[Originally published in the Vermont Journal… nobody gets that the title is a riff on Conason’s “The Hunting of the President,” so it was changed in print, but I’m hoping all the good ol’ blog readers will get it. It did occur to me that this piece could be read to be encouraging complacence, which is NOT my intent. You’ll note Bartlett is on my local target list in the diary below…]

The Vermont GOP is AWOL on state legislative elections this year, leaving many of their candidates to fend for themselves. Why is hard to say. With county committees forced to put want ads for candidates on neighborhood bulletin boards and an astonishing number of state Senate and House seats simply going uncontested, Republican Chair Jim Barnett and company seem exclusively focused on the statewide elections.

Almost.

It’s not quite accurate to say the state GOP has no state Senate operation. It’s just that the state Senate operation seems for all the world to have only one target they really care about – their favorite Senator, Susan Bartlett of Lamoille County.

Nobody drives the Republicans crazy like Bartlett. She’s the sole Senator from a County they think should be theirs. And it’s always a battleground. Election after election, the Lamoille Senate contest is always the Thunderdome of Vermont politics, and time after time, when two candidates enter, it is always Bartlett who leaves, and her opponent who is carted off on a political stretcher.

This alone would be enough to make her a perennial target of GOP ire, but somehow she always finds a way to rub it in by finding a way to tie one hand behind her back as she goes into every fight, yet still come out on top in November.

She survived her Act 60 vote in the last county where that should have been possible. When then Senate President Pro-Tem Peter Shumlin decided to run for Lieutenant Governor, it was Bartlett who was left with the task of leading the Senate Democrats’ election operation, taking on responsibility for every other Democratic Senate candidacy in the state in addition to her own. Such divided attention and energy again smelled like blood in the water to circling Republican sharks, but Bartlett wasn’t merely victorious, she expanded the Democratic Senate caucus into an impenetrable supermajority.

However, that’s not the worst of it. Bartlett isn’t just any thorn in their side; she is also among the most powerful and effective senators in Vermont.

As Chair of Appropriations, Bartlett brings a level of influence to benefit her Lamoille constituents that is the envy of the state. While the last two President Pro Tems have had their eyes on higher office, Bartlett has held a steady and forceful hand on budgets and policy, and all the while having little tolerance for partisan posturing. Bartlett is often the first to call nonsense like it is, and the Republicans just hate that.

It’s likely that in a year the GOP doesn’t seem to care about the state Senate, that the Governor himself pulled rank to have the machine turned on her – and that includes him personally campaigning against her, as well as the appearance of some nasty campaign attacks. Bartlett has enraged the Governor by, among other things, casually and definitively showing his prized “promise scholarship” program to be an unfunded gimmick designed for headlines and utterly meaningless as policy. When Douglas petulantly dubbed Bartlett’s counterproposal “mouse meat,” he only made himself look worse in comparison.

So this time around, it’s the same old story. The mortal injury du jour was supposed to be Bartlett’s departure to a conference while final negotiations for closing the legislative session were underway. What an opportunity. The GOP finally has something they can spin into an early political retirement for their favorite nemesis.

Gimme a break.

Another nail biter, another razor thin margin, another long Election Night, and another term for one of the most effective senators in the state.

See you in Montpelier in January, Susan…

So Martha the mouth has decided that she has a patent or is it trade mark or is it a copyright on the name Rainville and woe be those who are named Rainville who do anything to cross our war criminal as candidate. 

The Republicans are not just desperate but have placed themselves out of civil society.  Rush’s attach on Michael J. Fox is an outrage.

You know the desperate Tories in Canada in 1993, knowing they were about to lose power in a landslide against them also went to the very dark side running an ad against challenging LIberal Leader Jean Chretian.  The ad?  A phony person in the street set of interviews all of whom expressed embarrassment should Canada have a Prime Minister who looked like Jean Chretian. 

I’m not making this up.  The result was a total defeat of the party going from a comfortable majority in the House of Commons of 170 seats to 2.  Two.  TWO.

