Not sure if this is some attempt at a quasi April Fools joke, but…

And, strangely, there’s no mention from writers Ian Baldwin and Frank Bryan about the recent “racists in their midst” controversy. Heh…

The winds of secession are blowing in the Green Mountain State.

Vermont was once an independent republic, and it can be one again. We think the time to make that happen is now. Over the past 50 years, the U.S. government has grown too big, too corrupt and too aggressive toward the world, toward its own citizens and toward local democratic institutions. It has abandoned the democratic vision of its founders and eroded Americans’ fundamental freedoms.

Vermont did not join the Union to become part of an empire.

Some of us therefore seek permission to leave.

There’s an interesting bit over at ThinkProgress. Now, we are wise to take anything and everything from the TV talking heads with the utmost degree of skepticism, yet once in a while something pans out. On this morning’s ‘Chris Matthews Show’, NBC reporter Andrea Mitchell put out there that the top universal commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, has recently met with the Senate Republican caucus:

“Petraeus went to the Republican caucus and told them, I will have real progress to you by August,” Mitchell said. The Republicans claim they told him that after August, they will end their support for the war. “They have told him at a caucus meeting as very, very recently, that if there isn’t progress by August – and real progress means not a day of violence and a day of sanity – that they will pull the plug.”

Mitchell also states that moderate Repubs had told the they didn’t believe the surge would work and the President has until Labor Day. “After that, they’re running.”

Now, of course, we have no idea how Mitchell came by this information, or if it’s even true for that matter. But I really wouldn’t be surprised if it did ring true. It’s going to be that much closer to Election Day. And the interesting notion is that this latest supplemental bill with the deadlines intact was able to pass both chambers. If there was the solid Republican opposition like there was to the non-binding resolutions, they could have kept this from happening one way or the other, through procedural tactics or some other method.

But they didn’t, and many will say it’s “because the troops need to be funded”, but I have to wonder if more than a few voted for it because of the deadline. They already lost Chuck Hagel, who had jumped ship almost five months ago. Some senators such as “moderate” Republican Susan Collins of Maine are up for re-election soon, and the netroots are also targeting them. It will be interesting to see how much longer before they capitulate to public opinion, and even more interesting to see what happens to the ones who don’t.

The tragic thing about it, if it is indeed true, is how many more Americans and Iraqis will have died by Labor Day. And will Jim Douglas change his tune come August, as well? Let’s hope that we don’t have to wait until Labor Day to find out.

Just as the frustration with the Vermont legislature among many activists seems to be peaking, GMD has learned that the House and Senate leadership are poised to make a historic announcement; an agreement on single-payer healthcare for Vermont.

Negotiations have apparently be going on with the Governor’s office behind the scenes for some time, but the potential pitfalls had seemed unsurmountable. Under the new agreement, starting one year from today, Vermont will scrap its multi-payer system based on a patchwork of insurance companies and a profit motive and replace it with a “Vermont-style” system with a single payer, increasing efficiency, removing a major expense from business and local municipal budgets, and covering everybody.

According the the proposed legislation, the single-payer has been identified as farmer Uriah Cobleigh of Enosburgh Falls. Cobleigh was contacted by the AP for his reaction to the decision that all medical bills in the state will be sent his way:

“Hm. Ah, well… this is the first I’d heard of it. I don’t know, I want to do my part, but things are kind of tight around here these days.

I suppose I could sell a few cows… I suppose. Don’t really know.

A press conference has been called for tomorrow, and the mood is expected to be celebratory. The details of the plan are the brainchild of policy consultant April Sciocco, who was also the brains behind last years ill-fated Catamount Health Committment Plan, which died in committee after early enthusiasm.

Sciocco says she expects the Vermont single-payer plan to become a model for other states, due to its guaranteed, almost unanimous support among any electorate.

