"There Was a Market Failure

and I was it" -- a great quote from Senator, Presidential candidate, and economist Phil Gramm:

A dozen years ago the then-Texas Senator had beaucoup bucks, a pile of endorsements, and a solid conservative platform [going into the primaries]. But as Mr. Gramm told us after his loss in 1997, "There was a market failure and I was it. People just didn't take to me."

From John Fund, in OpinionJournal's Political Diary.