The issue of crime was barely mentioned in the 2008 election, but shoots are poking up as we head into this year's season. Robert Garrett has this article in the Dallas Morning News on a Democratic primary debate for Texas governor. It appears that newcomer Farouk Shami has swallowed the anti side's propaganda hook, line, and sinker, and he has called for a moratorium on executions.

"We have killed lots of innocent people in the state of Texas," Shami said - a claim that hasn't been definitively proven.

Garrett's "hasn't been definitively proven" is a major understatement. Not a single execution of an innocent person in Texas has been definitively proven. Shami's claim of "lots" is a flight of imagination.

[Former Houston Mayor Bill] White, though, said a moratorium on executions would be too broad. "That would disrespect the juries and the victims," he said.

White acknowledged the system has problems, but said it generally works pretty well. He said he rejects "one-size-fits-all" solutions in this and other parts of government.

White also managed to get in a dig at Perry on the question, criticizing the governor for reshuffling a state forensic science panel that was scheduled to hear experts on flawed arson science used to convict and execute Cameron Todd Willingham for the fire that killed his three daughters.