I could just come out and tell you who I am endorsing, but I would rather spend a few minutes and discuss the candidates. Then, in my next post (read: tomorrow), I will tell you who I am endorsing.
First, Tom Condit, Peace and Freedom Party. Mr. Condit supports eliminating insurance companies and using state run systems. Great. That’s what we need: more government! He is comparing his single statewide auto insurance program to one in Canada. ICBC, Insurance Company of British Columbia, is one such example. One such poor example, in my opinion, primarily because it doesn’t work. The other problem with this approach: there are a lot of unregistered vehicles in this state. Therefore, there would still be a lot of uninsured drivers in this state.
Second, Dale F. Ogden, Libertarian. Mr. Ogden is a third party candidate with actual insurance experience. I can’t find it now, but I wish I had the quote from Cruz Bustamante when he said he had the most experience of anyone in this race. Mr. Ogden has impressive credentials. His basic idea is to reduce the size of the department, while trying to take the politics out of the office. Great ideas, but can they actually succeed?
Third is Green Pary Candidate Larry Cafiero. Mr. Cafiero apparently shares the ideas of Mr. Condit, at least to the extent that they both think there should be some sort of gas tax or registration tax to pay for auto insurance. I am not sure how that would work for our out of state visitors who would then have double coverage. And how exactly do you charge by the gallon?
Fourth, is Jay Burden, American Independent Party. I am sure Mr. Burden is a nice enough guy, but he doesn’t seem to have any positions or any qualifications. If he wants to share those with us, he can do so by email to me here. I will post them for you to read.
Fifth, is Steve Poizner, Republican. Mr. Poizner is a very rich guy who has contributed over $8 million to his own campaign. Poizner’s campaign is basic: enforce Prop. 103, stop the “use it or lose it” theory of insurance and fix workers compensation. Mr. Poizner has no insurance experience, but seems to be running for this job like it is CEO of a big company: get the job and then surround yourself with the right people.
Finally, Cruz Bustamante, Democrat. From Mr. Bustamante’s website, it appears that he wants to be Insurance Commissioner so he can help us lose weight. I guess that would decrease the costs of health insurance premiums for all of us. Mr. Bustamante ignored my request for an interview and therefore, other than his weight loss, I am not sure what he stands for!
There you have it. The six candidates in my words. Come back for my endorsement.