Kay running again in 2012?

Who didn't see this coming? Kay sure seems like she is running again in 2012 (link). Excerpt follows...

WASHINGTON – Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison hasn't decided whether to retire at the end of 2012, and the possibility that she'll run again leaves a major question mark over the already competitive field of candidates lined up to replace her.

After earlier declining to discuss her plans, saying she is focused solely on her job, the Republican said this week she has set no deadline on deciding whether to seek another six-year term.

"There is no timetable," she said. "I don't want to be hounded for the next whatever time period it is. I'm not thinking about it right now."

Hutchison's experience and 17 years of seniority automatically would make her a contender. But potential opponents – who began angling more than a year ago, when she said she would resign to run for governor – said they are undaunted by the prospect that she could be on the ballot again.

And given the lackluster result of Hutchison's contest against GOP Gov. Rick Perry in March, some say she wouldn't be a shoo-in for re-election.

"There used to be the cliché that Sen. Hutchison was the most popular politician in the state," said Jim Henson , director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas. "That's certainly over."

How vulnerable will Kay be? Pretty vulnerable. She blew through her war chest spending it all against Rick... Rick showed the path to defeat her... she is very vulnerable. If a single alternate candidate can emerge from the field... one of the Williamses perhaps... and make sure no Debra Medina style spoiler candidate enters... that person could definitely take her down.

I think she definitely needs to champion some serious conservative causes over the next two years and hope the tea party thins out...