So let’s let the Reps have a seat in stinking Mississippi and another in some other racist swamp. 

Okay, so I’m listening to the news, reading the papers, browsing the blogs, and scan an item about how Ned Lamont made a fortune and is self-funding his campaign, followed by a number that suggests he’s doing it to an even larger degree than Rich Tarrant.

So none of us likes Rich T. He’s slimy (or at least his media advisors are, and he agreed to run the distorting ads — and did you notice how they’ve disappeared from the airwaves, replaced by golden-glow grandpa Rich with the kids and 35 years of healthcare “experience”?). He really doesn’t have a message, and his primary residence is really in Florida, where he’ll fit in quite nicely as a slezoid R over-endowed with money.

And we at least “sort of” like Ned Lamont because he drove DINO Joe Lieberman off the party’s ballot line by calling him on his

support for the war, among other Republican-sponsored horrors.

So help me out here … Richie T. is trying to buy a Vermont Senate seat, but Ned Lamont isn’t trying to buy a Connecticut one? Is the only difference the party for which each is running?

And last time I heard, Neddie is going to get his ass whupped because being off the Democratic ballot line has freed up Joltin’ Joementum Lieberman to appeal to his natural constituency: rich white Republicans, most of whom will find themselves voting “Independent” for the first time in their political lives.

NanuqFC

Marine Corps Sgt. Liam Madden of Rockingham is seriously sticking his neck out by speaking out against the war, and trying to protect himself by invoking whistleblower protection. From Christian at the Vermont Guardian:

“The real grievances are if democracy is our goal than I believe we are going about it all wrong. The occupation is perpetuating more violence and I think it is the biggest de-stabilizing thing we can do to the Middle East. It’s costing way too many human lives — Iraqi civilians and American service member lives — and brings us no benefits,” Madden said. “The only people who benefit in my eyes are corporations like Halliburton. I don’t think that the war is being paid for in the right manner, and I think that if people want to
support the troops then they should support us coming home.”

Madden serves in the U.S. Marine Corps and is stationed in Quantico,

This is a brave, honorable Marine, who is doing his state, his country and the corps proud, as far as I’m concerned. To date, nearly 350 servicemen and women have joined Madden in filing an appeal of redress on the issue. And the number is growing.

Vermont taxpayer funded GOP propoganda is back on the air. Barre’s WSNO (right wing talk radio) was down for a bit, but sadly returned yesterday during the Sean Hannity Show broadcast. As we previously reported, one of the sponsors of the Sean Hannity Show is the Barre Technical Center. That means tax money from the area school districts that send students there, as well as statewide via the Education Fund. Nice, huh?

Did Martha Rainville harass supporters of Peter Welch in Franklin County because they happened to share her last name and held an event for Welch? That’s what Philip is reporting. Pretty damn pathetic and petty, if true.

( – promoted by odum)

This is it people. If you’re not signed up for a lit drop, visibility, get-out-the-vote or canvass shift, you better have a really good reason (such as you’re immobile due to health reasons or are out of the country for the next week-and-a-half).

I haven’t talked about the local races nearly as much as I wanted to, because I have only limited time for this blogging thing, and there has been so much to get to. So belatedly, I’m going to try to make amends.

A lot of good Dem candidates in local House and Senate races are facing tough challenges. Many are right on the edge in campaigns that could go either way. Now I wouldn’t presume to say that any campaigns are more important than any others, but the following folks are really riding the edge of victory/defeat, and when you consider how to spend your volunteer time in the final push, keep these folks in the front of your mind when deciding how to allot your time. I’ve included contact numbers you can call to offer your help (all on the flip)

Diane Lanpher (Addison-3: Addison, Ferrisburgh, Panton, Vergennes, Waltham) 877-2230. This is a crazy crazy race we’ve covered here before, and with a none-too-progressive Progressive in the mix, it’s truly wide open. Some butt-busting could make the difference.

Chris Bray (Addison-5: Bridport, New Haven, Weybridge) 453-3444. This district totally should be ours.

