vt.Buzz ~ a political blog

Political notes from Free Press staff writers Terri Hallenbeck, Sam Hemingway and Nancy Remsen

10.24.2006

The letter

Last night's WPTZ Senate debate between Republican Rich Tarrant and independent Bernie Sanders had plenty of memorable moments, but there's one that Tarrant must have hoped had worked out better for him.

Late in the debate, Tarrant said Sanders had such an anti-business record that he proclaimed that if Sanders returns to Washington "we're not going to have any more businesses think about coming to Vermont with that kind of record."

Tarrant's prime example was how Sanders, when he was mayor of Burlington "harrassed" the General Electric weapons manufacturing plant in the city by allegedly encouraging folks to stage protests outside the factory gates. And Tarrant thought he had the goods to prove it, a letter Tarrant had tucked inside his jacket written by GE officials to Sanders in 1986.

Trouble was, when Tarrant pulled the letter out and started to read it, WPTZ co-anchor Stephanie Gorin ordered him to stop, saying candidates were not allowed to use "props." Tarrant tried to keep going, but Gorin would have none of it.

The letter, provided to yours truly by the Tarrant team after the debate concluded, is a doozie. The letter was signed by the plant's manager, Fred Breidenbach, several union officials and other GE employees. Here's a sample of what it said:

"We were very dismayed to see you quoted last week calling for more local protests ... The morning after your comments, we were the target of the very protests you inspired, and we have had more incidents for several days since. As a result, more than 2,000 hard working Vermonters at General Electric have been subjected to insults and had their morals challenged and the source of their livelyhood threatened by blockade and harassment."

The letter, now 20 years old, goes on to demand an apology from Sanders. At Monday's debate, Sanders said he recalled respecting both the right of protesters to exercise their 1st amendment rights to protest and the company's right to do its business. "It was a very controversial time and, as mayor, I was in the middle and I did my best to work with both groups," Sanders said.

Tarrant must have been thinking that revealing the contents of the letter on live TV might have turned the debate in his favor, or he wouldn't have made sure to have the letter tucked inside his jacket in the first place. Gorin didn't give him that chance, but the question remains: How big a deal is this to voters? After all, the letter is 20 years old.

What do you think?

-- Sam Hemingway

posted by vt.Buzz | 9:50 AM |

Comments:

That was 20 years ago. I would ask Mr. Tarrant to show me how much business VT has lost during the time Mr. Sanders has been our Representative?

The problem Mr. Tarrant has as I see it is that irrespective of how you feel about Sanders he is simply the better candidate in this race - Mr. Tarrant has had ample time to prove himself the better choice, but he has failed to do so and is now left with nothing more than running a scavenger hunt. What's next - go back to Bernie's high school records and find out how many times he sat in detention?

You can't build yourself up by tearing someone else down.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 11:47 AM, October 24, 2006

I think the letter is a very big deal - it speaks directly to Sanders' character. He came straight out and said he never harassed GE, yet here's a letter, from GE, saying they felt harassed. That, of course, is how you judge harassment - if a party feels harassed, then they were. Sanders lied, clear and simple. The fact that the letter is 20 years old only underscores how well Sanders has portrayed himself as an electable candidate. He's very good at that, just like he's very good at speaking loudly and making people think he gets stuff done. Unfortunately for our state, neither is true. Pointing out a weak congressional record hasn't been able to shake the misguided trust everyone has put in Sanders - hopefully this letter can.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:18 PM, October 24, 2006

GE wasn't hassled enough.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:44 PM, October 24, 2006

Tarrant can't follow simple debate rules -- Rules that he agreed to.

He seems to think that the rules don't apply to him.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 1:14 PM, October 24, 2006

Amazing. All that's going on in the world and with our Federal Government but Rich Tarrant seems to want to talk about really petty crap.

The guy talks more about this stuff than the talks about his own agenda.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 1:22 PM, October 24, 2006

You guys need to read it more carefully.

The letter indicates harrasement by the PROTESTERS, not Bernie.

What exactly the protesters did is in the record somewhere. It could be they simple walked around holding signs and exercised their 1st admendment rights just like Bernie indicated.

I think its pretty clear that exercising 1st admendment rights is not harrassment. Although, I could see some dork CEO claiming that it was.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 2:01 PM, October 24, 2006

Sorry, but some letter from 20 years ago means squat. Besides, the letter really doesn't say anything with regard to Bernie other than "you (were) quoted last week calling for more local protests." What's the context and what exactly was said 20 years ago?

Tarrant come across as a spoiled child.

Tarrant's whole race is some sort of childish revenge plot against Bernie for Bernie calling him out of the FAHC board.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 2:15 PM, October 24, 2006

The most incredible thing about what Tarrant said about no business wanting to come to VT if Bernie is elected, is that GE (the same company that Bernie supposedly "harrassed") just spent $1.2b to buy IDX this year, and they plan to keep it in Vermont!! Bernie was the sole congressman for our state at the time. In fact, Bernie was the state's sole congressman for the entire time IDX was public!!! I guess GE got over what ever Bernie did in 1986..Rich Tarrant apparently hasnt...

Just a sad candidacy to watch--I used to have a lot of respect for the guy. He is just a bad candidate any way you slice it...

