As Markos told us yesterday, the shifting dynamics of the Texas Governor's race might be prompting potential Perry primary challenger Kay Bailey Hutchison to ditch the Senate earlier than the NRSC in Washington would like.
What is notable about that, of course, is that the senator who is in charge of the NRSC is none other than John Cornyn. Cornyn is the junior senator from Texas. From all reports, he'd like to REMAIN the junior senator from Texas for a while longer.
Cornyn is apparently petrified that a Democrat with a jump on the competition, like Houston mayor Bill White or former state comptroller John Sharp, could overwhelm a Republican who is too many days and too many dollars behind in a short special election cycle (if KBH resigns in the Fall, the special would likely be in the Spring of 2010).
So, an early KBH depature from Washington would be bad news for Cornyn. What's worse news, perhaps, is that she does not seem to be particularly eager to help her Senate mate out.
Check out this quote from John Cornyn on the issue. When pressed about a possible date of her resignation by the Houston Chronicle, he was pretty evasive:
"My guess," he told Texas reporters at his Senate office today, is that Hutchison will resign "this fall sometime."
That would allow Perry to appoint an interim senator and allow a special election to take place in May 2010 instead of this November (which would happen if she resigned this spring or summer).
But Cornyn readily admits that he has no inside info.
"There's only one person who knows," the San Antonio Republican said, "and it's not me."
Isn't that interesting??
It would be a curious development, to say the least, if a prominent US Senator did not make her ambitions to resign and seek her state's governorship known to the head of the campaign committee for her chamber.
But when said committee head is the other senator from her state??!!??
That's just freaking bizarre....
Equally peculiar is Cornyn commenting on it in the way he did. He could have said "Senator Hutchison will make her decision at the appropriate time" and be done with it.
But "There's only one person who knows, and it's not me"? That sounds more like a cry for help than some kind of declarative statement.
He seems to WANT people to know that Hutchison and he are not communicating on this. Is that a shot across the bow to KBH and her staff?? Telling them that he knows he is being kept out of the loop, and he ain't crazy about it? Or is he genuinely afraid she'll announce early enough to necessitate a November '09 special election (which would really put a prospective GOP candidate behind the eight-ball)?
Keep an eye on this one, not just for a potential surprise Senate horse race, but because of the internal dynamics between Senators Cornyn and Hutchison.