kay bailey hutchison: hypocrite

April 13, 2006

a broken promise:

REPLACING BENTSEN/THE RACE FOR U.S. SENATE/Two more Republicans jump into Senate race
ALAN BERNSTEIN, R.G. RATCLIFFE
Staff
564 words
14 January 1993
Houston Chronicle
2 STAR
17
English
(Copyright 1993)

With Democrats rallying behind Bob Krueger, two more Republicans jumped Wednesday into the special election race for the U.S. Senate seat Krueger is set to occupy temporarily.

State Treasurer Kay Bailey Hutchison and U.S. Rep. Jack Fields of Humble announced they will join fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Barton of Ennis in the campaign for outgoing Sen. Lloyd Bentsen's post.

Gov. Ann Richards has named Krueger to replace Bentsen until a special election is held, most likely on May 1. Bentsen is expected to be confirmed next week as U.S. Treasury secretary.

Krueger won endorsements for the special election this week from the Texas AFL-CIO and the state Democratic Party's governing committee. Richards and party leaders are working to unify Democratic activists behind Krueger to thwart the potential candidacy of former Attorney General Jim Mattox, a Democrat.

Hutchison has served in a variety of public posts but cast herself as the outsider candidate for Bentsen's seat, while Fields portrayed himself as the candidate who can best appeal to blue-collar and working Texans.

Both promised to serve a maximum of two six-year terms in the Senate and support term limits for members of Congress.

Hutchison said her goal as senator would be to erase the federal deficit, create jobs and pass a balanced budget law.

She said she has voluntarily reduced her state agency's budget, beyond the 10 percent cuts ordered by the Legislature, and would take the same approach to the Senate.

In what could be viewed as an attack on Barton and Fields, Hutchison said voters can't change government ""by sending the same old faces back to Congress.''

After four years as a state lawmaker from Bellaire and West University Place, Hutchison served in 1976-77 on the National Transportation Safety Board in Washington, D.C. She moved to Dallas in 1978 and made an unsuccessful bid for a U.S. House seat there in 1982.

Yet Hutchison told reporters that she is the ""outsider'' contender because she is not part of the congressional network.

Fields took a veiled swipe at Hutchison, who has been part of the Dallas political establishment associated with the exclusive neighborhood of Highland Park.

""It's easy to give a speech in Highland Park and get a good response. It's another thing to be at the plant gates of Deer Park, communicating with average Texans,'' he said.

Fields, outside the city hall in his hometown of Humble, said he wouldn't vote for any new taxes and would work to block attempts to trim benefits for senior citizens and boost inheritance taxes.

He said he was the only candidate whose record and accomplishments have been tested long-term in ""a major media market,'' the Houston area.

Fields wrote 22 overdrafts for a total of $10,000 at the now-closed House bank. But he said the check-bouncing was not an issue in his last campaign, in which he trounced a little-known Democrat, and he does not expect it to become an issue in the Senate race. Fields has served in the U.S. House since 1981.

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NEWS
Hutchison, Fields turn up heat in Senate campaigns
Anne Marie Kilday, Sam Attlesey
Staff Writers of The Dallas Morning News
1015 words
29 April 1993
The Dallas Morning News
HOME FINAL
14D
English
(Copyright 1993)

Republican U.S. Senate candidates Kay Bailey Hutchison and Jack Fields stepped up their appeals Wednesday as a pair of new polls indicated that Ms. Hutchison is closing in on an expected runoff spot.

Ms. Hutchison, the state treasurer, mostly ignored her GOP foes, turning her fire against Democratic Sen. Bob Krueger, the front-runner in Saturday's election, and President Clinton.

At airport stops in six West Texas cities, Ms. Hutchison repeatedly told supporters she would "help Bill Clinton when I think he is right, and I will fight him when he is wrong.'

"And I think his economic plan is all wrong,' Ms. Hutchison said.

Mr. Fields, a congressman from Humble, campaigned in the Rio Grande Valley and West Texas, stressing his proposed $385 billion in federal budget cuts and his experience in Congress.

"Texas needs a senator who can be effective on Day One,' he said.

Two independent polls released Wednesday indicated that Mr. Krueger, named to replace Lloyd Bentsen, is leading the 24-candidate pack in the special election but does not have enough support to avoid a runoff. If no one gets a majority, the top two vote-getters advance to a runoff, probably June 5.

