Big-Name Showdown in Texas Has Already Started

“Come and Take It” reads the white-on-black lettering across the top of Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s boots, a slogan ostensibly about the 1835 Texas War of Independence but one that could easily apply to his 2010 Republican primary challenge from Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Perry, during a sit-down with a dozen or so Washington-based reporters late last week, said that although Hutchison has already announced her candidacy, he is still skeptical that she will run. “There are still opportunities for her to stay here in Washington and do the job she was elected to do,” said Perry, adding that Texas voters regularly ask him why Hutchison is running.

Perry said a run by Hutchison would be detrimental to the party’s prospects, as the two would probably spend upwards of $50 million — money better spent electing candidates to the state House in advance of the 2011 redistricting. “It is beyond me how anybody thinks [a primary] is good for the Republican Party,” he said.

For all his bluster, Perry appears to be, at the root, engaging in a bit of wishful thinking as it relates to Hutchison. The senator has already embarked on a statewide tour and has hired a fleet of campaign operatives.

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