Campaign '08

Hutchison Says She Hasn't Been Asked To Be VP Pick

AUSTIN (AP) ― U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said Thursday she hasn't been asked to be John McCain's running mate, despite some speculation that she's a possible choice for the No. 2 spot on the Republican ticket.

The Texas senator told a gathering of the Texas Association of Counties that she doesn't have plans to be in Ohio on Friday, where McCain could announce his vice presidential pick. Hutchison later told news reporters she believes McCain has made his choice and that she has not been asked to be his nominee.

"As you all know I said very early on that my sights were a different place and I did not want to be considered," she said. "I do support John McCain. We are certainly friends, and I think he has a lot of good options and I'm told that's he's made the decision."

McCain and his running mate are expected to appear at one or more rallies planned for Ohio, Pennsylvania and Missouri before the Republican National Convention begins Sunday in Minnesota.

Hutchison, scheduled to address the convention Wednesday night to talk about a national energy plan, said she has been honored to be in the swirl of running mate speculation.

"It's been really overwhelming in the last week or so," she said.

Speaking to the counties' association, Hutchison sounded much more like a potential Republican candidate for Texas governor in 2010.

After drawing big laughs and applause by telling the association "I do not have a plane ticket to Ohio tomorrow," she added, "Austin, however ...." It was an apparent reference to her interest in running for governor.

Toward the end of her speech someone shouted out encouragement for a gubernatorial run. She responded: "Let me just end by saying, I appreciate everything that you have said." She told the audience members she looks forward to working with them, "wherever I am."

Hutchsion has said she will leave the Senate at the end of her current term or sooner. Her term runs through 2012.

Republican Gov. Rick Perry says he is running for a third term, and Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is interested in the GOP gubernatorial race in 2010.

Hutchison would not confirm Thursday that she is running for governor, though she alluded to her future political plans.

"I am going to go through this election helping the people who are running in this election. I think that they deserve that. But after this election I will be beginning to put in place the timetable to take the next step," she said.

Addressing the county officials, she again criticized the Trans-Texas Corridor toll road program, a pet project of Perry's. She said toll roads should not be forced on communities and that no tolling should be done on roads built and paid for with tax dollars.

Investments in passenger trains among Texas cities could be part of the state's transportation solution as the population grows, she said.

Hutchison said the federal Highway Trust Fund is heading toward a crisis and needs to be repaired, possibly by allowing states to opt out of it and keep all of their gas tax dollars.

She talked up her work to improve living conditions in colonias developments that have sprung up along Texas' border with Mexico. She said she wants to look at ways to strengthen the ordinance-making powers of counties to crack down on substandard development.

(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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