« BACK  |  PRINT

RS

EDITOR OF REDSTATE

Will Kay Bailey Hutchison Now Leave Washington?

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  March 3rd, 2010 at 12:21 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Governor Rick Perry delivered a crushing blow to Kay Bailey Hutchison in the Texas GOP primary tonight. Senator Hutchison never gave a compelling reason to turn out Texas’s longest serving governor other than that it was her turn.

The selfishness in Hutchison’s campaign rubbed Texas voters the wrong way and the disastrous campaign that ensued did her no favors. Remarkably, Texas’s longest serving governor was able to position himself as the outsider in the race.

Despite earmark after earmark designed to show Texans she could bring home the bacon, the voters of Texas washed their hands of KBH and her campaign, putting Rick Perry into the general election without a runoff, despite a three way primary.

What’s more, the tea party activists so opposed to a Washington career politician returning merely for her turn in the Governor’s Mansion, showed real maturity. Deborah Medina tried to claim the mantle of the tea party movement, but every major poll done in Texas showed the tea party activists in Texas pretty firmly united around Perry. They stayed that way, and fully solidified after Medina went on Glenn Beck’s program and suggested she was sympathetic to truthers (the people who think the government blew up the World Trade Center).

Tonight was a big win for tea party activists in Texas who held the line, rallied around one candidate, did not split their vote, and sent Washington a strong message.

Now, will Kay Bailey Hutchison get out of Michael Williams’ seat? She said as recently as three weeks ago that she would resign, regardless of tonight’s outcome, by November. Michael Williams is one of several candidates Governor Perry could appoint to the seat and he is the odds on favorite of conservatives, to whom Rick Perry owes a tremendous debt for keeping him out of a costly runoff.

Senator Jim DeMint has a petition up and going at www.makeitmichael.com to encourage Gov. Perry to appoint Commissioner Williams once Kay Bailey Hutchison resigns — assuming she keeps her word. I encourage you to sign the petition.

Tags: ,

COMMENTS

POSTING RULES  |  LOGIN TO COMMENT  |  REGISTER TODAY
  • Lycurgus

    he would solidify his own position as a 2012 contender for the White House…. and such an action would, in the words of the “Good Book”—”cover a multitude of sins”…

    Signed.

  • Dan McLaughlin

    Keep your promise. Make Michael a Senator.

  • briancobbs

    any insight into the relationship between Perry and Williams? Is he Perry’s first choice?

  • http://www.barrypopik.com barrypopik

    She’s employed until 2012 and it’s a nice gig. I hear the health care is fantastic.

    “I know I said I was going to resign, but I must stay on to fight Obama’s blah-blah-blah.”

  • http://www.erickerickson.org Erick Erickson

    But I also hear Perry is getting pressure to pick someone else by the NRSC.

  • partyof1

    I caught the debate between Farouk and White. Farouk went way out of his way to enthusiastically attach himself to Barack Obama. Considering Obama has been the kiss of death to candidates lately, that didn’t make sense to me then – makes even less sense now.

    With 65 percent of precincts reporting, White was trouncing businessman Farouk Shami 75 percent to 13 percent.

    Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/33817.html#ixzz0h5hcCn7y

  • http://phxg.wordpress.com/ phxg
  • Doc Holliday

    I thought she already said she would not. Anyway, she can’t leave DC (Washington to real people), because she is of DC. At best she leaves and gets a place at the Watergate.

  • JadedByPolitics

    and the wishful thinking of the GOP “elites” are going to find that throughout the rest of this year going into November that the TEA Party Movement will NOT split and they will CRUSH RINO’s in the primaries but provided they cannot they will with sickness in their stomachs vote FOR the Republican because one thing that Democrats have proven to the populace is that they DO NOT listen to WE The People and for that they will NOT have the House nor Senate by 2012 and Obama will be a ONE TERM PRESIDENT! Americans LOVE their country and that HATE being ignored!

    Congratulations to Rick Perry now lets hope that all of that hard push to the RIGHT that he has engaged in for the past couple of years sticks because its the BEST PLACE TO BE :)

  • trutexan

    I know she’s not popular with y’all, but after November I have visions of Perry re-activating that Trans Texas Corridor right through my land. His audicity to push HPV vaccines on Texas’ young ladies sounds resoundingly like Obama knowing what is best for the country on healthcare. I’ve voted for him every time he ran until now, but lately he’s been acting like the King of Texas. Kay had her failings but she was the closest to possibly unseat him.

    At least I voted and have room to complain now. I went with Kay, hubby voted for Rick, and when imminent domain runs a super highway through the ranch, I can say “I told you so”.

  • archer52

    Tea Partiers did flock around Perry for good reason. He is not a a bad guy. Hutchinson was certainly silly to want her turn, but politicians of all stripes often lose focus on reality and live in their own worlds. I’m sure her thumpin’ was a rude wake up call.

    However, Perry is not a super conservative as you can tell from a couple of comments here. He is the example of having to compromise on several things to get most of what you want. A Reagan moment if you will. Also a good lesson in marriage. It is a fine line between a good compromise and a bad deal in both politics and marriage, and a lesson we should all keep in mind.

  • http://impudent.blognation.us/blog kyle8

    But like I said in my last post. At least he moved toward the right in recent years and not, as many elected officials do, to the left.

    Whether that is simply pandering I can’t tell,

  • qixlqatl

    If you can’t tell, does it matter?

