Tayt Brooks, International Man of Mystery

There’s apparently been another injection of cash into the coffers of Vermonters First, the superPAC headed by former Douglas Administration functionary Tayt Brooks. Presumably, although he ain’t saying, from VF sugar momma Lenore Broughton.



The news, courtesy of busy bee Paul Heintz, is that VF has dumped at least $80K or so into the bulging wallets of Vermont’s broadcasters — particularly WCAX, the station dubbed WGOP by the late great Peter Freyne. Don’t know if it’s a ratings thing, a tribute to Freyne bête noire Marselis Parsons, or a nod to the stewardship of former Douglas Administration functionary Anson Tebbetts, but VF is spending more on Channel 3 than on Channels 5, 22, and 44 combined.

This new buy comes shortly after the end of the mid-September campaign finance reporting deadline; VF’s report showed that it had received $100K from Broughton, and had pretty much spent it all. So now it’s got more money, but we won’t find out how much until mid-October.

And the International Man of Mystery sure as hell isn’t going to spill any beans before then. If his conversion with Heintz is anything to go by, ol’ Tayt seems to enjoy playing secret agent with his superPAC, treating every bit of its business like it’s Top Secret Eyes Only Ultra-Classified Burn After Reading.

(Then again, maybe the I.M.O.M. is just extra testy with Heintz, who is, after all, the man who trapped Brooksie in a blatant lie in the “My Dinner With Randy” affair.)  

Here’s what Heintz gleaned in his most recent chat with I.M.O.M.  

Brooks “would not confirm the total cost of his next two-week [ad] campaign.”  He wouldn’t identify the quantity of new money received, nor would he identify the donor/s. He refused to say whether VF would simply air more of its first three ads: pro-Wooz — er, Wendy Wilton, pro-Vince Illuzzi, and anti-Shummycare — or if it has fresh material up its sleeve.

He also refused to verify the authenticity of a junk-mail solicitation sent under the VF banner this week. Nor would he say if there are other mailings in the works, or how much VF had spent with the Post Office (which truly appreciates the cash).

That’s a hell of a lot of mystery over a little month-old homegrown superPAC. Of course, Our I.M.O.M. must be feeling a bit full of himself these days; after all, he did manage to mine the deep pockets of a wealthy ultraconservative to lift himself out of the political hinterlands and into the heart of the 2012 campaign.

The VF logo, by the way — assuming that the mailing obtained by Heintz is authentic — features a red maple leaf, presumably symbolizing the decline and death of the Green Mountain State under the oppressive Shumlin regime, and the tagline “Restoring Balance.” Which refers to I.M.O.M.’s persistent bleat about liberal dominance of Vermont’s political scene.

I would remind him, as I have done before, that the current “imbalance” is a result of one thing, and one thing only: the Democrats putting forth a more appealing platform and better candidates than the Republicans. Only two years after the seemingly endless Douglas Era, the VTGOP is nearly bankrupt, it has a far-right agenda that’s out of step with Vermont, it’s put forth a spectacularly underwhelming statewide ticket, and it fielded a sadly incomplete roster of hopefuls for the State House and Senate.

If you seek an explanation for the Republican Party’s dire straits, Mr. Brooks, I suggest that you and your colleagues stop whining, remove your blinkers, and take a long hard look in the mirror.