Next thing you know, he'll be running ads

Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley said Tuesday that Alabama's state troopers should focus more on highway safety than the immigration enforcement work that her opponent, Gov. Bob Riley, has praised.

It's not a bad observation. Unfortunately for Baxley, it was overshadowed by a deadly serious accusation on her part: that Riley, three weeks before an election, is going to public events and campaigning for governor. This remark came while she was at the back of the same room as Riley ... campaigning for governor.

Of course, Baxley's "minor miracle" comment last week might have led you to wonder why she's still campaigning at all. Allow her to clarify: "No, I don't feel hopeless. I didn't mean it to sound fatalistic. All I was trying to do was point out the vast differences in resources of a state plane to fly around in and a campaign war chest that I maybe only have a fifth of. I'm in an uphill fight against a man supported by big business and big money. But I still think I can and will win this race."

I wouldn't take those points in Vegas if I were you.