No Kay Blog

San Antonio's MySA.com has a full-on Kay Bailey Hutchison love fest article up, Republicans glad Hutchison is atop ticket. If you can stomach it to the end, you'll find some interesting non-answers from Kay on her future political career. It's a different story than her recent insistence that this third term would be her last (emphasis added):

After settling in for the short drive to the Marriott Rivercenter, Hutchison talked about her future after Nov. 7, if she wins.

Hutchison said her third term almost certainly will be her last.

"I'm not taking a firm position," she said, "but I don't think (seeking a fourth term) is in the cards."

Allow me to translate - "I realize now that I really put my foot in it 12 years ago by being so blunt about term limits. No time like the present to start sowing the seeds for Hutchison in 2012! Also, better leave some wiggle room in case the White House '08 people call."

In the meantime, Radnofsky has taken Hutchison to task for running this time, noting that in 1994 she said she'd serve no more than two terms.

Hutchison said Sen. Phil Gramm's retirement in 2002 changed her plans.

"A lot of the reason is we had a new senator and I wanted Texas to be a strong position with one senior person," Hutchison said. "And if things go as I think they will, Texas will have Sen. (John) Cornyn and have a strong, more senior person, and be in good shape."

I'm not sure what to make of that last statement. Does she just mean Cornyn will be "more senior" by then? Or if "things go as she thinks they will", will Texas have Cornyn and some other "strong, more senior person"?!

The latest congressional scorecard is out from Human Rights Campaign (HRC), "to inform the public about where congressional leaders stand on policies important to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community." The Dallas Voice reports on the results for the Texas delegation: Few Texas lawmakers score well on gay issues.

The Senate bills and votes included:

• S.J. Res. 1 — the Federal Marriage Amendment
  
• confirmation of Judge William Pryor
  
• confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito
  
• S. 403 — the Lautenberg Amendment to the Child Custody Protection Act
  
• S. 311 — the Early Treatment for HIV Act (co-sponsorship)
  
• S. 1278 — the Uniting American Families Act (co-sponsorship)
  
• S. 1145 — the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act (co-sponsorship)

As my headline already gave away, our senior Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison got a big, fat zero. Not her first, either: she scored zero in 2004 as well. (Contrary to the Dallas Voice article, she actually didn't get a zero in 2002, although the 29% she received instead isn't much better.)

The HRC website has copies of the 2002, 2004 and 2006 scorecards.

It's like a hot new dance craze: Sen. Hutchison continues to be in the news for her attempted backpedaling from the disastrous invasion of Iraq in last week's debate.

The Washington Post is one of many outlets that picked up the Associated Press story.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, one of President Bush's most ardent loyalists on the war in Iraq, voiced her strongest criticism yet of the administration's reasons for going to war.

In a debate with her challenger in the Nov. 7 election, Hutchison, R-Texas, said she would not have voted for war had she known there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. But she also made it clear she does not support troop withdrawal.

"If I had known then what I know now about the weapons of mass destruction, which was a key reason that I voted to go in there, I would not vote to go into Iraq the way we did," Hutchison said.

There's more coverage in this week's Austin Chronicle, which does a nice job of cutting through Kay Bailey's BS. In response to her claims that Bush was also misled by bad intelligence, the Chronicle says:

We might recommend our senior senator read Ron Suskind's biography of former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, The Price of Loyalty, wherein O'Neill exposes how the Bushites were planning the invasion eight months before 9/11, or even the infamous Downing Street memo, wherein British senior ministers secretly expressed concern that "the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy" of the Bush administration.

They also call her on the claims that weapons inspectors didn't have access to Iraq after 1998, and label her reference to 9/11 a "perfunctory invocation of That Horrible Event That Had Nothing to Do With Iraq".

According to The Washington Times, Kay Bailey Hutchison is being pretty stingy with her massive campaign warchest.