( – promoted by odum)

This is my first attempt at a diary, so forgive me if I commit some blogging faux pas…

On Thursday night, I attended an ‘Affordability Agenda’ meeting with Gov. Douglas here in Essex.  The meeting was interesting not so much for what the governor had to say (almost nothing of substance), but how he positions himself vis a vis the Democratic legislature.  To hear Douglas tell it, he is the last bulwark preventing the Democrats from taxing/regulating everything to death.

Now Essex is pretty conservative by VT standards, but it was striking to me how people really buy into the Douglas narrative.  Douglas offers no new idea, but rather positions himself as the voice of reason.  It is extremely effective – because it appeals to that ‘in the ballot’ booth moment of truth when voters get nervous about their pocketbooks.

Scudder Parker was blown out of the water largely due to this narrative and we will get our hats handed to us again if we don’t come up with an antidote.

I think the antidote should be comprised of three components:

1) The Dem platform should make reform of education financing its #1 agenda item with the stated goal of reducing spending and adopting a progressive (read not property taxes) strategy to finance the bulk of education needs.

2) Adopt some sort of economic development strategy.  Hell, anything would be better that what is on the table now.  The Next Generation Commission report is a disaster.  Douglas’ half-assed Green Valley initiative is a joke.  The state needs to get serious about building new industries that create high value jobs.  Those high value jobs can provide the base to support local agriculture and other sectors we consider vital to the Vermont way of life.  The renewables industry train has pretty much left the station (Oregon and Washington state are CRUSHING us), but we might be able to catch up if we get serious.

3) Recruit candidates for the governorship from outside the legislature, who can speak to the above points (along with other Dem priorities on environment, health care etc) with credibility. 

I realize the above points may not be terribly popular in this forum, but I raise them now because I think we should think carefully about how to position the party in 08. 

I am going out of town this weekend, but will do my best to reply from the road….

cross-posted from the new ActBlue Blog

On Monday I posted a tip for spicing up ActBlue fundraising pages by embedding video into ‘asks’. This is a very powerful fundraising tactic–especially when the asker and audience have an existing relationship.

Over at Calitics, a great community blog in California, they’ve taken that suggestion and run with it. I’ve included a screenshot of their pitch to the right (click on it to view a bigger version in a new window). Besides the video, Calitics’ blogger Brian uses several of the principles of fundraising to make a really compelling plea for his candidates.  Some of the successful elements they have included:

1. Create Urgency- The pitch is for end-of-quarter donations.  Brian clearly states that there’s a deadline before which donors need to fundraise.  And he timed his pitch just a couple of days away from the end of quarter.
2. Be Specific- Rather than overloading their page with a dozen candidates, Brian stuck with three candidates that have a common theme.  The majority of ActBlue donors give to an entire page’s slate of candidates…remember that when choosing your slate of candidates.
3. Make it Personal- Brian, a Calitics blogger, is asking his own blog readers to donate. They have an existing relationship and a degree of trust built up. Potential donors are more likely to give when asked by someone they know and the pitch is personal.  They’re less likely to donate when spammed by someone they don’t know.
4. Think Longterm- The Calitics’ ask offers the option of giveing once or of setting up a recurring contribution. Recurring donations are growing in popularity on ActBlue, with over 1000 users having chosen that option for a variety of candidates.   If a donor can’t contribute a lump sum amount at once, recurring contributions allow them to invest in the page in installments.

Most of these elements are included in their Calitics ActBlue fundraising page as well. To improve the impact, some ideas might be to include the text from the Calitics post next to the video on their ActBlue fundraising page itself or add the recurring contribution buttons below the embedded video. If that happened, their ActBlue fundraising page could be e-mailed around to additional friends or registered users of the Calitics blog extending the end-of-Quarter ask into a new medium.

One other thing that might help the effort is to set a goal, similar to what the bloggers at Raising Kaine have done (screen shot at left again, click to enlarge). They are shooting for $20,000 to all their endorsed candidates by the end of the state quarter on Saturday, giving a real sense of momentum to their efforts. Adding some text about that immediate goal on their fundraising page would be perfect to tie it together with their blog posts.

While it is early in the cycle, bloggers can build upon their early adopters to make effective asks in creative ways that fit their audience. What ideas might you add?

