Commenting Thursday on the attacks on his health care plan and the national conservative effort to stop it, Governor Shumlin said:

“You’re going to see a lot of big interests coming, the insurance companies and others who want to ensure that we fail, not because they really care about the little state of Vermont, but because they know that if the pony gets out of the shed in the state of Vermont, the stallion could get out of the shed in California and New York and other big states where governors say to me ‘Wow! We want to know more about what you’re doing there, because it looks really interesting.’”

There is a conservative anti-healthcare bear in the woods, and he’s advising gubernatorial candidate Randy Brock. Randy’s out-of-state anti-healthcare bear is Tarren Bragdon, who comes to Vermont via Maine and Florida. Some of this isn't news at GMD but it (ahem) bears repeating. Given the more than two-to-one lead in the polls Shumlin enjoys, Brock’s campaign could well shape up to be as much about killing health care reform as about winning the governorship.

In Maine, thanks to Bragdon’s favored changes, insurance companies are now allowed to charge higher rates for very sick people and for sicker policy holders who live in rural areas, according to VtDigger.

Bragdon, who used to head the Maine Heritage Policy Center, played a significant role in crafting and garnering support for LD 1333, the controversial Maine law that made sweeping changes to the state’s health insurance laws and allowed out-of-state providers to sell plans there.

Bragdon did not offer specifics but said some aspects of Randy-care could mirror those in Maine.

Following his [cough] triumph in Maine, he headed south. In Florida, a study by Bragdon’s group, Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA), supported a proposal that required state welfare recipients to submit to drug testing in order to get their checks. Tarren Bragdon addressed an American Legislative Council (ALEC) symposium about the Florida effort. Eventually, the Florida rule was thrown out by a Bush-appointed judge. The FGA does not disclose what businesses, groups or individuals provide their funding.

It looks like Randy Brock hired an out-of-state anti-healthcare bear and has now let it loose in Vermont. However, given the national conservative bloodlust to stop healthcare reform, and considering polls that show Shumlin with a very substantial lead … maybe it’s not too farfetched to suggest that an anti-healthcare bear has enlisted Brock for its own purposes.