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Kay Bailey Hutchison on Principles & ValuesRepublican Sr Senator (TX) |
A: Oh, yeah [laughs]. My 1st office was in 1972 when I was elected to the Texas Legislature, and I was the 1st Republican women elected to the Texas Legislature, ever, so I had to prove myself. I had to overcome the obstacles just to get elected, and that process was hard. And it was tough, but I hung in there and took that 1st step. Then there was no statewide elected Republican in Texas when I ran for state treasurer; there had been a governor and a senator, but never a lieutenant governor or an attorney general or a state treasurer. And I ran anyway, and won. And so that was another barrier. So, you know, all those barriers, and now no one thinks that it's unusual that there are a number of Republican women in the state legislature. And we have statewide office holders and it's no big deal. That's what I want: for it to be no big deal.
Two years later, in 1990, two more Republicans (Rove clients as well) were elected to statewide office, and they would shape state politics for 2 decades. Kay Bailey Hutchinson was elected treasurer, succeeding Ann Richards. Democrats then abolished the position, which made me wonder if political payback is about the only grounds on which Democrats abolish government posts. The other winner, Democrat Rick Perry, had planned to retire from the legislature until his best friend and I talked him into switching partied and running for th GOP nomination for agriculture commissioner. Perry swept rural counties because, as a rancher, he actually knew something about agriculture; he won the suburbs because of his marquee good looks and conservative values. He became governor in 2000.
Hutchison has also gained the respect and confidence of her colleagues in the Senate. In December, she was elected without opposition to the position of vice chairwoman of the Republican Conference. She is the first Republican woman to be elected to a Senate leadership position since Margaret Chase Smith served as conference secretary in the 1960s. "It really does make a difference in what you are able to accomplish," Hutchison says of her leadership role. "You're in the room when there are discussions about strategies & priorities. Your voice is heard."
"In the past month, many Senators have asked me about my judicial philosophy. It is simple: fidelity to the law. The task of a judge is not to make the law--it is to apply the law. And it is clear, I believe, that my record in two courts reflects my rigorous commitment to interpreting the Constitution according to its terms; interpreting statutes according to their terms and Congress's intent; and hewing faithfully to precedents established by the Supreme Court and my Circuit Court. In each case I have heard, I have applied the law to the facts at hand."
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