Dick Cheney to campaign for Hutchison
Is this good or bad? This is a guy who left office with a 19% approval rating.
The report comes from the NBC affiliate for the Metroplex:
The battle for conservative credibility in the GOP race for governor just got interesting.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney, an outspoken critic of all things liberal, is supporting Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in the gubernatorial primary against sitting governor Rick Perry.
Hutchison campaign aides confirm the news, and add that Cheney will host a fundraiser for Hutchison next month in Houston.
The Perry campaign hasn’t responded yet.
It would not be surprising to find that Karl Rove had a hand in this somewhere. The Bushies are definitely in the Hutchison camp, and there is no love lost between them and the Perry camp. The tension (according to Perry team members whom I interviewed on this subject last year) dates all the way back to Perry’s race for lieutenant governor in 1998, when Rove insisted that Perry stick with a positive message even while he was being pounded by John Sharp. Meanwhile, in the view of the Perry camp, Rove was trying to turn out Hispanic Democrats who would vote for Bush, even though that meant they were likely to switch back to the D column to vote for Sharp. The Perry team decided that they had to fight back, Rove or no Rove, and they went rogue, going after Sharp hard. It worked.
The only thing that makes me wonder about this once-upon-a-time story is that Rove and Bush needed Perry to win. If Bush were elected president, his resignation would hand the governorship to a Democrat, and that possibility was damaging to the Bush campaign. Maybe, in those days, Rove was good enough to find just enough votes so that Bush would carry El Paso County (the battleground) and Perry would win anyway.
If that animosity weren’t enough, after Bush was named the winner in December 2000, Perry was insistent that the president-elect vacate the governor’s mansion so that Perry could move in, notwithstanding that Bush wanted to stay a day or two longer before leaving for Washington. I heard that firsthand from the Bushies at the time.
Regarding Cheney:
I have been skeptical that endorsements are going to make a lot of difference in this race. Both candidates are well known and their views are well known. I can’t picture that conservatives are suddenly going to switch allegiances because of endorsements. Cheney is a big name, to be sure, and I think he will bring in money, but votes? I doubt it. In this regard, Cheney is no different from the talk show hosts and activists whose endorsements Perry has rolled out. Perry has spent years courting the Republican base. They know who he is. Hutchison has already rolled out Dick Armey. Now it’s Cheney. I don’t think it is useful for the Hutchison campaign to try to pick a fight over conservative credibility that she isn’t going to win. She would be better advised to find other ways to differentiate herself from Perry, such as how she would govern the state differently.
Tagged: dick cheney, karl rove, kay bailey hutchison, rick perry.
Texian Politico says:
I’m a fan of Cheney, but this won’t get me to vote for KBH. I bet a good many Perry voters feel that way, too.
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Texian Politico says:
Oh, and again, what is with the small font for the posts and the regular size font for the comments. Am I the only one that notices this?
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Robert says:
Cheney endorses KBH: Why not? She teamed up with the Bush/Cheney administration on massive growth in Federal spending.
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Bemused Reply:
October 28th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
The money was spent on bombs and bullets, that’s Texan isn’t it, what’re you bitching about?
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@steveplunkett says:
KBH kinda scrwed the pooch with the “Rick Perry is Gay” crap in her website code.
Cheney is a great man who has done this country a great service, but he’s not too well liked by the public.
this seems like a win-win..
a win for KBH fundraiser
and a win for Rick Perry 4 governor.
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Anonymous says:
Does this women have any prominent Texans she can turn to so that she doesn’t have to keep turning to her Washington friends to bail her out? I like Cheney, but I think it only helps Perry.
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Anonymous Reply:
October 29th, 2009 at 1:45 am
Who, pray tell, are the prominent Texans the Governor of Texas has who’ve endorsed him?
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Buck says:
When Bush won in 2000, he took every smart Republican in Austin with him to Washington.
You see who he decided to leave behind.
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Casper says:
I agree with the sentiment, this helps kay raise money and helps Perry win, but Paul, you’re missing something here when you say: “I don’t think it is useful for the Hutchison campaign to try to pick a fight over conservative credibility that she isn’t going to win. She would be better advised to find other ways to differentiate herself from Perry, such as how she would govern the state differently.”
Kay has to run more conservatively than she’s governed or voted (it’s been years since she actually governed and then it required the throwing of staplers and daytimers). Cheney campaigning for her helps her conservative credentials to some extent, but it’s not enough. she has to differentiate herself by pointing out how she would govern differently — and conservatively. not going to happen.
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Rog says:
As a pure outsider, I think the animosity between Perry and Bush is overstated. Both of them hired Karl Rove to get elected the first time. Heck, they even belonged to the same church in Austin. I’m guessing Cheney’s ties to the Armstrong Ranch has more to do with the endorsement than anything else. KBH a lifelong Republican versus Perry, a later addition to the GOP.
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anonymous Reply:
October 28th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Rog: agree to some extent re the animosity being overstated, however, Perry did not hire Rove to help in his first, second or (i believe) third statewide run.
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Old guy says:
As a former campaign manager, I’ve observed that many endorsements don’t necessarily bring over the endorser’s friends, but they sure do tend to send their enemies to the other side. This should also throw a cold towel on the few D’s who say they will vote in the Republican primary…for Cheney’s candidate? I doubt it. Good for money, bad for votes.
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Bill Baumbach says:
I wonder how much that cost Perry’s campaign fund?
