Lismania II: Just when you thought it was safe…

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Addendum to my previous post, entered as a separate post because (a) the original “Lismania” is plenty long enough already, and (b) I wanted to promote some good information out of the Comments, mainly from Doug Hoffer.

The more I look at the Campaign for Vermont website, the more it resembles a politician’s website. It’s billed as a public-spirited gathering of individuals from across the political spectrum, but Bruce Lisman’s name and face are ubiquitous. He’s on the home page in his hiker’s garb, and his smiling mug (w/oddly unfocused eyes) sits prominently in the right-hand side of every page, right next to the “Join The Campaign For Vermont” option.

The group’s “platform” is described as “a compilation of policy ideas from many Vermonters,” but it’s entitled “The Lisman Perspective.” (Which, btw, sounds like the most boring Robert Ludlum novel ever written.)

Then there’s the fact that Lisman is the only public face of the CFV. It’s supposed to be a broad-based gathering of selfless individuals — but Bruce Lisman is omnipresent in everything the group does, and his is the only voice you ever hear. I guess he’s sorta like the Borg Queen of Policy Ideas, subsuming everyone’s thoughts into his own. Either that, or he’s running for something.

This didn’t really strike me full-force until after I’d posted “Lismania.” Yeah, the Campaign for Vermont looks a whole lot like the precursor of a potential run for Governor in, say, 2014: a way of positioning a wealthy Wall Streeter* as a solid citizen with Vermont’s best interests at heart, rebranding conservative Republican ideas in a liberal state, and avoiding the fate of notorious political flameouts Rich Tarrant and Jack McMullen.

Finally, thanks to BP and Doug Hoffer for pointing out the solidly Republican nature of this “nonpartisan” initiative. Doug even did the spadework I didn’t bother to do:

A quick check found that together these individuals have contributed almost $250,000 to various political campaigns over the last 20 years (mostly the last ten). Of that, about 90% went to Republicans (state & federal). The largest recipients were the Vermont Republican Federal Elections Committee, Brian Dubie, and Jim Douglas.

If they contribute to the CFV as they have to Republican candidates and committees, then most of the money is coming from Messrs. Pizzagalli ($100k+ in political contributions), Lisman ($65k), and (Walt) Freed ($22k).

Bold prediction: the “Campaign for Vermont,” if it gains any traction, will morph into the “Campaign for Bruce” sometime in the near future.

*A wealthy Wall Streeter who has the cojones to assert, in The Lisman Perspective, “We also must diligently make sure that the principles of Main Street prevail over the excesses of Wall Street.” If he can say that with a straight face, my hat’s off to him.

18 thoughts on “Lismania II: Just when you thought it was safe…”

  1. You can sell an apartment for this kind of cash:

    –Bruce Lisman, the former co-head of global equities at Bear Stearns, has cut the price of his apartment at 923 Fifth Ave. The four-bedroom is now $16.75 million, down from $22.5 million. The listing is here.

    From: http://www.luxist.com/tag/bruc…

  3. The Lisman Ultimatum?

    Anyway, I note there is a former Sec of Commerce for Doesless on the list of founders.  I’m sure there will be plenty of awesome pro-“responsiblegrowthcough” advice coming from that quarter.  Should Randy Brock be concerned about a primary challenge?

  4. enlightening:

    http://www.vermontbiz.com/arti…

    Lisman describes himself as a lifelong Democrat; his politics are centrist and in line with a quote from a book he was currently reading – and underlining – by the Cato’s Institute’s Brink Lindsey: “It’s a bizarre paradox that the conservative movement embraces economic change but hates its social consequences, and the liberal movement loves the social consequences but hates the economic source from which they come. One side denounces capitalism but gobbled up the fruits,and the other side cursed the fruits while defending the system that born them.”

    Now retired from the Wall Street fray he loved so much, Lisman is engaged in a reinvention of himself that has taken him all over the state.

    “So, with another fellow, I ran the Global Equity Division of Bear Stearns,” Lisman said. “We did a lot of things for institutional clients. We did business in a lot of countries. Mostly, we were representing clients across all markets. By then, we had become a medium-sized derivatives business, something called the ‘front row bridge business.’ It was among the two or three largest in the business. We did a lot of things for institutional clients all over the world.

  6. I can’t believe you reminded me of the existence of this particularly bizarre offering from the recently deceased Ken Russell. I had managed to block it out.

  7. And I approve this message.

    Not far off, is it.

    Clipped from a press release over at vtsdigger:

    Campaign for Vermont – “Vibrant”

    Today, many working men and women of Vermont struggle to make ends meet. Others are underemployed and still others in the building trades have few current job prospects.

    That is not the definition of a vibrant economy.

    Hi, I’m Bruce Lisman. I learned from my parents that hard work equated to opportunity. My mother was an office secretary and my father a public school teacher.

    They worked hard. And, so did I. I was a dishwasher, a waiter, bartender, painter, roofer, taxi driver, file clerk and that’s before my career even began.

    Hard work used to create economic opportunity. It should still. Only a vibrant economy will create jobs; only a vibrant economy can assure us that the next generation will have real opportunities.

    Let’s start today!

    If you like what you heard, go to our website Campaign for Vermont.org. This message was sponsored by Campaign for Vermont Prosperity and I’m Bruce Lisman.

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