the campaigning is about to begin... already http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6520253.html if the title looks familiar, it is. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=97292
unfortunately, its going to be closer than people think. Perry will have all the nutjobs on his side. Should be interesting. Its time for Perry to move on.
I said a while back that Perry will do or say anything in order to win this primary. He will draw plenty of blood before losing. Kay Bailey Hutchison will be torn to shreds by the time this is over if she puts up a good fight, win or lose. It's too early for me to call with any confidence, but I give Perry the edge. Religious Right fanatical lunatics dominate too much of the Texas GOP. They will declare war on Hutchison and scorch the earth to bring her down. Her winning the Texas governor's primary would be akin to Rudy Giuliani winning the GOP's nomination for president. The RR won't stand for it because those kind of candidates make them irrelevant. A big question is will Hutchison dish out as much punishment as Perry. Doubtful, but how far will she go?
My neighbor runs Perry's campaign communications department. He's a real cool guys so I want Perry to win. Otherwise he has to go look for a new job and possibly move.
I don't understand: why would a US Senator want to be a state governor anyway? It seems like a demotion to me (unless she just wants less work / higher in-state profile). It's not a partisan issue for me; don't get why Corzine did the same thing.
Kay Bailey is really popular in the state but people have no idea why they like her. She has been totally out of the spotlight as a senator.
In Hutchison's case, her national party has drifted into the right ditch, and in the Senate, their main goal is to muster 40 votes to fillibuster whatever the Dems want to do. It's a good time for any sensible Republican to leave the Senate. Even with it's limited powers, governor of Texas is still a step up from U.S. senator. It depends on the state.
She wants to come back to Texas before she retires and she no higher political aspirations. The governor of texas is a high profile low stress job. This will be her last hurah of sorts.
Does anybody know if Kinky is going to run in Democratic primary? I know this is off topic, so it may not get addressed. I voted for Kay Bailey in this poll simply because I don't like the fact that Rick Perry is the longest-serving governor in Texas history. I don't see what he's done to deserve that honor and I'd like to get some fresh blood in there. I also think Kay is a more sensible person than Good Hair.
Kay Bailey. Probably as good a time as any for a pro-choice female Republican to run. Frankly, I think Perry and Hutchison should just trade jobs and secretly agree to endorse each other.
The worse the economy does, the better KBH will do. People stop voting for the bible when their wallets get light.
And maybe, just for the sheer fun of it, she can enter the Presidential primary in 2012, just to negate Palin and give Romney or Jindal a better option for VP.
We won't have to worry about a Texan setting foot in the White House for a long time thanks to the GWB.
I remember Kay Bailey Hutchison being shoved out on one of the morning shows the day of McCain's selection of Palin, going through her talking points of why Palin was such an experienced leader with a thinly-disguised (and, in retrospect, completely justified) contempt: "Why not me?" Think this might be it: <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/G703sx9GK_g&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/G703sx9GK_g&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
Or a Southern Democrat, thanks to LBJ; or a California Republican, thanks to Nixon. People will see Hutchison's strengths relative to Bush. Not getting rejected by UT Law, for example.
I think every other possible veep choice for McCain had the same reaction. They were all stunned at McCain's selection of Palin and (IIRC) none of them had anything good to say about her initially. After the shock wore off, they fell in line publicly.
I didn't sense any contempt through KBH's dialogue, even though it's completely possible. Just a little bit of shock, confusion and a lot of spin - and it's fun to contrast how an experienced politician handles a tough question compared to Palin. It is amusing to see Kay's qualifiers - "her record is amazing, from everyone who's watched her" and the long, ponderous pauses as if she were trying to convince both herself and King/Roberts.
The Republican Primary season is going to be fun to watch. These 2 are going to attack each other like we've never seen before. I wouldn't vote for either, but if I did, it would be KBH for one reason...If Perry wins, at the end of his term, he will have been governor for 14 years. That is way way way too long. I don't have a horse in the race, yet. I know little about those that have declared for the Democrat primary (all I know is that Bob Scheiffer's brother is running and he apparently used to work for GWB)...oh, and Kinky Friedman. I'm not sure it matters though. Whomever survives the Rep. primary is pretty likely to win the general.