Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison are exchanging barbs over each other’s praise of former First Lady Hillary Clinton.

Perry’s political opponents are circulating a letter he wrote to the then-First Lady praising her health care reform efforts.

The move comes in response to a video Perry's re-election campaign made showing Clinton speaking highly of fellow U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Perry is bracing for a potential Republican primary challenge by Hutchison in 2006.

Hutchison's campaign aides say Perry's letter shows he was a hypocrite in making the video, which has circulated rapidly among conservative activists.

But Perry's campaign says there's no comparison between him writing a letter on behalf of his constituents in 1993 and Hutchison accepting praise in person from "a rather liberal New York senator."

Clinton's efforts at health care reform failed and Perry has since criticized her plan.