Like most right-of-center, politically active Texas residents, I tuned in with interest light night to the GOP primary debate in the race for governor. Current Governor Rick Perry, who took office when President Bush took the White House, is being challenged by Texas’ Senior Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson (and Ron Paul-ish third candidate, Debra Medina who will not win).

Though ideologically simpatico, Perry and Hutchinson do not like each other. The split between the two high-profile Republicans stems largely from Perry allegedly reneging on his promise to make the 2006 governors election his last.

The debate was, in a word, disappointing. It proved nothing but that there is little difference between Perry and Hutchinson, and that the whispers about either of them running for president in 2012 should end. Now. Nothing about that debate was remotely presidential. The debate offered little substance, the candidates seemed somewhat ill-prepared, and there were no winners. Throughout the debate, Perry reminded Texans how well they have it compared to other states at the moment—a valid point, but one made in a fairly shallow and annoying manner. Hutchinson just tried to get to Perry’s right on any issue she could—taxes, federal spending, eminent domain—with not a great amount of success. This led to probably the best line of the debate when Perry said, “1,000 people a day aren’t moving to Texas because they’ll be overtaxed.” Medina, the third candidate, tried to remain relevant by attempting to convince voters Perry and Hutchinson were both closet liberals.

I should have reveled in this right-wing throwdown, but the truth is I couldn’t stomach it. It was petty, shallow, non-substantive, and lots of other adjectives to describe debates we don’t like. It reminded me of this exchange from a (scripted, of course) debate on the reliably liberal but always entertaining show The West Wing. President Bartlet is running for reelection, challenged by Republican Rob Ritchie, governor of Florida and right-wing stereotype character. From the episode they debate:

Moderator: Governor Ritchie, many economists have stated that the tax cut, which is the centerpiece of your economic agenda, could actually harm the economy. Is now really the time to cut taxes?

Gov. Ritchie: You bet it is. We need to cut taxes for one reason - the American people know how to spend their money better than the federal government does.

Moderator: Mr. President, your rebuttal.

Bartlet: There it is. That's the ten word answer my staff's been looking for for two weeks. There it is. Ten-word answers can kill you in political campaigns. They're the tip of the sword. Here's my question: What are the next ten words of your answer? Your taxes are too high? So are mine. Give me the next ten words. How are we going to do it? Give me ten after that, I'll drop out of the race right now. Every once in a while... every once in a while, there's a day with an absolute right and an absolute wrong, but those days almost always include body counts. Other than that, there aren't very many unnuanced moments in leading a country that's way too big for ten words.

Getting past the typical, implicit message that left-wing is smart and enlightened and right-wing is dumb and Neanderthalish, the point this scene makes is a damning critique of our current crop of politicians. Coming off two disappointingly shallow presidential elections that gave us “flip-flopper” vs. “you may not agree with me but at least you know where I stand” and “hope and change” vs. “country first,” the cry of every conservative ought to be for depth and substance in addition to ideological soundness.

This is where Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchinson disqualified themselves from the presidency last night. This is where the Sarah Palins and the Mike Huckabees fall short. I don’t learn anything when I listen to these people. Now I’m not advocating electing pointy-headed intellectuals or saying plain-spokeness doesn’t have its virtues. But is it too much to ask that candidates have at least a balance of talent, charisma, and intellectual heft?

Perhaps so, but a guy can dream. Here’s to either Perry or Hutchinson winning the election and being (or continuing to be) a fine governor. But let’s knock them out of the 2012 running and focus our attention on more complete candidates.