And just like that... an issue distinction on guns...

Second Amendment rights are near and dear to most Texans... independents and Republicans and even many Democrats are... if not gun owners... gun rights supporters.

This puts Bill White on the opposite side of most Texas voters...

As I mentioned in my blog earlier today (link) about Rick and Bill White poll numbers allegedly tightening, Rick and his peeps would do better contrasting issues than trying to spend all of their time painting Bill White as unethical and shady, however unethical and shady he may be. Polls can be dubious this far out though... Rick was down by 2 to Kay with 5 or 6 months remaining in the campaign according to Rasmussen.... with 7 months to go Rick is up by 4? I don't buy that this will be that close in the end. Part of the problem with early polls is that it is hard to tell who will get out and vote. This is a Republican year. Bill White is a liberal Democrat (link). Excerpt follows...

Call me crazy, but White is going to have a hard time convincing Texans that his opposition to Thune’s reciprocity legislation and his stand against the Tiahrt amendment were aimed at stopping the flow of illegal guns. He’d have better luck arguing that denying me butter will somehow make Rosie O’Donnell thin.

And it’s demonstrable that other Democrats in Texas have distanced themselves from White in the past for fear that his anti-gun reputation would render them unelectable. Last July, former Texas Comptroller John Sharp (D) commented on White’s intention to run for Senate: "Mr. White's war on guns is already making it impossible for him to be elected statewide in Texas.… He should immediately disassociate himself from [‘Mayors Against Illegal Guns’] so he doesn't also hurt the chances of other Democrats running for public office."

[SNIP]

While White is running from his anti-gun past, Perry strongly supports the individual right to gun ownership and the subsequent right to use guns in self-defense. White has no pro-gun endorsements whatsoever but Perry has the endorsements of the National Rifle Association and the Texas State Rifle Association,

The bottom line is this: Perry is a pro-gun governor and White is an anti-gun Democrat.

Texas will have to secede from itself before White has a chance of winning.

Rick and his peeps are going to need to start making more of these policy distinctions, because Bill White's buddies in the press aren't going to do it for them.