The Cowboy, The Iron Lady and One Tough Grandma

We're talkin' mud-wrasslin' Texas style. It becomes ever clearer that we are indeed in for a three-fer. Governor Perry has become desperate enough to get Senator Hutchison out of his kitchen that he's dragged ol' Claytie Williams out of the buckbrush for an endorsement. Hutchison's campaign office in Austin retorted, "I’m sad there are two votes we won’t be getting in Midland, but the senator has a great deal of support out there," all but confirming her intentions. If that weren't enough, Hutchison appeared in Austin last week at an economic development press conference of the sort that Perry has usually camped out at, stealing the thunder for keeping a local business even though there was some question as to whether she had actually done anything about it. Claytie could actually be useful, as he was quoted to say that "Senator Hutchison should explain directly to the voters why she doesn’t want to finish her job when we contributed our money and efforts to elect her to the U.S. Senate." She can't do that, of course, because her motivation is to create an opportunity to run for president.

Meanwhile, Comptroller Strayhorn hasn't exactly been keeping her powder dry, carefully timing her announcement two weeks ago that the school funding measure that passed the House was $4 billion short. She has, however, not engaged in any personal sniping, clearly hoping that Perry and Hutchison shoot it out while she sneaks through along the rail. There is still time for them to somehow work this thing out, but the more that senior Republican leaders go public trying to convince Hutchison not to make the race, the more apparent it becomes that they are barking up the wrong tree.

DEMOPHOENIX