For how long should Hutchison vote?

In deciding to delay her resignation from the U.S. Senate until late 2009, at the earliest, Kay Bailey Hutchison has ensured that Texas will continue to have a senior lawmaker watching out for its interests. But her decision to stay longer may create political problems for her planned race for governor.

“It’s a tradeoff,” she conceded in an interview. “It may cause problems. On the other hand, I feel it is better for me and Texas to stay in place as long as I can so that I can help Texas do better in this transition time.”

For months, there has been speculation Hutchison would leave the Senate in mid-2009, perhaps after the Texas legislative session, to pursue the governor’s mansion.

She fueled that speculation in fall 2007 when she told Texas Monthly that it probably would be “better for Texas” if she left early and let a successor start amassing seniority.

Another reason: to make clear she was serious and dispel any doubts created by the way she backed away from running for that office in 2006. And an early resignation would spare her from casting dozens of potentially controversial Senate votes that could be fodder for Texas foes.

Her likely primary rival, Gov. Rick Perry, has attacked her vote for the massive financial bailout bill, which his polls show is unpopular with Texas Republicans.

As Hutchison acknowledges, “If you want to run against a member of the House or Senate, you can always find something that can be distorted, like making a vote against increasing a program a vote against that program.” But she said she’ll defend her efforts to earmark federal funds for Texas projects: “I will try to show people how effective I have been in ensuring Texas priorities can be met.”

In announcing creation of an exploratory committee to map a 2010 governor’s race, Hutchison indicated that early resignation was no longer her preference. “If I should quit, I would not intend to resign before the end of next year,” she said.

Contentious issues

That may force her to decide almost weekly whether to stay in Washington and cast votes or spend the time in Texas campaigning. She’ll have to vote on such contentious issues as federal support of stem cell research, which she supports, and massive spending bills to fund federal programs.

She also might find herself caught between conflicting strategies that could divide Senate Republicans over new President Barack Obama’s plans to push a broad domestic program that includes an expansion of national health insurance and increased alternative-energy facilities as part of a massive stimulus package.

Some conservatives have signaled they will resist much of the Obama agenda on the grounds that it’s too expensive and would give the federal government too much power. But moderate Republicans, especially those up for re-election in states Obama carried, may be more sympathetic.

Hutchison, who has a reputation for taking a positive approach and seeking middle ground, falls somewhere between the two factions.

Indeed, in announcing her exploratory committee, she offered herself as a contrast to what she called a “very contentious and acrimonious” atmosphere in Austin.

The longer she stays in the Senate, the greater the danger of getting caught up in situations that could complicate her bid for governor. From a sheer political standpoint, an early resignation would seem to make more sense.

X Carl P. Leubsdorf is Washington bureau chief of the Dallas Morning News. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.