Palin backs Perry over Hutchison

Sarah Palin knocked Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) as a Washington insider during a rally with Gov. Rick Perry (R) in Houston Sunday. 

"So on March 2 you have a clear choice," Palin said during her first campaign appearance of 2010. "I want to hear Texas, what's it gonna be: the way they operate in D.C. or the way y'all get things done in Texas?"

Perry, already the state's longest-serving governor, is seeking a third term. He faces Hutchison in next month's GOP primary.

Fresh from her appearance at the Tea Party convention in Nashville, Palin entered the Berry Center on Perry's arm wearing a black velvet dress and knee-high suede boots, according to the Houston Chronicle.

The former Alaska governor told the crowd of 6,000 that a Perry win "will send a message to Washington ... Washington is broken, but your state, under Rick Perry, is setting an example that a lot of others want to follow."

Palin also said that she told her daughter Piper, with her on stage, that Texas was Alaska's "little-sister state."

"A lot of us in our states proudly cling to our guns and religion," she said, referencing a comment President Barack Obama made during the 2008 Democratic primary.

Asked about the Palin appearance, Hutchison pointed to her own support from former Vice President Dick Cheney and former President George H.W. Bush, who she said would be campaigning for her. "I'm just running my campaign, and I'm very proud of my endorsements," Hutchison told reporters. Her campaign also released a statement that said "despite today's theatrics, there's no covering up Rick Perry's decade-long record of cronyism in office."

Meanwhile, Perry touted Palin's ability to get liberals to "literally foam at the mouth."

"I doubt there is another public figure in our country who gives liberals a bigger case of the hives than our special guest today," he said. "At the very mention of her name, the liberals, the progressives, the media elites, they literally foam at the mouth."

Palin said on "Fox News Sunday" that she "won't close the door" on a potential presidential bid. But asked whether a Palin-Perry ticket might be a possibility in 2012, Perry spokesman Mark Miner was adamant. 

“Never gonna happen,” he said, noting that Perry is happy staying in Texas.

Palin's expected to make several other campaign appearances this year. Next month, she'll be in Arizona with Sen. John McCain (R) and in April she'll campaign with Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.).