Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

LA MARQUE — The first time he said it, you weren't sure you had heard what you thought you heard. The second time, there was no doubt.

The disembodied announcer voice at Kay Bailey Hutchison's gubernatorial campaign kickoff event was mispronouncing the name of her high school.

La Marque (la mark) High School had been fancified to La Marquis (la mar-kee) High School.

"They keep saying it," a La Marque cheerleader said to a fellow cheerleader in the school gym where Hutchison announced her candidacy.

So it was on Monday as a former La Marque cheerleader returned to start what is sure to be a nasty battle with Gov. Rick Perry for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. On camera, everything went well enough — once Hutchison's minions moved the relatively small crowd to where they could look largest.

"First we were there. Then we were behind the rope. Then we were back there. And now we're in front of the podium," Hutchison backer Bill Settle of Sugar Land said after Hutchison aides finally had decided on a spot for him and the rest of the crowd.

For all the rhetoric and wrangling, everything Hutchison wanted to convey was summed up on a banner bearing her campaign slogan: "Kay. Because we can do better."

That's the battle cry as she violates the 11th commandment offered by one of her party's latter-day saints.

"Thou shall not speak ill of any fellow Republican," Ronald Reagan used to say.

Hutchison now is well beyond just speaking ill of Perry. In fact, she is blaming him for all manner of ills. She praised her foe as a "dedicated public servant" who "loves Texas."

And, she said, we can't stand much more of his love, blaming Perry for high property taxes, increased state debt, "skyrocketing" college tuition, high rates of high school dropouts, large numbers of uninsured kids and "at-risk" private property rights.

It was enough to make you wonder what kind of jerks keep electing this guy.

Hutchison offered specifics on some topics, but was heavier on identifying problems than listing solutions. To be fair, there's plenty of time for that as the March 2 primary approaches.

On education, Hutchison committed what's become a common sin among candidates of her generation.

"I want to help to create an education system like I had," said Hutchison, La Marque High School, class of 1961.

No thanks. I'll pass on that.

Yes, 1961 was a great time to be in Texas public schools — if you were white and didn't face learning disabilities. La Marque High School was segregated when Hutchison attended.

Forgive me for clouding some folks' rosy memories of school days gone by, but I don't want to create an education system like the one Hutchison (or any other candidate of her generation) had in the good old days.

Yes, education has become far more challenging these days. And it's for a positive reason. We've decided to challenge ourselves to educate everyone, not just the healthy white kids. So let's be wary of any graduate of a segregated school who wants to "create an education system like I had."

Texas has changed for the better, even if it means that some of our schools may have changed for the worse.

La Marque High School now is predominantly made up of minorities. I didn't see a white face among the cheerleaders, drill team members and drum-line participants on hand for Hutchison's announcement. (FYI, some of the drill team gyrations offered an eye-opening reminder that cheerleading has changed since Hutchison's days on the squad.)

Percentage-wise, odds are good there were more black people cheering for Hutchison's ideas Monday than she will see again on the campaign trail.

Quick question: Anybody else have a problem with using school kids as backdrop and participants at political events?

Until Monday, I was unaware that high school cheerleaders (pom-poms a-flyin') got so excited by criticism of the Trans-Texas Corridor and support for gubernatorial term limits?