Hutchison retreats from Senate leadership fight

Houston Chronicle:

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison on Tuesday bowed out of a high-profile Senate leadership race, ceding the field to two other Republicans running hard to be one of their party's most visible messengers.

The Texas Republican insisted she had never campaigned for the Senate Republican Conference chair position, the No. 3 job that came into play last week when the minority whip, Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., said he would resign this month.

"I am happy where I am," Hutchison said. "If I had wanted it, I would have gone for it."

She will retain her fourth-ranked leadership job as chair of the Republican Policy Committee.

Though Hutchison said she had not taken any steps to run other than a brief burst of calls to senators after Lott's announcement, many of her colleagues, including Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, were convinced that she was in the race.

"That certainly was my impression," said Cornyn, whose own hopes to rise in leadership were dashed when Hutchison decided to stay put and informed senators Tuesday.

Cornyn, the GOP's fifth-ranking leader in the Senate, had been campaigning to replace her as policy chair if she moved up.

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Cornyn denied any disappointment with Hutchison's actions.

He described his aspirations as "deferred," and said that in his calls to senators gauging their support he made clear that he wants the No. 4 policy job whenever it comes open.

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Cornyn is probably the future of Texas leadership in the Senate. Hutchison is likely to make a run in the governors race in 2010. It will be interesting to see if Perry would seek her senate seat. Kay was a cheerleader at UT when I was an undergraduate there and I have worked on some public finance deals with her husband Ray who is a very likable guy.

Cornyn has been a very effective senator on several key issues, particularly on judges and national security issues. He has a keen mind for drafting proposals that are hard for Democrats to reject. I believe he would be a better choice for moving up than Alexander or Burr who are in the running for the number three position. Alexander is something of a squish and Burr is just not someone who has done anything that has come to my attention. But seniority still has its perks in the Senate and Cornyn may have to bide his time for an opening.