It's always interesting to hear that to which candidates and their supporters or detractors attribute their losses after an election. Tuesday's state primaries produced at least one doozie.
Long-long-longtime incumbent Insurance Commissioner George Dale, after voters decided he should focus more of his time on his lawn-mowing business and Mississippi College basketball games, opined "Dickie Scruggs' money" played the major role in his loss.
Never mind that Mississippians pay the third-highest property insurance rates in the country.
Never mind that many people have felt for years that Dale had been bought and paid for by the insurance industry, whose money he used to outspend any opponent who ever challenged him, including those Tuesday.
Never mind that some people found it disgusting that Dale had people working for him out pimping him to insurance companies for campaign contributions.
Never mind that Dale's main mantra for at least the last decade was, "don't anger the insurance companies; we're lucky they deign to do business here at all."
Never mind that when the state wind pool's house of cards, which he helped build, toppled after Katrina, people saw premiums double, triple, quadruple.
Never mind that when the state Legislature and governor wanted to draft some reforms and spend tax dollars to help people struggling after Katrina, Dale's first response was to stall in giving them information they needed, then later suggest they wait awhile before doing anything.
Never mind that Dale's administration gave up on anything even remotely resembling consumer advocacy long, long ago, or that 32 years is probably just too long for someone to run such a regulatory agency.
No, I'm sure he's right: What did him in was a lawyer giving money to a PAC that campaigned against him.
And King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were just misunderstood.
The king is dead. Long live the king.
The Sun Herald Article
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