A stumbling start for Sen. Hutchison

R.G. Ratcliff:

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison began this year as “Kay the Invincible.” But as she prepares to officially launch her bid for governor later this month, that aura is gone.

Hutchison entered the year with the ability to make other politicians quake. She had two re-election victories under her belt with more than 60 percent of the vote in each. Her popularity ratings in polls put her at the top among Texas politicians. And public polls showed her leading Gov. Rick Perry by anywhere from 6 to 27 percentage points.

Then Hutchison went silent — leaving the field of Texas politics to Perry for more than four months.

The senator “squandered her opportunity,” Republican political consultant Mark Sanders said. “She ceded the Republican base to Governor Perry.”

Perry focused a message on conservative Republican primary voters. He railed against the federal government, against stimulus funding, against federal health care plans and for states' rights. Hutchison's advantage in the polls was eliminated, and Perry took a lead of more than 10 percentage points in three separate polls in June.

Even as she prepares for her expected Aug. 17 announcement for governor, Hutchison's message continues to lack focus.

Over the past week, Hutchison has been critical of Perry for not accepting $550 million in federal stimulus money for unemployment insurance, but even that criticism contrasts with the fact that she said nothing publicly on the issue when the Texas Legislature was in session and she could have made a difference in whether the issue passed.

...

She has gotten off to a poor start and has yet to make a case for her candidacy. The issue on the stimulus funds is unlikely to be one that an election turns on unless she can tie it to some other problems Perry may have. She also needs to have a campaign about what she wants to do as governor and not that she isn't Rick Perry.

She has a lot to do to articulate a winning message, but she has time to come up with one and she now knows that Perry is going to run a tough race against her. Texas is better off than most states right now and he is going to take some of the credit for creating the conditions that made that possible. Her message has to define what more can be done to make Texas more prosperous.

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