Some 15-20 Democratic candidates for positions ranging from state Senate to state's attorney formed a semi-circle in the atrium of the new Lake & College building near the waterfront in Burlington. They'd come to talk up their vision for the state and to criticize the Republican governor.
I happened to have a few minutes to spare and it was just down the street from our office. It doesn't take much to encourage me to take a walk down toward the lake on a sunny summer day. They were pretty relieved to see me because I was the only member of the media who showed for this press conference and it's awfully hard to have a press conference without the press.
My first question was what they would be doing there in that room, equipped with a podium and flags, if I had not shown. Going out for coffee, Sen. Jim Condos quipped.
Never mind the attendance, though, this event was a sign of how Democrats are doing business this election season. In recent months, the party has beefed up its communications squadron, with the addition of Andy Bouska as communications director and Bill Lofy, who had a run first as House Speaker Gaye Symington's communications guy during the legislative session and is now the party's coordinated campaign director.
Earlier this week, Symington and Senate Majority Leader John Campbell held a news conference in Montpelier to stress that property taxes will be their priority next year, pending the voters' approval. They came out swinging at Gov. Jim Douglas and the Republicans. Pointing to Douglas' "Agenda of Affordability," Campbell asked "affordability for whom?" Not for ordinary Vermoters with rising health-care costs, property taxes and electric rates, he charged.
Wednesday, Chittenden County incumbent legislators and a few newcomer candidates pushed the same message, augmented with some spice of their own. Sen. Ginny Lyons said she had to fight the administration over energy-efficiency standards. Rep. Johanna Donovan spoke of fighting for more money for affordable housing. The gist of their message: Douglas lacks a long-term vision.
The Republicans, of course, have another point of view on the matter. They are the party that saved Vermonters from an increase in the gas tax, that proposed the idea of college scholarships and had to push the Legislature on the issue, and that tried to protect the public from violent offenders with the civil confinement of untreated offenders, party Chairman Jim Barnett said.
These will be the arguments launched back and forth between the parties over the next four months. One thing is clear, though. The Democrats are coordinating their message and they have loaded their guns for combat against the Republicans. "We are tired of the pot shots," Condos said.
Lofy, who's now helping coordinate the Democratic message, said it's not as though the party's candidates will always be speaking with one voice. "To say it's like herding cats is an understatement," he said.
- Terri Hallenbeck