    What I mean is, if he is not just talking right, but delivering right, are his reasons all that important? (By ‘right’ I mean politically, but the other way works, too). Does he know who’s boss, iow, I guess.

    Not all that familiar with Texas politics…heck, I ain’t even as familiar as I ought to be with Georgia politics, but I’m working on it.

  • Mark_L

    that people continue to be fooled by Perry. He tried to push through one of the largest landgrabs in the history of the state in the name of a big government project.

    He tried to shove a required vaccination down the throats of parents and their teenaged daughters – for a friend at a pharma company.

    He is the worst sort of politician – he panders at election time, and turns his back on the voters as soon as he’s in. Just witness the recent courting of the “tea party” in Texas. Want to rev up the troops? Talk about seceding. Give me a break.

    Texas desperately needs another governor.

  • izoneguy

    the socialist Bill White? Who will try to turn Texas into another Kalifornia?

  • http://www.WILLisms.com WILLisms

    What are you talking about? Perry was the tea party candidate in this race. Medina called herself that, but she was a joke among tea party activists I know. Polls showed Perry winning tea party voters by huge margins over Medina and KBH combined.

  • Darin_H

    They don’t want another conservative senator, they want someone who is a ‘go-along get-along.’ They want someone who isn’t going to upset the apple cart, or worse, make them work.

    The rest of my thoughts on the NRSC would break the No Profanity rule.

  • streiff

    nt

  • robobbob

    http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/world/stories/DN-perry_31tex.ART.State.Edition1.43b926a.html

    bilderberg and US official
    words that should not go together

  • jano4

    I wish she would but I really don’t think she will. She showed during the campaign that she is too much of flip flopping politician. IMO she would have done much better in the race if she had showed some conviction, and a definitive stance on the issues, and actually resigned. Heck I might even had voted for her. Too many I think saw for what she has become, a career politician.

  • robobbob

    Is the Dem house of cards truely on FIRE?
    Larouchite wins Dem primary in Texas 22nd Dist running on an impeach Obama platform
    http://www.keshaforcongress.com/

  • Pizza_God

    For a Democrat, I like Farouk, however Texas would never elect a Muslim for Governor, even the Dem’s wont do that.

  • Pizza_God

    I am not so sure about that.

    At least in the North Dallas area, most of the active Tea Party people were supporting Medina including me.

    Fact is, at my Pct Convention, Medina supporters outnumbered everyone else 2 to 1.

    Don’t get me wrong, I like some things that slick Rick Perry has said and done in the past year. But my fear is that it is just campaign talk. He did this stuff 4 years ago and did not act on any of it.

    The Medina Campaign reactivated the “hard right” votes. Hopefully we can keep them active and take back the Republican Party. (and keep Rick Perry out of the pocket book of big business like Centra and MERCK)

  • Richard Mullins

    Some times I wonder about people that like to keep things going when there dead because it makes things work well for them. I’m sure that you’ll vote for Cue ball White but the only Democrats that I could think of that would good to run against Perry(Nelson Wollf and Phil Hardburger) weren’t going doing to do it. I’m sure that Perry will remind everyone of where Houston money went.

  • Mark_L

    I can’t vote for a Democrat, but Perry just turns my stomach.

  • Mark_L

    I can’t vote for a Democrat, but Perry just turns my stomach.

  • Ireland

    Hutchinson is a moderate Republican and they are just as bad as a Liberal Democrats. I don’t like her and never have liked her, because she’s a PROGRESSIVE. She’s two faced like Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, John McCain (another politicians I dislike), both are opportunist and unfortunately there are too many like them working in Washington.

    She won’t give up her seat, she’ll planet her fanny back on the Hill, pretending to disagree with Obama’s policies.

  • AceInTX

    Perry has been wrong on the vaccine issue and the TTC…but he’s been rock solid on fiscal issues.

    he’s taken us through two recessions maintaining a balanced budget throughout without raising taxes. He’s cut spending and built up a huge budget surplus and Texas is one of the few states that has shown positive growth over the last couple years. We have five cities that top the list as the best real estate markets in the country.

    Recently he’s told Washington the take their money…and the control that goes with it and stick it up their back sides rather than accept their centrally planned mandates over Texas education.

    He’s not perfect…who is…but he’s the real deal and I’d take him over Kay Baily Hutchison and/or Sandra Medina and half the other crap weasels we have as leaders in the Republican Party any day!

  • AceInTX
  • AceInTX

    Can you tell me who won in my Congressional primary and will be running as the Republican against Charlie Gonzales?

  • Achance
  • AceInTX

    She’s everything I loath about politicians…..she won’t leave Washington until we blast her out of her seat with Dynamite…(I’m speaking about metaphorical Dynamite for those of you from Rio Linda…heh)

  • http://www.1776challenge.com houtxconservative

    KBH and her team have already begun to put their spin out there that “GOP leaders” are urging her not to resign. What a bunch of BS.

    http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6895979.html

  • pilgrim

    http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/03/perry-wants-hutchison-to-stay.html

    Gov. Rick Perry, fresh off his primary throttling of Kay Bailey Hutchison, told WBAP talkmeister Mark Davis today that he would like Hutchison to remain in the Senate through her term, to continue fighting the Obama administration on health care, climate-change legislation, etc.

    Perry said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if he and Hutchison appear together at a campaign event over the course of the general election campaign.