Nation's Most Bizarre Campaign Fails

Cruz Bustamonte lost big in his campaign for California Insurance Commissioner, but on the other had, he lost big.

To explain that to you non-Californians, a centerpiece of Cruz' campaign was his weight loss program. He mentioned it when he launched his campaign, and in nearly every stump speech he made. He even had a campaign within a campaign, Start With Cruz, to encourage others to join him in the effort.

He reportedly lost 70 pounds running ... well, not running, but walking and huffing ... for Insurance Commissioner.

That didn't stop his Republican opponent, Steve Poizner, from running ads showing a chubby Cruz-look-alike accepting cash from insurance companies ... not what voters want in an insurance commissioner. In fairness to Bustamonte, it's pretty hard for an Assembly Speaker (which he was) to avoid insurance money, which runs deep in Sacramento.

It's all for good. The GOP won the top and bottom of the statewide ticket with Schwarzenegger and Poizner, as it lost ever race in between. And today, Bustamonte will be able to second-guess the wisdom (I'm being kind here) of his campaign strategy with a much more streamlined point of view.

Related Tags: Politics, Election 2006, Bustamonte