Mrs. Hutchison, one of the top Republican leaders in the Senate, has $9.5 million on hand, and polls in Texas show her trouncing her opponent by 20 points or more. She has given $115,000 to the NRSC, a little more than 1 percent of her campaign holdings.

But golly, if this is her last term (wink wink!), and she's just not interested in shooting for Vice President in 2008 (nudge nudge!), then what on earth is she keeping all that cash around for?

This article on KHOU, Hutchison race puts Texas Democrats in a bind, is from a couple weeks ago, but it still has me steamed. It details the spinelessness and lack of party support of several members of the Texas delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives.

According to the article,

Ms. Radnofsky said she's gotten "good help" from Texas Democrats in Congress and alleged that Ms. Hutchison has privately chewed out several who expressed support for their own party's nominee... "They have to be more than diplomatic," Ms. Radnofsky said. "The fact that they won't go on record criticizing someone who may take out her annoyance at them by punishing their districts is understandable. It's an interesting way to govern, isn't it?"

Here is the roll for next session's Kay Bailey Ass-Kissing Caucus. I include the "D" for each representative, so you don't forget that these are actual quotes by actual Democrats, not, as you might otherwise think, pro-Hutchison campaign ads.

• "Senator Hutchison is very involved in the state of Texas and is keenly aware of Texas' needs and works collaboratively with House members on delivering to Texas on some of our crucial concerns." - Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston
  
  
• "She's doing a really good job, works with us." - Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso (When asked who'll get his vote, Reyes laughed, said, "I've got a committee hearing," and walked off.)
  
  
• "I won't be out campaigning against her... I've known her a long, long time. And I am really not one that wants to go out and work against colleagues I work with, unless they have committed something really serious." - Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dallas
  
  
• "It's no surprise to anyone that as a Democratic officeholder I'm voting for Democrats on the ticket, but I'm not getting directly involved in the Senate race." - Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco
  
  
• Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, D-Mercedes, when asked whom he's voting for: smiled, gave a thumbs up – and walked away, wordless.
  
  
• [When asked if his praise of Kay Bailey amounted to an endorsement:] "No, no, no, no, no, no," he said, adding, however, "I don't even know who Barbara is." - Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo
  

It's just politics, right? Having to work with Sen. Hutchison, getting along with her, respecting her - that's all fine. I'm sure she's really very nice. The problem is, she's approximately 100% wrong on approximately 100% of issues that matter to Democrats. And you can bet that neither she nor any other red-blooded Republican would pull any punches if the roles were reversed.

Anyway, is it really that hard to support your own party's candidate without going out on some kind of "Kay-is-the-devil" limb? Of course not. In fact, there are some good guys in the story who manage it just fine. Allow them to demonstrate how one maintains political civility without giving aid and comfort to a general in the opposition army:

• San Antonio Rep. Charlie Gonzalez said "I have a good relationship with Senator Hutchison," but he also donated $500 to Radnofsky's campaign in March. He went on record saying Ms. Radnofsky has "great intelligence, keen insight," and they share a political philosophy.
  
  
• Austin Rep. Lloyd Doggett expressed "wholehearted support [for Radnofsky]," saying: "I like Barbara. It's clearly a very difficult race for her, and I think she's handled herself admirably."
  
  
• Houston Rep. Gene Green, said he will vote a straight Democratic ticket, and that his party shouldn't hesitate to work for Ms. Hutchison's defeat.
  
  
• Rep. Solomon Ortiz of Corpus Christi, the longest-serving Texas Democrat in Congress, was the most outspokenly critical, expressing "respect" but complaining that Ms. Hutchison worked against him on some funding he tried to win for his South Texas district.
  
  "We've had our differences," he said. "I think since the Republicans have taken power and control of everything, they think they don't have to talk to Democrats. They think they can do it on their own. This is not good for Texas."
  

This week's issue of the Austin Chronicle lists their endorsements. These include, of course, an endorsement in the U.S. Senate race. Good ink for Barbara Ann; bad ink for Kay Bailey. What's not to like? I'll just swipe that whole part of the article, and highlight my favorite parts.

