In proposing to raise the state tax on cigarettes, candidate Bill McBride has found a solid issue, one that promises better schools, better health and better politics.

Bill McBride said what many Floridians were waiting to hear when he declared the other day that our schools deserve more money and that he would raise taxes -- on cigarettes, among other things -- to that end. At last, the Democrats have a legitimate issue to inform their gubernatorial primary campaign. The familiar mantra "Anybody but Bush" won't do.

The Democrat who deserves to run against Jeb Bush in November will be the one who makes most clear how he or she would make better use of the powers and influence of the governor's office. It has suited Bush to cut taxes, discourage tax reform and leave the schools as he found them except for an orgy of standardized testing in which the fluctuating standards make comparisons useless. But until last week the Democrats had not offered a credible alternative.

McBride's proposal calls for a 50-cent-a-pack cigarette tax increase, which he said would raise at least $565-million a year that he would earmark to additional direct services for students. He also said he would augment that with $420-million to be raised by closing "unfair tax loopholes and exemptions," by "reallocating current spending" -- i.e., budget cuts elsewhere -- and by reaping "revenue from economic growth spurred by better schools."

If the cigarette tax is specific and unambiguous, the rest of it leaves much unsaid. What loopholes and exemptions? Senate President John McKay tried valiantly and couldn't get rid of even one. What budget cuts? How would McBride distinguish between the fruits of normal economic growth and those attributable to better schools? Is he suggesting that $1-billion would be enough? Florida's looming structural deficit is at least three times that. McBride said Monday he intends to issue a more detailed statement in about three weeks.

Still, McBride has made a significant start toward an issue-oriented debate. But among the major Democratic candidates for governor, only House Minority Leader Lois Frankel acknowledged the cigarette tax increase to be a good idea. Janet Reno and Daryl Jones waffled, relying in different words on the same shopworn slogan -- that candidates should talk about cutting waste before they talk about new taxes. That's essentially what Buddy McKay tried to do in 1998, only to lose to someone who could do it better.

McBride's cigarette tax proposal is good public policy as well as good politics. On the same day as his announcement, the Centers for Disease Control updated its statistics on cigarette smoking to show that the habit, which causes approximately 440,000 American deaths each year, costs the nation $7.18 for each pack sold in terms of health care expenses and lost productivity.

The week before, the Maryland legislature voted to raise that state's cigarette tax from 66 cents a pack to $1. New York has just boosted its tax to $1.50. In July, the state of Washington will implement the nation's second highest tax at $1.425 a pack. Those states already boast significantly lower adult smoking rates (and higher taxes) than Florida's, and the advantage is likely to increase with the taxes.

Florida's current tax of 33.9 cents a pack is just below the national median. Among the 23 states with lower taxes, 14 have higher adult smoking rates. In 13 of the 19 states that tax at 50 cents a pack or higher, the adult smoking rates are lower than Florida's, which at 23.2 percent is almost precisely the national median.

The tobacco lobby has worked tirelessly to keep Florida's tax down. McBride the governor might find it harder to pass the tax than it was for McBride the candidate to propose it. But as issues go, it's a trifecta: better schools, better health, better politics. Advantage: McBride.

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