Sanchez, Perry clash over insurance, ethics
Posted on 10/10/2002 1:27:50 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP
Sanchez, Perry clash over insurance, ethics
Tone is pointed but civil as candidates trade accusations
10/10/2002
HOUSTON - GOP Gov. Rick Perry and Democrat Tony Sanchez brought their cross-state shootout to close range Wednesday, assailing each other over the soaring cost of insurance and business ethics.
"He is beholden to the insurance industry," Mr. Sanchez charged in the campaign's first televised debate. "That's why we're all having to pay higher and higher rates."
Mr. Perry said his administration is working aggressively to deal with the insurance crisis and blamed his rival for being part of the problem because his bank sells unregulated insurance.
"There's one individual in this race for governor who is profiting because of insurance, and that's you," Mr. Perry said, looking at Mr. Sanchez across the stage. "There's only one individual in this race for governor who has an insurance agency that is selling unregulated policies using credit scoring to run those rates up - and that is Mr. Sanchez."
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For both candidates, the issue of ethics was common ground all evening.
Mr. Perry lambasted the Democrat for defending his operation of a family-controlled Laredo savings and loan in the 1980s that laundered $25 million in Mexican drug money and eventually failed, requiring a $161 million taxpayer bailout.
"Mr. Sanchez, you shouldn't feel good when the federal authorities tell you that there is drug money that came into your bank, in cash, in suitcases. And then you sent the money to Panama, at the request of those drug dealers," Mr. Perry said.
"What you should have done was shown responsible leadership and said, 'No way I'm going to send that money,' " he said. "You failed the test of leadership."
He also said Mr. Sanchez - instead of spending millions of his own money on the campaign - should pay back the federal government for the bailout. "That would be morally responsible," Mr. Perry said.
Mr. Sanchez said it was Mr. Perry who lacked ethical standards, saying he has exchanged campaign contributions for political favors.
In particular, he noted that the governor accepted a $25,000 contribution from former Enron chief Ken Lay one day after appointing a former Enron executive to a key state regulatory agency. The governor has called the donation "a coincidence" and said political donations do not factor in his decisions.
Mr. Sanchez said, "My opponent has been spending too much time, in my judgment, working for his big contributors, and not enough time working for Texas families."
As for his handling of the failed savings and loan, Mr. Sanchez said he tried to keep the thrift afloat but could not because of tough economic times.
"We failed for the same reason that 2,500 other institutions failed at the same time," he said.
Familiar attacks
The hourlong debate at Rice University presented a high-profile setting for each candidate to promote his agenda, undercut his opponent and project a winning image for voters Nov. 5, analysts said.
To that end, both sides aggressively stuck to attacks that each has used against the other in the most expensive tidal wave of TV commercials in Texas history.
The high cost and availability of homeowners insurance has emerged as the hottest issue, with Mr. Sanchez charging that the governor accepted $1 million in donations from insurance executives and lobbyists and has done nothing to deal with the problem.
Mr. Sanchez blamed Mr. Perry for a decision by Farmers Insurance Group, the state's second-largest insurance company, to pull out of the Texas homeowners market and leave 700,000 people without coverage.
Insurance companies have "been abusing the families of Texas for a long, long time" but Mr. Perry refused to call a special session of the Texas Legislature to deal with the issue, Mr. Sanchez said.
Mr. Perry said that under his administration, the Texas Department of Insurance has pursued allegations of overcharging by companies and the attorney general has filed suit against Farmers. The company has denied any wrongdoing.
The governor said all sides in the insurance crisis need to agree on a solution before lawmakers return to Austin to enact new laws, including stricter industry regulation.
As for the decision by Farmers to leave the state, Mr. Perry declared: "If you can't do work in the state of Texas ethically and legally, then you're going to face some of the stiffest fines that you've faced in your life."
Touching on education
Although education issues were not a prominent part of the debate, Mr. Perry reiterated his call for a change in the provisions of the school finance law that critics call "Robin Hood." Under the law, high-wealth school districts must share their local property taxes with other districts.
"It is not a fair system," he said, acknowledging he does not have an alternative yet. "Our door is open, and we continue to look for that silver bullet that would give us the answer."
In the meantime, he said, "We must continue to put every new dollar we can into the public school system so we can mitigate the effects of Robin Hood in this state."
Mr. Sanchez said the condition of public school finance in Texas is "not good," but he also said he has no solutions yet. He pointed to a House-Senate committee working on the problem.
One problem, he said, is that too much money is spent on expenses outside the classroom. "Almost half of everything being spent on education is being spent outside the classroom and not on the teachers and children," he said.
As for higher education, Mr. Perry said he opposes programs that use race to help determine admission to college. "You have to have equal access," he said.
Mr. Sanchez disagreed: "I happen to believe affirmative action is a very noble program. It helps those children who don't have an equal chance in life."
Preparing for showdown
As they prepared this week, both camps held mock debates to give the candidates a feel for the format and an opportunity to sharpen their answers.
On the Perry side, the part of Mr. Sanchez was played during practice sessions by former Houston City Council member Orlando Sanchez, a Republican who narrowly lost a race for mayor last year. He is not related to the Democratic gubernatorial nominee.
The Sanchez team used Patrick Woodson, a veteran political operative from Austin, as its Perry stand-in during debate prep.
Mr. Sanchez has trailed his better-known opponent in the polls, although his campaign says he has closed the gap to single digits.
So far, he has poured $54 million of his own money into the campaign and is expected to outspend Mr. Perry by a 3-1 ratio.
Democratic political consultant Jeff Montgomery of Austin said the Sanchez camp needs to do a better job of tempering the candidate's image, which he said needs to be warmer and more accessible.
"They need to establish something a bit more personal, something that shows him to be a person who's had similar experiences as the voters," he said. "I don't think the Sanchez folks have quite penetrated where the average voter can feel he knows Tony Sanchez and likes him."
At the same time, Mr. Perry faces a question of competence in the minds of many voters, Mr. Montgomery said. "But Perry comes across a little more likable than Sanchez. And likability is enormously important," he said.
Republican political consultant Royal Masset said he agrees that Mr. Sanchez seems stiff and formal.
"He's kind of a Hispanic Dolph Briscoe," he said, referring to a former governor known for his business skills and bland personality.
As for Mr. Perry, Mr. Masset said, "I don't sense that he's beloved by any means. But he's a governor where there's nothing horribly wrong that would make us get rid of him. So I get that sense he'll just keep in office because he's already there."
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Sanchez also said he favors parental notification for minors seeking abortion, but said in some cases children cannot communicate well with their parents.
``If the young girl is 12 or 13 or 14, 15, I would want them to go and seek advice or counseling from someone. If they can't seek it from their parents, her parents, then from someone _ some relative, a judge, a doctor, nurse, somebody. Somebody that's an adult I would like to advise that child,'' he said. Associated Press June 19, 2002
Naturally, the local stations assembled a group of people for post-debate reaction, all of whom appeared to be street bums. Their remarks tended to generally favor Sanchez, but I don't think the media is going to be able to save him.
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