Newcomer Radnofsky is exceptionally qualified – welcome news for those of us in the "anyone but Hutchison" camp. The Houston attorney-mediator has done an exceptional job of laying out solutions. She advocates a timetable for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. She stands ready to support our troops after they come home, aggressively pushing for greater VA care. She promotes energy independence and pushes for renewable energy. She opposes the enormous Perry boondoggle that is the Trans-Texas Corridor. She supports a sensible immigration policy. And she's also run a dedicated and energetic statewide campaign, with too little help from her party.

Republican incumbent Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison has accumulated plenty of powerful seniority since 1993 – but in the service of an agenda that is completely wrong for Texas and the nation. While Hutchison is considered a GOP "moderate" (largely on abortion), she largely marches in lockstep with the radical Republican right. She continues to help promote the Great Lie – that the U.S. invasion of Iraq had something to do with fighting terrorism. Closer to home, Hutchison not only voted for the irrational border fence but supported a nonsensical proposal to allow peace officers from any community to enforce immigration law. On the environment, Hutchison's record is abysmal: According to the League of Conservation Voters (hardly a radical group), on key green votes during her Senate tenure, she has taken the pro-environment position only 4% of the time. She stood staunchly by Tom DeLay, praising him to the end, denouncing his prosecution on "technicalities," and donating $5,000 to his legal defense.

This is not the record of a moderate. Hutchison needs to go.

Well, that was pretty good! It's sure a shame there aren't going to be more.

It certainly showed that Barbara Ann is a very serious candidate. Viewers who don't want to vote for Kay Bailey (aka, My Favorite People In The World) now realize they have a great alternative that they can be excited about. And with Barbara Ann clearly on the offense about a wide range of issues, hopefully that will help shape the campaigns over these last few weeks.

Though as with most debates, I'm afraid it probably didn't change many minds that were already made up (except perhaps for people who were going to vote for that poor, hapless Libertarian guy). I have to grudgingly admit that Kay held together pretty well under the onslaught.

My personal favorite moment? That's a tie. One was when the panel asked Sen. Hutchison about her broken term limit pledge, even quoting back to her the t-shirt quote. The other was when Barbara Ann said, "For anyone to say that Rhode Island has the same infrastructure needs is not from this planet," echoing the exact same thought, with the exact same example, that I had shouted at the TV mere seconds before.

Lastly, thank god I didn't play the debate drinking game where you drank every time Kay said "cut & run". I'd have been dead of alcohol poisoning before the thing was half over.

Update: C-SPAN has now has the debate video (RealPlayer format).

Via the Austin Chronicle, news that the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) has released their scorecard for the just-finished 2nd session of the 109th Congress.

Sen. Hutchison has received a zero.

Too bad, too; she'd really been climbing the last few sessions - why, she almost broke double digits there a couple years ago. I haven't updated the environmental votes page yet, but that brings her career conservation voting percentage to 3.4%.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the universe, we have her challenger, Barbara Ann Radnofsky, and her Sierra Club endorsement.

It's finally here - the one and only Senate debate between Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Barbara Ann Radnofsky is today, Thursday, Oct. 19.

It will be taped and broadcast at 9:00 PM (Central Time) on every PBS affiliate in the state, as well as C-SPAN.

There are debate-watching parties around the state; the one in San Antonio will feature Barbara Ann in person.

Tell a buddy and bring a friend!

Speaking of TV - if you're looking for the KHOU "Connection" footage I wrote about in a previous entry, you now have to go to YouTube to find it. (I'm not sure why they moved it off of RadnofskyVideo.com; bandwidth costs maybe? And I sure don't know why they don't at least have a link to YouTube from there!)

Via Texas Kaos, a nice write-up on Barbara Ann Radnofsky in today's Austin American-Statesman (use BugMeNot if they bug you for a registration).

Radnofsky is bold in her independence, too. She said if she had made up her mind to vote one way, it would stay that way even if the political winds changed.

