There's only a handful of electric cars in Vermont, but to see the way Bernie Sanders and Scudder Parker are all charged up on this issue, you'd think the electric car vote was the key to winning the election this fall.
This week, we saw dueling announcements from the Sanders and Parker camps proudly disclosing how their guy will play host to special showings of the movie "Who Killed the Electric Car" at the Roxy Theater in Burlington. The showings will also serve as separate fundraising events for Sanders, who is running for the Senate, and Parker, who is running for governor.
"Bernie will introduce the movie and speak with the crowd for both showings," boasts a press release from Northern Democracy for America. The group, begun by Howard Dean after his presidential campaign went kaput, has been a bigtime Sanders supporter.
"Scudder will lead an expert panel of speakers to discuss som of the most pressing transportation, energy, environmental and political issues of our time," a statement from the Parker campaign said.
As for the movie, it portrays how the car was developed and how General Motors cut the legs out from under the proejct before it got a chance to succeed.
It looks like Sanders got to the starting line on this fundraising idea before Parker did.
Sanders' night at the Roxy will be Aug. 11, this Friday, with showings at 7 and 9:30 p.m. Parker's event is a week later, Aug. 18, at the same times.
--Sam Hemingway