Hutchison Willing To Accept Vice Presidential Nomination

WASHINGTON (AP) – If her party called, Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison says she’d agree to be its nominee for vice president. But, please don’t call, the Texan said Tuesday.

Hutchison has left open the possibility of joining a national ticket. She churned the political speculation again with comments she made to the Washington Times, a conservative newspaper, during an editorial board meeting.

Copies of the article with her comments were circulated by her Senate and campaign offices. “If our party’s nominee called me and said we are putting everything in the grid, and we think you are the best person, would I say no? I can’t imagine that I would say no,” she told the Times.

Hutchison, a member of the Republican Senate leadership, said she was trying not to be coy and give an honest answer after she was asked whether she would accept if an offer was made.

But she also said she doesn’t want the job, is not seeking it and is “not in any way desirous of having it.” “I really don’t want to be vice president. First of all, I like answering to 22 million people better than answering to one and so I like having the ability to represent constituents directly and I want to come home to Texas,” she said.

Along with her stature in the Senate, Hutchison’s gender helped keep her on the list of possible vice presidential nominees, particularly as Republicans look to respond to the presidential candidacy of Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.

Hutchison’s Republican colleagues all said she would make a good vice presidential candidate, though they said an endorsement would be premature.

“I think Senator Hutchison is a proven leader and someone I’ve admired for a long time,” said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a presidential hopeful. Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions, a conservative, said Hutchison is an “exceedingly plausible candidate” who is “philosophically in the mainstream of the Republican party” and “has a proven record of harmony with mainstream Republicans in excess of most probable nominees.”

Hutchison won election to her third six-year term in November, grabbing almost 62 percent of the vote. She remains one of the state’s more popular office holders and as the policy chairwoman holds the fourth highest position in the Senate Republican conference.

She toyed with running for governor last year before deciding not to challenge incumbent Rick Perry. Perry was re-elected with 39 percent of the vote. Out of town trips Perry made later in the year and meetings with top Republican leaders in Congress helped stir speculation he was angling for consideration as a national ticket candidate.

But Perry’s camp said he’s not interested or “desirous” of the job either. “Governor Perry has said repeatedly said he has no interest in going to Washington and he has the best job in the world,” said spokesman Robert Black.

Asked if Perry would take the job if offered, Black said: “I think he would say that’s a bridge he’d cross if he ever came to it, but it’s not something he’s looking for.”

Republican Sen. John Cornyn, Texas’ junior senator, said Hutchison would have an advantage for the nomination over Perry because of her experience in national and foreign affairs. “That’s not something you get working in Austin,” he said.

By SUZANNE GAMBOA

Associated Press Writer

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

AP-NY-01-30-07 1904EST