There couldn't be more difference between the two candidates for an open spot on the Texas Railroad Commission.

If you see them one after the other, it's hard to conclude that Republican David Porter is the better choice. He's timid, uncomfortable in public, shows no signs of leadership and has apparently been through a quick political charm school curriculum designed to make him risk-averse and to keep him from making a mistake that would put the seat in Democratic hands.

Democrat Jeff Weems, on the other hand, comes on too strong. He's loud, talks too fast, includes lots of arcane details and tangential arguments and observations that don't make sense to people outside of the oil and gas business, and comes off like a guy who's afraid you'll cut him off before he finishes his pitch.

It's like the two guys walked into a room and someone handed Weems an amphetamine and Porter a muscle relaxant. Or the story of Goldilocks without the Baby Bear's porridge; the "too hot" and the "too cold" without the "just right."

That said, Weems clearly has a better command of the material, a firmer opinion of where he'd like the commission to go, and isn't bashful about saying where the agency that regulates the oil and gas industry in Texas doesn't measure up.

An oil and gas lobbyist who watched both men at a forum in Fort Worth last week said Weems will win overwhelming among voters who see both men talking about the campaign and the office they seek. That seemed a fair assessment of the crowd watching the forum. The problem? "He won't be able to see enough people before the election," the lobbyist said.

Porter's strategy seems designed around that very idea. Don't create any sharp differences with the opposition that might show voters there's a choice to be made. Rely instead on the fact that this contest will be on the lower part of the statewide ballot and that, with no other information available to most voters, the unknown Republican should beat the unknown Democrat by at least five percentage points.

The Weems strategy? Talk to anyone who'll listen, try to bring attention to the race, and try to find differences that matter to people in the business, who largely fund races like this — and the people outside the business, who actually cast the ballots.

You can get a sense of the personalities involved by watching a "Faceoff" put together by The Texas Tribune and available online here [1].

In the longer format forum in Fort Worth, the differences were even more apparent. Porter stumbled on several questions, notably when an oil exec asked his opinion about non-perforation zones —the sort of arcane stuff the RRC regulates. Weems brought up the subject himself in response to another question and seemed conversant enough to satisfy a room full of experts. Porter couldn't come up with any differences between himself and the current Republican commissioners — Elizabeth Ames Jones and Michael Williams — except that he doesn't think the name of the agency should be changed, and they do (he says it would be too expensive to change signs and letterhead and so on). He agrees with Weems that the agency should regulate air and gas emissions from wells, and says the agency should have more field inspectors flagging problems in the oil and gas fields of the state. He opposes federal environmental and cap and trade proposals, but offers no solutions, alternatives, or remedies that could be applied to those troubles from a spot on the Railroad Commission. He did say it would be a good forum for talking about those things and educating the public.

Porter certainly isn't the first candidate to reach prime time before he's ready, and given the current politics of the state and the low visibility of the race, he's got a good chance of joining the Texas Railroad Commission just because he's on the right ticket — even if he doesn't improve the quality of his stump appearances. Tony Sanchez was a political tenderfoot and got better (without actually getting good) and lost. George W. Bush went on a long tour of the state's smaller markets until he became presentable (and it was pretty rough back there in '93) and went all the way up the ladder. Porter doesn't appear to have that ambition, but you never know. For now, his best chance lies in remaining anonymous, and in a funny twist, his opponent's best chance lies in getting him some attention.