Kay Bailey Hutchison tries clearing up doubts over her loyalty to Ronald ReaganWASHINGTON – Ronald Reagan isn't on Mount Rushmore. But lots of Republicans think he should be. Thus, it is no small matter for Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison when doubts are raised about her commitment to the party's hero.
Dust off those clippings from 1976, a seminal year for Texas Republicans. Reagan's challenge brought legions of enthusiastic newcomers to the party – and some friction between them and the traditionalists who had labored years to break the Democrats' grip on Texas.
President Gerald Ford had named Hutchison vice chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, and she sided with him against the insurgent, naturally.
"But after that, certainly I was very pro-Reagan," Hutchison said last week. "Loved Ronald Reagan. Supported him, was chairman of his Women for Reagan committee in Texas [in 1980]. I've got a lot of Reagan supporters supporting me for governor right now.
"And I've never supported a Democrat for president after I was involved in politics – unlike others who are running for public office," she said. "I never ran as a Democrat, either."
Consider that a brushback pitch. As her campaign pointed out last week, Gov. Rick Perry was elected to the state House in 1984 as a Democrat, and in 1988, he chaired Al Gore's presidential campaign in Texas.
"The governor has been a true conservative his entire career and will be more than happy to match conservative records on fiscal responsibility and many other issues," Perry spokesman Mark Miner said.
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Instead of a who loves Regan more cat fight, why not actually talk about how you're going to fix this state, and that goes to both Perry and Hutchinson.
