7 thoughts on ““FINAL” — IT’S SHUMMY (by a nose)”

  1. OK… If the Shumlin win stands (and I do think a recount would hurt the Dems) here is how I see the general:

    Governor: Shumlin (very very close) over Dubie

    LT Gov: Scott over Howard (as Scott will take away some of the working class vote)

    Sec of State: Condos over Gibbs

    Auditor: Hoffer (who will have the Dem and Prog nomination) over Tom

    Congress: Welch (by landslide) over Paul

    In Washington County, the VT Senators will be Cummings, Pollina, and Doyle. This will give the Progs (through Anthony) a much bigger statewide platform.

    All told I see the statewide general election results bringing Vermont slightly more to the left.

    Who is the king-maker? The TEAMSTERS (with their 1000 members) will have direct access to Shumlin (the new Governor?) for the next 10 years. It was their support that made the difference.

    On the flip side, this will may make for strained relations between the rest of labor (with 30,000 members) with the Teamsters (as the Teamsters, if they stayed with Racine, could have locked it up for Doug).

     

  2. …pretty much anyone can win this race with close to 25% of the vote.  Clearly, I was wrong, ’cause we’ve got three candidates close to 25% and only one of them will be winning.

    On the personal plus side, from my POV, the top two are two of the choices I was wavering between.  I’d be happy with Shumlin or Racine as the nominee, but I’d greatly prefer that we do this through a proper process of verification of the ballots rather than just let it slide through based on an extremely small margin.

    I’ll also note that a lot of people (including myself) had assumed that Racine would end up in 3rd or 4th place.  This is a candidate without nearly the financial resources of his opponents who came close enough that we don’t know who actually won yet.  Combine that sort of unexpected electoral power with the finances that will be rolling in once a nominee is decided?  That’s a huge deal and raises Racine’s Mojo in very solid ways.

  3. is reporting final numbers with quite a few extra votes for Markowitz:

    Peter Shumlin – 18,244 votes (25.0%)

    Doug Racine – 18,066 votes (24.7%)

    Deb Markowitz – 17,854 votes (24.4%)

    Matt Dunne – 15,100 votes (20.7%)

    Susan Bartlett – 3,795 votes (5.2%)

    http://rutlandherald.com/artic…

  4. …and I really hope we won’t see fear-of-recountitis. Asking for a recount is just good sense when a vote is this close.  As a voter, I’d like to be sure that due attention is given to accuracy when there is no obvious front-runner. I feel this campaign (and Dubie’s absence from it) has meant that what voters have seen and heard for months is several iterations of Dem party ideas.  Taking an extra week or so to get squared away and firm up one candidate’s standing won’t hurt that process any. After months of hearing good, solid ideas, Dubie may find a budget-slashing wasteland a harder sell than he thinks. I do not see a recount as “hurtful to the Dems,” and I think removing lingering questions is a great way to clear the path for a hard run to victory in November.

    I also want to say here how truly impressed I am with this group of politicians — I don’t EVER remember a campaign so long on ideas and discussion and short on ad hominem sniping. Not one of these people will leave this race with the tarnish that so often results from petty invective.  Way to go!

  5. At onset, totally Shumlin. Recognizing daunting challenge deferred to practicality & decided to vote for the one most likely to beat Dubie.

    In the end, after a struggle decided to go w/heart of hearts-Shumlin.

    Not over until it’s over, looks like heir-apparent & coronation will not, hopefully, occur & Shumlin will take the throne. If it’s Racine, still good w/it-he was #2.

  6. That was the Messenger’s headline today, too: “It’s Shumlin by a Nose.”  We’ll see tomorrow who else couldn’t resist this wordplay.

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