The Hill News

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) appeared cool to Texas Gov. Rick Perry's (R) possible presidential ambitions, saying it's "pretty far" along in the campaign to win her support.

Hutchison, who wrangled with Perry in a sometimes-bitter 2010 primary for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, said that she thought Perry would be a "formidable" contender for the nomination nonetheless.

"He certainly will be formidable. He has a very good political team ... I know that firsthand," she said Friday on MSNBC.

"We just have to see how things play out. I've talked to other candidates I like very much," she added. "I haven't made a decision [on an endorsement], but I think we're pretty far on down the road."

Perry is said to be taking a second look at running for president amid a field that has no real strong frontrunner. His possible campaign won coverage this week in the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post, which only stoked fu! rther speculation that he could make a late entry into the race.

The resignation by a slew of senior aides to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's (R-Ga.) presidential campaign -- many of whom had also done stints with Perry -- could provide him with a base of staff and advisers to mount a campaign.