Hey look a real issue being talked about in the race...

There have been few points of real distinction between Rick and Kay in this race. It has been more "you are too liberal," "no, you are" most of the way through this campaign...

One thing that stands out to me is Rick dinging Kay on earmarks. Kay is porker of the month and all of that good stuff, and she strongly defends her earmarking. Rick says that's bad to waste money on pork barrel projects.

Another issue of true distinction is the unemployment insurance debate. Rick rejected half a billion in federal stimulus dollars for unemployment insurance. Kay said he should have taken it.

Rick was anti bailout, Kay voted for it.

There are a lot more issues out there, and there are some very clear differences in terms of style an tactics, but Kay's team is good at blurring the lines and confusing which candidate is really for what policy...

Now Bill MacKenzie has a blog talking about Rick's education initiatives (link). Excerpt follows...

Well, what do you know? A real, live idea has emerged in our governor's race. Instead of the hourly whack-the-opponent press releases that come from each side, Gov. Rick Perry announced Thursday his plan to increase the number of T-Stem academies in Texas.

T-Stem is a program aimed at getting more students interested in technology, science, engineering and math. And since we often discuss the importance of those subjects here, I won't go into great detail about why that matters. Rather, here's why the governor is right:

There is a growing body of evidence that shows these academies, which can operate as schools within a school, are producing desirable results. Here in North Texas, we have at least four examples.

Berkner High School in Richardson has a T-Stem academy, and, among other things, the school touts one of its students as having won a prestigious statewide math contest. At least part of that success is due to the project focus that Berkner uses in getting students to have a hands-on feel for science, math, technology and engineering. And the teaching at Berkner is drawing notice. Texas Instruments recently inducted a Berkner T-Stem teacher into its academy for recognized math and science teachers.

[SNIP]

Score one for the governor for introducing a serious idea into the campaign. And score an even bigger one for T-Stem academies. They deserve this boost.

What is ironic about MacKenzie's blog is that he bemoans that the campaigns are sniping back and forth at each other too much, but it took him almost a week to pick up on the T-Stem story. The press like the sniping, no matter how much they complain about it... they prefer the conflict to actual policy discussions...

They allow candidates to get away with never giving any policy ideas. Maybe MacKenzie is making a concerted effort to do more than just follow the sniping and is instead going to start covering the policy platforms and accomplishments of the candidates...

It will be a lot more boring, but it will serve the public interest better than play by play of campaign sniping...