I’m listening to the GOP debate on MSNBC, currently in the candidates-ask-each-other-questions phase, and unsurprisingly Giuliani posed a question on the concept of a national cat pool to to Romney (with McCain jumping in as his name was taken in vain). Giuliani posed his question to Romney,
A few thoughts:
- We just had more discussion on the concept than most MSNBC viewers have likely ever have been exposed to previously.
- Romney expressed “familiarity” with the problem via Massachusetts snowbirds. I’m sure that folks living on Cape Cod and the Islands are feelin’ the love. (Of course, considering what they think of the relative lack of capacity in that corner of Massachusetts…maybe he doesn’t want to associate with them.)
- I’m a little disappointed that the discussion didn’t acknowledge the magnitude of the expense involved (although McCain, in his rebuttal, at least raised the concern about lack of funding of current proposals).
- At least Romney did make a key point (looking beyond the Florida primaries) — that he didn’t want folks in Iowa to subsidize Florida risk.
- Interesting transition to the question of global warming at the tail of the insurance question (using threat to beach property as a segue). Probably not a question that Republicans like to hear…but a big hat-tip to McCain for his observation on his cap-and-trade plan — “if global warming isn’t real, we leave the world cleaner for our children” (paraphrase).