So now it’s official. As odum predicted first, the Governor has chosen attorney Jon Anderson to replace Representative Francis Brooks, now the Statehouse Sergeant-at-Arms. While possessing Democratic bona fides enough to give Douglas a weak pretense of justification (he was briefly city chair and has hosted a few fundraisers), the fact is that there’s a reason why the Montpelier Democratic Caucus rejected him so soundly (out of five possible candidates to appear on the list forwarded by the committee, Anderson came in dead last with 5 total votes including his own – the winners were Mary Hooper with 16 votes, Cary Brown with 15 and Matt Levin with 11). So now the citizens of Montpelier have their own little Joe Lieberman. Thanks, Jim!

The reason, of course, is that he is conservative by Democratic standards in general, and off the charts by Montpelier standards. If you ask people who work around the Statehouse, all you’ll hear is shock at the idea that he is anything other than a Republican. He works with anti-environmental interests and allies himself closely with Douglas’ people – which is, of course, exactly why he got the job – he’s a ‘yes man’ to the nth degree.

But he won’t hold it for long. Mary Hooper is likely already making calls to prepare her primary campaign, and she trounced him by an overwhelming margin in one citywide race already. Montpelier Dems will be livid at this kick in the nuts from Douglas and Anderson and Montpelier residents at large will not put up with a right-winger representing them in the legislature any longer than they have to. Especially in a leftie town like Montpelier.

( – promoted by gnome)

It’s become political hegemony that the reason for George W Bush’s ascendence is the unparalleled genius of Karl Rove. That Rove is so good at what he does that liberals of all stripes have found themselves perplexed and outmanuevered at every turn going all the way back to Bush’s defeat of the much beloved Ann Richards for the Texas governorship. That Rove is the sort of master gamesman Democrats wish they had on their team. Here’s an example, clipped via Steve, who has an interesting Rove thread going:

(Clip from July 12, 2005)

(Chris) MATTHEWS: Do you think the Democrats wish they had a guy as good as Rove?

Senator JOE BIDEN: Oh, yeah. Absolutely. But I hopefully, yeah, yeah.

Steve is using the clip to bounce off of Glenn Greenwald, and two are making the point that the pundit class simply can’t bear to have a conversation about the merits of any scandals consuming the White House without changing the subject. That they must always demonstrate their imagined superior insight by crudely attempting to repackage such discussions in such a way that they fit into their simplistic notions of amoral Washington gamesmanship. In the process, of course, they come off as idiots.

But what Steve and Greenwald are breezing over is that the fundamental thesis to this particular narrative – that Rove is a political mastermind – is just as much bunk as every other piece of their argument. Unfortunately, it’s bunk that has crept through over the last six years, enough so that most political observers accept it as fact.

Let’s debunk after the fold (and yes, there is a Vermont corollary…)

Any arborist will tell you that a monocultural stand of trees is vulnerable. As tall and robust as they may seem, without some sort of agricultural diversity, the entire population could be wiped out by a single, otherwise passing blight that it’s limited genetics happen to be susceptible to.

That’s not to say that the blight is a genius. That its assessed the situation and made a masterful strategy. The blight is just doing what it does – and it happens to be in the right place at the right time.

That’s what we’re looking at with the Rove phenomenon. The Washington political culture has, over the last few generations, become a sort of monoculture that is uniquely susceptable to the blight that is Karl Rove and George Bush – and not because they’re smart. They’re not – and in fact, if Rove was nearly as smart as everyone likes to think of him as, his brains probably would’ve tripped him up.

The fact is that Rove is so crude, so relentlessly politically sociopathic and so bereft of any concept of going too far that he caught the greater political establishment completely off guard. Time after time, Rove’s shameless audacity astounded the political class, and time after time that same audacity paid off with success because the insiders couldn’t believe he was doing what he was doing and were incapable of facing it, let alone defending against it.