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anonymouse says:
This is a big deal – it challenges the conventional wisdom for those in the R base that all the ‘real’ conservatives are for Perry. Cheney may be unpopular around the country and with general election voters, but my guess is that among Texas Republican primary voters, his approval ratings are very high – he is respected by all R’s whereas Palin is annoying to a big chunk of them.
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Anonymous Reply:
October 29th, 2009 at 1:47 am
I agree. There can be no doubt that Team Kay polled this before rolling it out. It helps her and hurts Perry.
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Anonymous says:
in a Mini-Cooper no doubt.
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Atticus says:
Now they each have a loser endorsing them. Governor Good-Hair has Palin and Senator Good-Hair has Cheney. Too bad Ronnie Earle’s not the Democratic nominee or his numbers would definitely be climbing!!!
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paulburka Reply:
October 28th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Don’t rule it out.
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goo says:
I don’t think its impossible for Kay to appeal to conservatives, as well as Ds who know that Kay is the only viable alternative to Perry. A candidate who appeals to a wide range of voters isn’t impossible, you know…
If she plays her cards right, she can campaign to conservatives as well as the anti-Perry crowd. Because let’s face it, it she loses the primary, we’ll probably be stuck with Rick another 4 years. Excuse me while I go throw up.
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Brisoce Democrat says:
Burka, in other words Perry is BACK for 4 more years with Cheney’s poisonous endorsement of KBH.
On the 1998 Lieutenant Governor’s race, had John Sharp gotten serious and taken care of business, he would be going for his 3rd term as governor right now.
Bush Jr., was going to be President regardless in 2000 of how won the LG gig in ‘98.
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Patti Page Reply:
October 28th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
The white trash candidate sycophant has spoken.
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Anonymous Reply:
October 29th, 2009 at 1:48 am
Abbott is starting to show signs that he’s gearing up against Dewhurst for Lt Gov, and not waiting for a vacancy.
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Altec says:
Though I greatly respect Mr. Cheney, I think his endorsement will do Kay about as much good as the hunting invitation did poor Mr. Whittington.
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Stevie F says:
The Cheney endorsement doesn’t help KBH much. However, it will make some conservatives feel more comfortable with her and undermine some of Perry’s attacks. She doesn’t have to be every conservative’s dream candidate and she will benefit if she’s credible with conservatives who are uncomfortable with how long Perry has been in office or his lapses (Trans Texas, the HPV vaccine, tinkering with regents, etc).
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Anonymous Reply:
October 29th, 2009 at 1:51 am
Perry’s cover-up on failing to delay (not end) the execution of a Texan is blowing up into a huge deal.
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Anonymous says:
Pure silliness. The R’s are all brain dead, and unfortunately, the brain dead still get to vote in Texas.
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Oscar says:
Kay voted for Bush’s war and Bush’s Bailout. Of course they have to support her. Kay’s problem with me is not that she’s running against Perry, but that she’s running at all after SIXTEEN years in DC. All our problems are DC created problems — Kay created/assisted problems. I don’t get her at all and never have. I would rather vote for Abbott or Mike Williams for Gov, but I will go with Perry.
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Brisoce Democrat Reply:
October 28th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
Oscar, I see Perry winning reelection because of anti-DC sentiment and plus it is NOT a good idea to run for governor or any other statewide office as a DC insider for SIXTEEN YEARS.
KBH is a lying uppity scum bag, she voted for Bush’s bailout package, she voted AGAINST the first Latina Supreme Court Justice (Latinos are not gonna forget it, because the Texas GOP’s days are NUMBERED by 2022 or earlier in 2014) and she can’t even name a person of color on her staff.
Michael Williams is running for her Senate seat and Abbott will either challenge Dewhurst in the primary for Lieutenant Governor or seek reelection as State AG.
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your nuts says:
This all about the Ford admin. Connection. Dick oversaw kBH appointment to the ntsb with out her even having a college degree. Their close from way back then.
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ellie says:
Among my R friends in Texas, Cheney is universally disliked. He will bring KBH down with his newly discovered penchant for grabbing the political microphone.
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Anonymous says:
Cheney’s endorsement of KBH means one thing.. She cashed in her chips because they got a poll back saying she was losing her a** among Republican primary voters. KBH’s whole game plan has been to increase the R primary to people who normally do not vote in R primaries. And if they are trying to turn right as right can go that means their internal polling tells them they are losing badly among likely R voters. With Chaney’s endorsement she just acknowledged that she is losing among likely R primary voters. Really Bad.
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ellie Reply:
October 29th, 2009 at 8:33 am
So she made a deal with the devil to try for a win.
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Stevie F says:
Dick Cheney is credible when he’s trashing Obama. However, when he’s endorsing KBH he’s a liability?
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billrider says:
Paul,
This is only “news” because its the former vice-president. It does not change anything in the race except for KBH reinforcing Perry’s argument that she is trying to bring Washington to Texas. All of these endorsements, for either candidate, don’t matter one bit unless state officials are willing to break rank and support Perry or KBH. There will be a FEW that do but there won’t be any surprise endorsements in this race.
Maybe you will make a surprise endorsement? Yes?
Also, KBH doesn’t need to win the “conservative credibility” battle and I don’t think she is trying to. Remember she is seeking out enlightened Republicans in Texas. Her plan is to inflict as much damage as she can to damage Perry’s credentials to get an ‘X’ percentage of those really disgruntled conservatives to either vote for Debra Medina or not at all. Who knows? Maybe that vote separation is all she needs.
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Hooah! says:
I’ll bet this ends the concept of Texas Ds crossing over to vote for KBH…and a lot of independents as well. Cheney has become poison to all but the loony right.
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