Kay Bailout vs. The Rickflopper

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison isn't officially a candidate for the Governor's race yet, but you wouldn't know it by the tone of some of the barbs being swapped by Senator Hutchison's camp and Governor Perry's camp. Feast on this juicy exchange from the Houston Chronicle:

Perry's press secretary, Mark Miner, referred to Hutchison as "Kay Bailout" in an Oct. 25 story about a poll done for the Houston Chronicle that showed Harris County voters favored Hutchison over Perry 46 percent to 30 percent. (The same poll showed Houston Mayor Bill White beating both Hutchison and Perry.)

Marc Short, a spokesman for Hutchison, said Perry flip-flopped on the bailout bill.

"Being for the bill before being against the bill is how you get 39 percent of the vote after six years in office," Short said, referring to Perry's share of the vote in 2006 when a Democrat and two independent candidates were on the ballot.

Something tells me that Governor Perry's press secretary wasn't freelancing when he labeled the senior Senator from Texas as "Kay Bailout" (he still has a job, right?). Likewise, I doubt that Senator Hutchison's spokesman took an extemporaneous swipe at Governor Perry's election return in 2006.

Folks, these two aren't even officially candidates yet. Imagine how much fun this is going to get to be once it really begins!