And yet when you look at what Rove has been doing or saying, its as simple as it could possibly be – be as slimy as possible from every possible direction at every possible moment. It doesn’t matter what your strengths and weaknesses are, or what your opponents’ are. Just throw everything at the wall, regardless of whether or not it is “fair game.” It’s pure bull-in-the-china-shop.

What the insiders really notice is what, to them, looks like jiujitsu of the most audacious kind; specifically, going after the president’s opponents on the terms of what, at first glance would be their strengths and Bush’s weaknesses. But the truth is that this is almost incidental – Rove goes after everyone on anything and everything. It’s just the unconventional attacks that seem so… well, unconventional.

And that’s why they’ve been so effective. Not because he’s so smart by a long shot.

Imagine Being There if Chance the Gardener were a troglodyte.

And what we’re finally seeing is this blight running its course. Eventually, the fact that Rove is actually a twit was going to get him into trouble. The bull-in-the-china-shop schtick is, after all, all the guy’s got. Seriously – the GOP has lost both houses of congress, Bush is still in the doghouse, and the scandals that are front and center at present date from actions the administration has taken since the election – not 2-4 years ago. Does this sound smart?

Now that we’re all finally developing some meaningful – if tenuous – defense against this approach, all that remains is Rove the bumbler. Rove the fool. Rove the incompetent.

Which was all he ever really was to begin with.

In Vermont, former Chair Jim Barnett played much the same role to similar results. Barnett was focused on the top of the ticket, of course, and was a great fit with the Governor’s tendencies to play nasty. Barnett has also enjoyed the strange status of “genius” bestoyed on him by the media, despite the fact that his approach has left the state GOP in shambles.

But Barnett is a lot smarter than Rove. He saw an out with the McCain campaign and took it (and just before the auditor recount).

Slick. And slickness will get you far in this business.

The Rove phenomenon proves that smarts, on the other hand, are simply optional.

I’ve been a big fan of Kathy Sierra’s Creating Passionate Users blog for quite some time.

Like Zack Exley in the political world, she writes about exactly the kinds of things I’m interested in — using the power of technology to create new relationships between institutions and their supporters. To move beyond the top-down vs. bottom-up arguments to create a new kind of synthesis that works to the benefit of both.

Like her recent series, How to Build a User Community (Part One and Part Two), she offers fantastic ideas on how to do this.

So, it was very disturbing to learn of the truly weird attacks being waged against her.

And it is causing a very profound ripple effect on the many thought leaders of this whole movement — as it exposes the darkness of human nature which clearly exists in both the real and the virtual.

The BBC has more…

And since Vermont’s own political blogosphere hasn’t been immune to semi-anonymous, rather vicious and aggressive behavior in the past nine months, this is an important story to keep on eye on.

Keep the faith, Kathy.

And, it’s all Newt Gingrich’s fault.

From UVM’s student newspaper, the Vermont Cynic…

The College Republicans club was derecognized by the Student Government Association (SGA) on Tuesday, after failing to repay year old debts.

The group owed $6,548 from a $7,000 loan they took out in Oct. 2005. The loan was initially taken out in order to pay Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, to speak at UVM.

When the club failed to pay at the first deadline in Nov. 2005, their account was frozen and they were reminded of the consequences if they were unable to pay. The club proceeded to ask for two more separate deadline extensions, and was given one in Dec. and one in Feb.

According to the College Republicans president, senior Heather Baldyga, the club had been warned twice of a possible derecognition should they fail to repay their loan.

Now that the club has been derecognized SGA will repossess their budget, which will cover the debt the College Republicans owe, according to senior Jessica Banks, SGA treasurer.

If the club is rerecognized it will be on their own terms, and financially “they’ll be back at ground zero,” said Banks. They will be treated like any other new club.

College Republicans expected the profits from Newt Gingrich’s presentation to help cover the loan, but there was a smaller turn out than they had expected.

“We were not able to pay back SGA because there was little or no effort to fundraise in the past few semesters. It is also difficult to fundraise for a Republican organization around here, because we don’t have many fans in this area,” Baldyga said.