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Kay Bailey Hutchinson.

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If you ask everybody in Austin right now, they'll say Kay Bailey Hutchison is definitely running for governor in 2010, and, in fact, she's been telling people in Austin for six months or more that she's running and that they shouldn't commit to anybody else. Can you shed a little light on the subject?

Well, I have been talking to people quietly about what I hope I can do, what I'd like to be able to do. I haven't made a commitment in any way because it's just too early--it% too early to be gearing up. I don't want to peak in 2007 for a 2010 race. Would I like to do it? Yes. A lot of things have to happen to make it a reality. You can't plan that far ahead with certainty.

So as of today, you are not a candidate for governor? Oh, no.

Can you tell me some of the things that would have to happen?

I would have to feel that it was the right time for Texas for me to leave the Senate. I would have to feel like I have an agenda, that I'm ready to go. I do have ideas, but if I run for governor, I'm going to have a vision and a plan, and I'll want to do big things. That takes time.

When I interviewed you in the fall of 2004, we had a conversation looking ahead to the 2006 governor's race, and you said very much the same thing you're saying today. I wonder if anything's different this time.

Yes, it is different. I felt that, last time, with everything considered, it was not the right time for Texas, and it was probably not the right time for the Republican party to have that kind of challenge. I feel today that this is the right time frame. My term would be up in 2012. I would not run for reelection--

Regardless of whether you run for governor, you won't run again?

Right. So is it better for Texas for me to leave early and give someone else a chance to start building seniority before the class of 2013? I think it probably is. Plus, I'm really humbled by the number of people who believe we need leadership in Texas that I can provide. And there's not anyone who could really make a case to me that this would be divisive for the Republican party in a way that would make me step back.

Although you may very well have a primary challenge.

Definitely. I would look forward to having...

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