currently held by Kay Bailey Hutchison - he's come the closest to beating a Republican than any other Democratic candidate for state wide office since 1998.
Former Texas Rangers president and Ambassador Tom Schieffer told the group how he has melded good business with good ethics in his career since serving in the Texas Legislature. One guest asked how he would aid Texas' disabled population and Schieffer retold the creation of the first Americans with Disabilities Act compliant baseball park with the Ballpark at Arlington.
Schieffer told the gathering of North Texans that he is a hometown boy and that fact will help him beat out any other Democratic candidate in Tarrant County.