Kristy Spengler and Bud Meyers (Chitenden 7-2: Colchester), 864-6567 and 879-3360 respectively.

Gary Gilbert (Franklin-1: Fairfax, Georgia) 849-6333.

Peter Peltz, Shap Smith {Lamoille-Washington-1: Worcester, Woodbury, Elmore, Morrisville), 472-6524 and 888-9214 respectively.

Mitch Pearl (Rutland-7: Brandon) 247-8175. Come on…how cool would it be to take Joe Acinapura’s seat?

Paul Poirier (Washington 3-1: Barre City) 476-7870. One time Dem superstar Paul Poirier attempts a comeback in a city that has a hard time letting go of the civil union battle. This one is a true mystery. Valliere could win in a rout. Poirier could win in a rout. It could be a squeaker. Who the hell knows?

John Moran (Windham-Bennington-1: Dover, Readsboro, Searsburg, Somerset, Stamford, Wardsboro) 896-9408. A former county chair, John’s tried this in the past unsuccessfully, but word is he’s running a much stronger campaign than ever before.

Tom Buchanan (Windham-Bennington-Windsor-1:Jamaica, Londonderry, Stratton, Weston, Winhall) 824-4248.

Rep. Kathy Pellett (Windsor 1-1: Andover, Baltimore, Chester, Springfield) 875-1372. A tough, tough re-election fight in a very important district.

Mark Mitchell (Windsor 6-1: Barnard, Hartford, Pomfret) 234-9188.

Hilda Ojibway (Windsor 6-2: Hartford) 296-2669. Hilda is trying to replace retiring Rep. Lynn Bohi. This is a swing district if ever there was one, but Lynn took it (and took it back after losing it) with pure hard work and smart campaigning. There are no corners than can be cut in this district.

Rep. Rozo McLaughlin (Windsor-Orange-1:). Rozo is dealing with serious illness. She’s also one of the toughest people you’ll ever meet, still, she needs help with the visibility and footwork that she can’t do right now. Contact Linda Weiss at 439-5280 to help out.

…and frequent GMD contributor Ed Weissman (Bennington-Rutland-1 : Dorset, Danby, Mt. Tabor, Peru, Landgrove), 867-0269, is facing a serious challenge in trying to wrest this district out of GOP hands. Give him a hand.

Senators Sara Kittell (827-3274) & Don Collins (868-7975) in Franklin County. This one will alwys be tough, but with Alan Parent dumping in unprecedented amounts of money into advertising (TV, even), this is tougher than usual.

Sen. Susan Bartlett (888-5591) in Lamoille – although she won handily last time, that was likely n anomaly. This is another perpetual battleground county, and there is nobody in the state that the Jims (Barnett and Douglas) want to take out more.

And in Rutland County, both Bill Carris (438-5391) and Hope Blucher (779-2246) have real shots (and wouldn’t it be nice to take out Wendy Wilton?).

In my home county of Washington, even though Democratic Senator Ann Cummings should be re-elected handily, the conventional wisdom is generally that Republicans Doyle and Scott are undefeatable, but the fact is that the numbers don’t bear that out. Former Republican Attorney General Kim Cheney (223-3181) always cuts it painfully close, and former Plainfield State Rep. Donny Osman (479-0819, or leave a note here for JD) is running an energetic and innovative campaign. If there’s going to be a surprise Dem pickup, it could happen right here.

I left out a bunch. Jump in and tell me who I should’ve included on the list. But most importantly, make some time for these folks in the next week-and-a-half. Let’s see about veto-proofing that majority in the event of a Douglas re-election.

I finally got it!! I know why the dubster has only been a very part time Lt Gov.  His opponent is Matt Dunne.  It stands to reason, dub would want to keep his day job.

On the heels of the Brattleboro Reformer’s spineless endorsement of Jim Douglas (that also took needless, unreasonable shots at Scudder Parker), which was presented to us in order to bump up their transcendent, independent thinking cred in the face of their expected, multiple Dem endorsements, the Reformer is trying to get their progressive readership to just forget about it and move on with today’s compensation piece.

