In 1999, George W. Bush argued that his experience as governor of Texas prepared him to be president.

If Texas were a nation, he said, "it would be the eleventh-largest economy in the world."

Opponents questioned Bush's assertion. Not about the size or economy of Texas, but about the importance of Bush or any other governor in that state.

As the Boston Globe noted in 1999, the governor of Texas does not appoint all the members of his cabinet, he does not write the state budget and his ability to draft legislation is limited by the state constitution.

"It's probably the weakest governorship in the country," said Charles Wilson, a former Democratic congressman. "It's riding in parades and appointing people to commissions."

Arguments about a governor's power meant little in political debate then and probably will have even less meaning this year. But Thad Beyle, a political scientist at the University of North Carolina who has researched and written about state governments, says that Sarah Palin has far more power as governor of Alaska than Bush did in Texas. Alaska's chief executive ranks second on a rating scale Beyle devised to measure the power of governors. The governor of Texas is in the bottom 20 percent.

The governor with the strongest institutional powers, according to Beyle, is Deval Patrick of Massachusetts.The least powerful: Jim Douglas of Vermont.

Maine's governor ranks near the middle. According to Beyle, 15 governors have more power than Maine's; eight have the same power and 27 have less.

Beyle says governors who are the only official elected statewide are more powerful than those who serve with elected state treasurers, attorneys general or other officials. He says governors not restricted by term limits are more powerful than those whose tenure is limited and governors with significant authority over the state budget are more powerful than those who lack this authority.

He also analyzed the governors' veto powers -- those with line-item veto power are more powerful than those without it -- and says that governors whose party controls the legislature are more powerful than those who deal with weak control or face a legislature controlled by the opposing party.

Maine Gov. John Baldacci said he was not surprised by the low rating for Texas. He thinks he, and other Maine governors, have enough power to do the job.

"You'd like to have more power at times," Baldacci said. "But at the same time, it's sort of a finely developed balance of constitutional power in a democracy."

"I've never felt I did not have enough authority to do the job," he said.

Baldacci cited his ability to make budget cuts if necessary. "I can make sure budgets are balanced," he said.

"The elected Legislature has a role, as painful as that is at times," Baldacci said. "Democracies are not easy."

Baldacci said he likes the place Maine stands on the power list. "These are the kinds of lists you really don't want to be on the top or the bottom," he said.

Baldacci was less impressed with another scale developed by Beyle that ranks the personal power -- not the institutional power of the office -- of the current governors of the 50 states

On that scale, Baldacci is tied for 48th place with Jim Gibbons, the governor of Nevada. Only Donald Carcieri, governor of Rhode Island, ranks lower.

It is important to recognize that the ranking is for power, not leadership or effectiveness in office.

Beyle's scale notes the size of the governor's electoral victory (a landslide brings more power than a narrow win), the governor's personal future (early or late in his term, term limited or not) and his ranking in public opinion polls.

"I don't think much of it," Baldacci said about his low ranking. "To me, the first one matters" because institutional powers are really about getting the job done.

"I knew that during the second term a lot of things I needed to do for the future of Maine would be unpopular -- consolidating school districts or county jails," he said. You don't let polls or popularity rankings stop you from doing what you should, he said.

Palin shares 11th place for personal power with five other governors.

The governors of Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Nebraska and Vermont are tied for having the greatest personal power.

Politicians, political scientists and voters can argue about the significance of these numbers. Baldacci isn't worried about them.

Looking back at his years in office, Baldacci said he cannot think of a time when lack of power kept him for accomplishing his goals.

"I really have not felt unable to do something that needed to be done for the future of Maine," he said. "You have to respect democracy. You have to recognize that you are part of it but not the whole thing."

David B. Offer is the retired executive editor of the Kennebec Journal and the Morning Sentinel. E-mail davidboffer@hotmail.com.