A Houston Chronicle poll published Wednesday showed Mr. Krueger with 26 percent, followed by Ms. Hutchison at 19 percent. Twenty-five percent of those surveyed were undecided.

The newspaper poll had Mr. Fields third at 12 percent; U.S. Rep. Joe Barton at 10 percent; Dallas Democrat Richard Fisher at 6 percent; and Dallas Democrat Jose Angel Gutierrez at 1 percent. One percent picked other candidates.

The statewide telephone survey of 621 registered voters, conducted Saturday through Monday, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

A poll by Mason-Dixon Political Media Research of Columbia, Md., reported Wednesday by one of its sponsors, KXAS-TV (Channel 5) in Fort Worth, put Mr. Krueger and Ms. Hutchison in a tie at 27 percent. They were followed by Mr. Fields at 13 percent, Mr. Fisher at 8 percent and Mr. Barton at 6 percent. The remainder either supported other candidates or were undecided.

The telephone poll of 829 registered voters, conducted Tuesday and Wednesday, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

The Chronicle survey also showed that in a runoff Ms. Hutchison would lead Mr. Krueger, 40 percent to 36 percent, with the rest unsure.

Ms. Hutchison said the expected runoff will be a referendum on the Clinton administration, as well as the differences between Mr. Krueger and herself on the issues.

She criticized the president's first 100 days in office, saying, "It has been nothing but broken campaign pledges and proposals to raise taxes.'

Campaigning with Ms. Hutchison on "Take Your Daughter to Work' day were Reagan Rath, 10, and McLaren Weeks, 13, daughters of campaign supporters and staff. Reagan is the daughter of Diane Rath, Ms. Hutchison's Bexar County campaign chairman, and McLaren is the daughter of campaign media consultant David Weeks.

Ms. Hutchison also repeated her pledge to serve only two terms in the U.S. Senate, if elected.

And, she said, term limits ought to cover all senators -- including U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas.

Asked whether the two-term restriction ought to apply to all senators, Ms. Hutchison said: "Oh, absolutely. I'm a strong believer in term limitations.'

Mr. Gramm, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, is in the middle of his second six-year term.

Ms. Hutchison conceded: "We would lose Phil Gramm. But I think the good outweighs the bad.'

Ms. Hutchison and Mr. Fields almost kept up a tradition in Texas Senate campaigns -- crossing paths on an airport tarmac. The candidates avoided each other by ducking into separate restrooms.

Ms. Hutchison said she is seeking the support of Texas women because she believes that women voters decided the 1990 gubernatorial election won by Democrat Ann Richards.

"The woman's vote is very important to me,' Ms. Hutchison said.

At almost every stop, Ms. Hutchison fielded questions about earlier allegations from former treasury aides that she struck some employees and directed them to conduct her political and personal business on public time.

She has denied the allegations and said she passed a polygraph test in an effort to prove the reports were false.

"I am very, very pleased that the people of Texas have seen through this political sleaze,' she said.

Mr. Fields did not bring up the allegations during his campaigning but didn't shy away from discussing the subject when asked.

"I think Ms. Hutchison has a real problem,' he said. "Physical abuse in the workplace is absolutely wrong.'

He said the accusations will hurt Republicans' chances of winning the Senate seat if Ms. Hutchison is one of the two top finishers.

"Bob Krueger will talk about abuse in the workplace for 30 days. She's got a big problem,' Mr. Fields said.

Mr. Fields said the allegations are causing Ms. Hutchison's "negatives' to go up in the polls while he still has momentum in the final days of the campaign.

He predicted that a low turnout on Saturday will help him because his loyal supporters will cast ballots in large numbers. "I think this race is up for grabs,' he said.

Craig Murphy, a spokesman for Mr. Barton, R-Ennis, said the survey indicates a race so close that the key to Saturday's election will be which campaigns do the best job getting supporters to the polls.

"He is leading in the North Texas area and the North Texas area is leading in turnout' based on early voter turnout, he said.

