(Editor's note: This blog post was written by LSR Contributing Editor William Murchison, who was at the Hutchison event in Dallas tonight.)
DALLAS -- What next?
Beyond unity in November against the Democrats, a disappointed U. S. Sen Kay Bailey Hutchison offered no vision of the political road ahead for her in 2010, what with Gov. Rick Perry’s triumphant re-nomination Tuesday.
Reporters tried to sound her out. She turned her head smilingly away, exiting backstage with husband Ray after conceding the race to Perry.
“Tonight we fell short,” she told a crowd of several hundred Dallas friends and supporters gathered at the Eddie Deen Ranch, a Texas-themed party spot just south of Downtown Dallas.
Hutchison, speaking just after 9 p.m., said she had phoned Perry to congratulate him. She likewise congratulated third-place primary finisher Debra Medina.
Wearing a smart royal blue dress, with a large nylon Texas flag at her back, Hutchison enjoined fellow Republicans to “put aside differences, embrace the new people who have come into our party today.”
“We must win Texas,” she said, “for Republicans, and for our conservative principles in November.
Hutchison paid special tribute to the high-profile Republicans who backed her candidacy -- former President and Mrs. George H. W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and former Secretaries of State James Baker and Henry Kissinger. She further singled out the Texas Farm Bureau for its firm support – a reaction in part to Perry’s veto three years ago of an eminent domain bill strongly backed by the agricultural community.