Although I must admit, they hit it outta the park:

Clinton hoped for unity. He never got it. Instead, Americans never found out the truth about the extent of cooperation between the U.S. and Iran and Iraq in the 1980s. If that information got out, it’s doubtful George W. Bush would have ever become president.

Truth matters. History matters. Accountability matters. Setting the record straight is important. Sadly, it appears the Democratic Party is prepared to make the same mistake today that Clinton made in 1993.

Below the fold for the rest of their point. And then return to the above link to read the whole piece. It should be required reading.

Republicans are fearful that if the Democrats retake control of one or both chambers of Congress, they will have subpoena power. They will have the power to fully investigate the Bush administration on many fronts, including the decision that led to the invasion of Iraq.

But the centrists in the Democratic Party don’t want to do this. They are afraid that members of the so-called “angry left” will be so bent on impeaching President Bush that they will destroy the Democrats’ credibility.

This is nonsense. If the centrists think that this time, the Republicans will play nice, it’s not going to happen. If the Republicans in Congress do find themselves in the minority come November, they will obstruct, attack and offer zero cooperation to Democrats.

Instead of pretending that trading away a search for the truth will yield some potential political advantage later, the Democrats need to let Americans know how the Bush administration misled the nation to war in Iraq. They need to let Americans know about the corruption and incompetence that has infected every level of the federal government. They need to hold the ruling party accountable for every misdeed.

This isn’t about partisan politics. It is about the most important commodity in a democracy — truth.

Tomorrow morning at 11:30, we’ll find out if I am worthy of being called “kestrel.”

I am damned sick of looking at this:

And now, I get to say why. On the air.
I get to go to the mat.
Details on the jump.

So we were without a Valley Perspectives program for this Sunday. All the shirts at the radio station are at seminars this week, so I’m answering phones.
Got a call from a guy who wanted to pay his bill. So I shunted that off to the ops manager, who put it on the speaker.
And I challenged the caller to a debate. And he accepted.
My opponent will be Chris Freund, Director of Policy and Communications for The Family Foundation of Virginia. The Big Pimp Daddy for the Marriage Amendment.
Questions to ask? Talk points to use? Traps I must not let myself be led into?
I will diary this again this evening on Daily Kos. Your moral support and input would be much appreciated.

Tired of watching all those nasty, angry people on Tarant’s ads?

I sure am. That’s why I decided to share some of the particularly vile advertising the Republicans are using across the country. You may have read about them, or heard of them, but when you actually see and hear them some of them are shockingly bad.

Let’s start out in the state I grew up in, the Garden State. Now associated with the Sopranos. Here’s what the R’s do when they have an Italian opponent.

How about radio? In Indiana they’re running a bizarre ad that talks about how a vote for Democratic candidate Brad Ellsworth is a vote for Nancy Pelosi and the homosexual agenda.

They’re talking about taxes, too.

And national security.

Don’t worry, I saved the best for last. If you haven’t seen the racist commercial the RNC is running against Harold Ford in Tennessee, you really, really have to watch this. My wife couldn’t believe it wasn’t a joke, but it’s really true.

Is there any comment that could possibly match this? Maybe the fact that Ken Mehlman doesn’t see a racial issue there. Or that Ken Mehlman, the head of the Republican National Committee, says that the RNC (yup, you heard them say they’re responsible for the content of this ad) can’t do anything about it.

At our town committee meeting the other night we were sharing predictions of what’s going to happen this year. My prediction, which I’m sticking with at the moment, is that we take the House and Senate.

Nationally, the R’s don’t seem to be too confident. Here’s a leaked document showing how they’re sizing up their contested races, which is what they’re using to redirect their money.

Even if we don’t take back Congress, there should be some pretty gratifying wins for us. My favorites are the likelihood of ousting Santorum (adults only) (although I’m not happy about Casey), getting rid of Conrad Burns in Montana (that race was enough to get my son to register to vote out there, where he’s studying at the University of Montana), and taking Delay’s seat.