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 4:50 PM, October 24, 2006

Desparate times call for desparate measures. Disparaging (then taking it back) Dr. Dynosaur, what next, calling social security blasphemy? You never know what Rich will say next.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 6:27 PM, October 24, 2006

A 20-year old letter is much ado about nothing.

If that's the best Tarrant can do, he is really desperate.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 6:37 PM, October 24, 2006

Another blogger pointed out that Bernie didn't look very well last night at the WPTZ debate. Is he sick?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 7:11 PM, October 24, 2006

Bernie never looks well, it's his "thing." Being sick doesn't make you strap on a mismatched wardrobe that looks like it came from a Goodwill donation box.

The fact that the letter is twenty years old wouldn't have mattered if Bernie had just said, "ancient history." That he currently sees no problem with the behavior that the letter describes is very telling.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 9:16 PM, October 24, 2006

There's a war in Iraq. There are people in the U.S. without healthcare and jobs.

Instead of describing his own political philosophy on issues, Tarrant simply attacks Bernie with a twenty-year old letter.

Tarrant is ugly.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 9:22 PM, October 24, 2006

Part of a Senator's job is to help bring business to the state that they represent. Demonstrating that Bernie will almost certainly not do that - also the conclusion of an excellent recent Freeps editorial - is supremely relevant.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 9:32 PM, October 24, 2006

Sam Hemingway the fact is that your political biais is obvious. Your attitude at the WCAX debate was unprofessional and no Vermonters has any question as to your political leanings. You were not elected to anything but you continue to use your bully pulpit to rail against Republicans and you dare to call yourself a journalist? The Free Press should be have a warning label to declare your biais at the start of each of your articles. You fool no one, the fact is Rich Tarrant has done more good with his sucess than you and Bernie have ever done you both are con men!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 11:11 PM, October 24, 2006

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

# Posted by:

Haik Bedrosian | 11:18 PM, October 24, 2006

Top Three Richard Tarrant Quotes of the Debate at BurlingtonPol.com.

# Posted by:

Haik Bedrosian | 11:20 PM, October 24, 2006

I don't think it's the thing next to hatred. In fact, I think there may even be some respect in there, for the goals Bernie's tried to pursue. I think that respect has just gotten taken over by disgust, though, due to the fact that Bernie's continually failed to achieve those goals, despite 16 years in Congress, and wants 6 more years to again, do nothing.

Now here's something. Bernie admitted in the debate that he made a pretty good living. If he stopped being payed by the government to yell, what would he do? Probably not make nearly as much (unless he went into lobbying - but what lobbying firm would hire him? No one listens to him as it is!) In effect, Bernie needs this job to continue his way of life. I'm always suspicious of someone who needs something - unfortunately, it usually means they'll do whatever it takes to stay where they are, despite how badly they're doing.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 9:19 AM, October 25, 2006

Bernie could simply move to higher education. He's been there before. And he would probably make much more than he does now.

"I'm always suspicious of someone who needs something - unfortunately, it usually means they'll do whatever it takes to stay where they are, despite how badly they're doing."

Are you on crack?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 10:07 AM, October 25, 2006

Tarrant's body language shows his contempt for Bernie.

Tarrant has been attacking Bernie non-stop. Instead of pulling twenty year old letters out of his sleeve, Tarrant should have done a positive campaign on the issues.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:20 PM, October 25, 2006

"Bernie could simply move to higher education. He's been there before."

I don't think trolling the UVM dorms for hit-and-run votes counts.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 1:19 PM, October 25, 2006

"Are you on crack?"

No.

But if I needed crack, I'd probably be breaking into houses to get money to pay for it. Hardly someone to be trusted.

When we're talking about needing broad categories of things, then yes, generally people can be trusted. Say you have Person A, who needs a job - any job. If that person gets refused for one job, there are others they can get. However, if that person feels like they need one job in particular, they're likely to do whatever it takes to get that job.

Look at President Nixon. He was a self-made man, worked his way up through politics, won the Presidency - he needed to win another election to make himself feel important - and he did whatever it took to get there, which, for him, meant breaking laws. I'm sure we have differing opinions, but I see Sanders in the same light. He's worked his way through politics, he's been in the House a long time, got accustomed to being on the national stage - now he needs to win this election to continue on. I don't trust that. Maybe I'm just not very trusting in general; regardless, I'm not on crack.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 4:51 PM, October 25, 2006

Baed on that, Tarrent would fall in the same category.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 10:39 AM, October 26, 2006

Why? Tarrant doesn't need the job to continue his way of life - he could easily retire, or start another business, or any number of things. I see Tarrant and Sanders having very different personalities. Tarrant is a man of substance, who honestly wants to help people, and who doesn't often seek out publicity - which is exactly why, despite having run IDX for so long, he needed so many commercials to introduce himself to Vermont. Sanders is a man of little substance, who probably honestly wants to help people, but also wants to do it in as loud and obnoxious a way as possible so as to get the most attention for himself - he's able to achieve one of those goals. I'll let you consider his two (insignificant) bills he's passed and decide which yourself.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:15 PM, October 26, 2006

"I'm always suspicious of someone who needs something - unfortunately, it usually means they'll do whatever it takes to stay where they are, despite how badly they're doing."

That fits Tarrant to a tee.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:51 PM, October 26, 2006