Reason.tv: Libertarian Party Candidate Dale Ogden on the California Governor's Race

"I don't care if the union thugs hate my guts. I don't care if the government employees hate my guts," says Dale Ogden, the Libertarian Party candidate in the California governor's race. Ogden vows to get the state's fiscal house back in order by returning government spending to at least 1998 levels, before Gray Davis assumed the governor's office and acted, in what Ogden calls, "criminal collusion" with the public-sector unions to secure pension hikes.

Ogden sat down with Reason.tv's Tim Cavanaugh to talk about why neither Democratic candidate Jerry Brown nor Republican Meg Whitman have the political will to pull California's government out of its budget hole. 

Approximately 9:45 minutes. Interview by Tim Cavanaugh. Camera by Paul Detrick, Zach Weissmueller and Austin Bragg. Edited by Weissmueller.

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Comments

[sage]

I don't care if the union thugs hate my guts. I don't care if the government employees hate my guts

Just on that alone - I love this guy.

[Daze]

Alas, the union thugs and government employees probably don't know his name and never will.

[Episiarch]

Too bad he doesn't have a chance in hell of winning.

[wayne]

I voted for him, so, well OK he doesn't have a chance in hell of winning.

[juris imprudent]

Yeah, but if I have to vote for someone to be governor, I'd rather it be for a great loss rather than a total loss (Whitman or Brown).

[Aresen]

Given the political gridlock in the California State Legislature, the willingness of judges to rule against cuts and the California mania for voting for expensive projects that are not financially feasible, I don't think anybody could either balance the California budget or roll it back to 1998 levels.

I'd like to see someone try. But I don't think it is possible politically.

[Brandybuck]

It's not possible, but a determined governor might be able to so tie up the legislature in knots that no new spending would get through.

[Get Real]

Doesn't matter. At the current level they're fucked!

[Colin]

He's got my vote.

Which should bring his total up to 10.

[Special Sauce]

Make that 11.

[Get Real]

Not even close!

[?]

I like his...what's a dude-gunt called? I don't know, but I bet it's nothing German, because Nazis don't have 'em.

Well, Goering probably did. But that's one. And it's not named after him...I hope.

I'm going to feel pretty stupid if it's called a "Goernt."

[sage]

Thanks, dude. I didn't even notice until you had to point that out. Thanks.

[Old Mexican]

Ogden sat down with Reason.tv's Tim Cavanaugh to talk about why neither Democratic candidate Jerry Brown nor Republican Meg Whitman have the political will to pull California's government out of its budget hole.

So it's an academic discussion.

[creech]

If he put his ideas into one op-ed that appeared in the four or five major papers in Cal., he'd have far more eyeballs seeing it than saw anything about him or his ideas during the campaign. The several thousand CalLP members would be "heard" to a greater extent by continous letter to the editor campaigns than by petitioning and campaigning. And if they could uncover a "Bell" type situation, voters would remember.
Statewide campaigns pretty much a waste, no?

[Get Real]

Sure, all you need to do is reason with a state full of fucking idiots and presto chango they will see the light. A great philosopher by the name if Ron White once said, "Ya can't fix stupid"

[Get Real]

Should read....name of...

[Citizen Nothing]

"...continous letter to the editor campaigns..."
Cute.

[Citizen Nothing]

-- Charley! Charley! The Contra Costa Times printed my letter about Prop. 19!

-- No shit? Fuck, man! The revolution is on its way!

[Fist of Etiquette]

"Our [social welfare] benefits are so generous that we attract deadbeats from all over the world, inlcuding the other 49 states."

The world, including the other 49 states, thanks California for that much.

[Aresen]

"Our [social welfare] benefits are so generous that we attract deadbeats from all over the world, inlcuding the other 49 states."

The world keeps trying.

[Get Real]

They'll all pay for it in federal transfer payments to California. It's too big to fail!

[Geotpf]

Trust me-the union doesn't hate your guts, dude. The union doesn't give a shit about you, since you are the nominee for the Libertarian Party, and therefore aren't worth their time thinking about you at all.

[Mr Whipple]

Right. They already have the other two major candidates in their pocket.

[Ray]

"I don't care if the union thugs hate my guts. I don't care if the government employees hate my guts."

He's sure got a lot of guts.

(badum-tish)

[Mongo]

He lives in California? Man, he's a physical wreck.

I'd vote for him though.

[Adamson]

Remember William Conrad in "Cannon"? He didn't have to outrun the crooks - he just ran them over with his car.

[johnl]

That's one photogenic newsman.

[Fleeing Cali]

Can we all just admit that the Libertarian party is not working?

Why not try to 'take over' the Republican party in California? It wouldn't be easy, but more progress would be made by turning the dysfunctional CA republicans in a libertarian direction than continuing to piss in the wind under the L party. CA republicans tend to be less socialcon's than in other areas of the country, so at least it would be possible.

[Adamson]

The LP in CA ran the saddest slate of statewide candidates in many years. Dale Ogden isn't even trying (his facebook page is filled with quotes from founding fathers and musings about the situation in Greece, but very little about what's actually going on in California); Gail Lightfoot is running in her 344th campaign; Christina Tobin isn't even a Libertarian; and the others are flying so far under the radar they hit the first curb across from their campaign HQ (their mom's basement).

Heck, I think the statewide LP didn't even endorse a couple of the candidates. Pretty sad. A long way from the days of the statewide races of Ed Clark and Steve Kubby.

[Get Real]

Who????

[Mr Whipple]

Before we try to 'take over' anything, shouldn't we at least ask why it "isn't working"?

Personally, I think it is working. There are almost 180 elected LP members. There's currently 800 on this year's ballot, and this is a non-presidential year. The problem is, it seems for some, is it's not working fast enough.

[Get Real]

Everyone has a limited time period!

[juris imprudent]

Well, in the long run...

[Fake Name]

Tim Cavanaugh looks like my uncle!!

[Get Real]

Big fucking talk, but he can say anything because he has no chance in hell! All those dead beats he mentions are voters and fucking will not vote for him. He says he doesn't care if 2/3 of the state hates his guts....who the fuck does he think will elect him????
If he would promise to kill everyone in California he would get more votes!

[Get Real]

There is a solution to the California and federal problem. Learn how to speak mandarin and how to bow properly!

[BT]

This dude makes sense.

[Nick Adolfo]

The bottom line is the bottom line. When Libertarians raise enough money to put on the kind of media blitz were getting from the Democrats and Republicans they will suddenly become a "legitimate" contender.

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