"You've never met anyone as independent as I am," she said. "I've done what I've done in this campaign independently. And the progress I have made is thanks to the hard work and grass-roots efforts and not due to the intercession of major lobbying."

"She would not be a rubber stamp for anybody, including her own party," Stallings said.

This one's worth forwarding to anyone you know who might swing their vote or some cash her way. Also a nice opening for letters to the editor about the candidates stands on the issues.

From a Radnofsky campaign press release, a link to video (Windows Media) of a recent interview of Barbara Ann on "The Connection", a show on KHOU, the Houston PBS affiliate. It's split into two thirteen-minute halves, and is labeled "BAR's appearance on PBS", dated Oct. 9.

Apparently The Connection's two hosts are supposed to represent a right-wing and left-wing pair. I personally found them both such dopey buffoons that they were hard to watch. Thankfully, however, Barbara Ann is given a good amount to time to speak.

And boy, does she. She is very confident, in control, firm and knowledgeable. It really is a first-rate performance, and I was very impressed. I think the figure she cuts here lends credibility to assertions that Sen. Hutchison is afraid to debate her in front of an audience, or even more than once. It's conventional wisdom that incumbents who are ahead in the polls have nothing to gain and lots to lose in debates with challengers. But in this case, I think Kay's campaign knows she'd get pounded.

This site and this blog are all about Kay, not focused on Barbara Ann. But if you'll watch at least a few minutes of this performance, you'll see that voting for Barbara Ann Radnofsky for U.S. Senate on Nov. 7 is much, much more than a "no Kay" vote - it's a chance to have a strong, smart Senator who represents the interests of Texans and Americans far better than Kay ever has. And please, pass this along to as many people as you can.

As you read accounts and analysis on every website under the sun today about North Korea's nuclear test, please keep in mind what Kay Bailey Hutchison and the administration she obediently follows did to stop it. Jack squat.

Or maybe that should be, "Iraq squat".

The folks in McAllen don't seem to think too highly of Kay's "border fence". That's according to this article on Themonitor.com: Local leaders trash border fence.

Plans to build a more than 200-mile border barrier from Laredo to Brownsville could do more social, economic and environmental harm for the Rio Grande Valley than it will do good for the nation’s border security.

That seemed to be the prevailing view among political leaders, economic boosters and local residents here in the McAllen area Sunday, two days after the Senate approved the measure.

...The fence measure passed the Senate with overwhelming support Friday, sailing through on a vote of 80-19 with help from Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison.

..."I’m just amazed at what's happening," the mayor said. "I'm reminded of when Jesus Christ was sitting on the cross and he looks up to the Father and says, 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.' And I think that’s where we are here."

...[Executive vice president of the McAllen Economic Development Corp. Mike] Allen said he doesn’t know a single business leader or elected official anywhere from the Lower Rio Grande Valley all the way up to El Paso who supports the measure.

“It’s just unthinkable in terms of relationship with Mexico, our second largest trading partner,” he said. “I think we’re all for limiting immigration and having people follow the law, but this is just the wrong way to go about it.

According to a Radnofsky press release, Kay had a bit of a problem with the original terms of the debate she (finally) agreed to for Oct. 19.

The press release chided Hutchison for "stage fright", but signed a "live audience ban" anyway. Better to have the debate without an audience than to give Kay Bailey's campaign a loophole to wiggle out through.

I can't say I blame Kay. If I was going to get roasted as bad as she's going to, I wouldn't want witnesses, either.

Just a friendly reminder of the key dates in this election. In addition to voting against Kay Bailey Hutchison, there are apparently other offices being decided, as well. There's even a governor's race, from what I understand. You don't want to miss out on the fun. Tell a buddy, and bring a friend! Vote early and often!

Tuesday, Oct. 10: Deadline to register to vote - that's only eight more days

Oct. 23: Early voting begins

Nov. 3: Early voting ends

Oct. 31: Last day to apply for a ballot by mail

Nov. 7: Election day

See the Texas Secretary of State page for more information and registration forms.