Should Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison -- who clearly wants to ditch her seat in the U.S. Senate in exchange for the governor's mansion in Austin -- follow Arlen Specter out of the Grand Old Party?

That's the argument raised by Texas Monthly senior executive editor Paul Burka, who yesterday posted this nugget at his BurkaBlog.

Burka's argument, in a nutshell: Hutchison would be welcomed by the state's Democrats as their nominee for governor against incumbent Republican Rick Perry, and -- as a more moderate Republican in a state where conservative Christians dominate her party -- she'd find beating Perry a far-sight easier in a general election than she would in a Republican primary election.