Also running for the Senate are Billy Brown, Louis Davis, Rick Draheim, Rose Floyd, Lottie Bolling Hancock, Roger Henson, Stephen Hopkins, Charles Ben Howell, Gene Kelly, C. "Sonny' Payne, Don Richardson, Chuck Sibley, Thomas Spink, Herbert Spiro, Maco Stewart, James Vallaster, Clymer Wright and Lou Zaeske.

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Copyright 1994 The Austin American-Statesman
Austin American-Statesman (Texas)

View Related Topics

November 09, 1994 WEDNESDAY

SECTION: NEWS

LENGTH: 553 words

HEADLINE: Hutchison cruises to decisive victory for full Senate

BYLINE: Linda Leavell; David Elliot

BODY:
DALLAS - Republican U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison swept to a landslide
victory Tuesday, dominating her opponent in every region of the state.

Claiming a full six-year term, Hutchison defeated Democrat Richard
Fisher, a Dallas financier who has never held public office.

"This time, it's for real!" Hutchison told hundreds of supporters in a
packed ballroom in a North Dallas hotel.

"Today, America corrected its course. The people of America have spoken
and our voices are making a difference. Just a year and a half ago, Texans
started a ripple across the water that has turned into a tidal wave across
this country."

With 55 percent of the precincts reporting, Hutchison had captured 61
percent of the vote to Fisher's 39 percent. Libertarian candidate Pierre
Blondeau received 1 percent.

Fisher, however, said he was not deflated by the crushing defeat. Of
the wide margin between the candidates, he quipped, "Remember what Mark
Twain said about opera: 'It's not as bad as it sounds.' "

Hutchison said her re-election was a mandate for her to return to
Washington to fight for a balanced budget amendment, tax breaks for
homemakers, fewer regulations for small business owners, a strong national
defense, and term limitations.

"I've always said that I would serve no more than two full terms. This
may be my last term or I could run for one more. But no more after that. I
firmly believe in term limitations and I plan to adhere to that," Hutchison
said.

She also acknowledged that she was savoring the victory.

"Well, after four elections in 18 months, you know, it's been a
marathon, and I am having a great time. . . . We knew that Texas was rough
and tumble, but it was real rough and tumble. And now we're enjoying the
victory and ready to go to work."

Hutchison finished first in the May 1993 special Senate election to
choose a successor to Lloyd Bentsen, then easily won the June runoff
against appointed Democratic Sen. Bob Krueger with 67 percent of the vote.
She also breezed past six little-known opponents in this year's GOP
primary.

Hutchison dominated Fisher throughout the state. Her largest margin was
in West Texas, and she carried both Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston by
substantial margins, exit polls showed.

The exit poll showed Hutchison put together a strong coalition of
Republicans and independents in her victory.

Preliminary results showed honesty was the issue most often mentioned
as mattering most to voters, followed by health care and President Clinton.

Hutchison, who earlier this year was acquitted of charges she misused
the state treasurer's office, had a slight edge among voters who listed
honesty as a key concern. She also had a slight majority among those who
cited health care, and a three-to-one lead among those who mentioned
Clinton.

Fisher beat former Attorney General Jim Mattox in a bruising runoff
election in April after the two edged Congressman Mike Andrews in the
Democratic primary in March.

Mattox said Tuesday night that Fisher's presence at the top of the
ticket hurt Democrats. "It appears he threw in the towel at least 60 or 90
days ago," Mattox said.
Staff writer David Elliott contributed to this report.

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KBH: HYPOCRITE.

Comments:

Didn't KBH start out as a local texas news correspondent covering the Bush dynasty favorably?

I could be way off on that one but I seem to remember something else about how she slithered her way up the ladder....

Posted by: heath at April 14, 2006 09:36 AM

Give her a break. She's yet to "erase the federal deficit" or "pass a balanced budget law."

Posted by: Steve Brady at April 14, 2006 10:18 AM

Heath, you're right. She used to be a big-haired talking boobjob for one of the networks in Dallas or was it Houston? So long ago.....

She's a (grand)old party hat the likes of which Katherine Harris aspires to be.

Posted by: TEXASexy at April 14, 2006 12:16 PM

if she was on the air in dallas, it was previous to my relocating here in 93.

i can completely imagine her being a bobble head, though. i remember people nicknaming her "the breck girl". and what was the deal w/her husband? i need to go google and read up on that.

Posted by: anna at April 14, 2006 08:51 PM