Rick and Kay on the stimulus...

Ballot Box blog has a good discussion of the differences between Rick and Kay on the stimulus (link). Excerpts follow:

The G.O.P. primary for governor between incumbent Rick Perry and U.S. Sen Kay Bailey Hutchison promises to be one of the most intriguing, expensive elections of 2010. The race also promises to be one the longest -- voters won't go to the polls for nearly a year, but already the two candidates are in campaign mode. The most recent source of disagreement: The stimulus.

[SNIP]

If Hutchison is claiming the mantle of stimulus defender, that's a tad ironic. She voted against the legislation in Congress. That Perry is presenting himself as a stimulus critic is equally misleading. He's accepting the vast majority of the money that Washington is offering.

Besides the irony, Hutchison's stand is, on its face, politically puzzling. Most Republicans don't like the stimulus. The easiest move for Hutchison would be to criticize Perry for all of the money he is accepting and to ignore the small amount of money he is rejecting.

It is strange. If I were in Kay's inner circle [AHEM, cough cough, you know who you are], I would be advising her to lay the groundwork for GOP primary voters, rather than attacking Rick from the left on this and other issues.