vt.Buzz ~ a political blog

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

5.09.2008

Monday's announcement

The weather forecast is 54 degrees with a 40 percent chance of rain Monday when House Speaker Gaye Symington will be announcing her plans to run for governor from the Statehouse steps.

The official word from Symington and the Democratic Party is that she will be announcing whether she'll be running or not at that time and place. Don't let them kid you, though. She's running.

I might have thought the announcement would be at the Jericho Elementary School, where she would talk up the quality of Vermont's schools and the issue - how schools are paid for - that launched her political career more than a decade ago. Perhaps that would conjure a little too much Act 60.

This will give Gov. Jim Douglas a chance to watch from the fifth floor of the Pavilion Building overlooking the Statehouse.

- Terri Hallenbeck

posted by vt.Buzz | 1:24 PM |

Comments:

Douglas will dispatch Lil' Sprout (aka Mike Smith) to do spin for him. As a stunt, Smith will parachute from the 5th floor, in an effort to draw attention from Gaye's event. Timmy Hayward, Ditzy Bishop, Jake Gibbs, Denise Casey and Wanda Tringe will put on dresses and be dispatched to do a Rockettes line on State Street, but no one will watch because it's way too repulsive. Finally, Jim Douglas will emerge from his 5th floor pod and offer to personally style Stu Bedwetter's and Kristy Curl-A-Lot's hair, to keep the tv stations from covering the announcement.

This is going to be a way cool day!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 1:59 PM, May 09, 2008

Jimmy D is getting nervous - in a 3 way race, no one gets the required 50% and its thrown into the Legislature.

Jimmy D may actually have to take a position on something this campaign - rather than dance around all the issues with double speak!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 2:21 PM, May 09, 2008

lets see, gaye's had 4 years as speaker and she hasn't so much as laid a finger on him. he and his team run circles around her and still the democrats think she makes a strong candidate. good grief!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 2:29 PM, May 09, 2008

can we talk more about Bernie's lawn? cause that's a major problem. we should focus on that.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 2:37 PM, May 09, 2008

I can see the debates now: Pollina says invest in farms, Douglas says invest in VT Yankee, Symington concedes all points.

Repeat ad nauseum.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 3:03 PM, May 09, 2008

Go Pollina!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 3:20 PM, May 09, 2008

Go Pollina!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 3:20 PM, May 09, 2008

Yes ... go Pollina ... go far, far away from Vermont.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 3:39 PM, May 09, 2008

Anonymous said...

"Go Pollina!"

Clearly, that will be the Doogie Campaign's most popular and most effective bumper sticker.

Always a pleasure.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 7:29 PM, May 09, 2008

Symington will need lots of coaching in her public speaking abilities. If ya wanna be Governor ya gotta be able to put a complete sentence together.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 8:16 PM, May 09, 2008

ah..ah..ah..let's have a conversation about that

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 10:58 PM, May 09, 2008

"lets see, gaye's had 4 years as speaker and she hasn't so much as laid a finger on him. he and his team run circles around her and still the democrats think she makes a strong candidate. good grief!"

Well, she's a candidate and we needed a candidate. How can our party not have a candidate for governor? No one else dared so we'll take what we get.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 7:35 AM, May 10, 2008

Shumlin's no fool.... Lacking the spine to walk the big talk, he chooses not to run and put his Senate position at risk. Instead he convinces Gaye to take one for the cause.

Peter...smart Gaye ...no so smart

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 7:41 AM, May 10, 2008

Peter is good at throwing other people under the bus!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 1:47 PM, May 10, 2008

I'll be tuned in Monday to hear Unibrow stutter out a statement that she thinks she's Governor material! In the four years that she has "served" as Speaker little has been done for the average Vermonter. She has time and again "served" up whatever VPIRG has wanted. She and Senator Burns have forwarded a far, far left agenda that does nothing to help Vermonters. She has been absolutely useless in leading a 93 -49 majority. She bemoans that the Republicans haven't come through for her but what she fails to mention is that any bill only needs 76 votes to pass (if everyone is present) and that means if not one "R" where to vote for her foolishness she should still be able to pass any bill she wants. How come that hasn't happened? Because most of the "D's" realize what crap is being forwarded to the House and even though with threats from Mother Hen vote their consituency as they should. Gaye and her mean team of Partridge and Floyd cannot claim victory on any issue that Vermonters have told them they catre about. Screw Iraq, Impeachment, Pot etc. give us tax relief and jobs and we'll be happy. Gaye Symington and "Dole" Pollina have no clue about what real Vermonters care about. Neither does A.H. Coop

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 7:25 PM, May 10, 2008

Anonymous said...

"I'll be tuned in Monday to hear Unibrow stutter out a statement that she thinks she's Governor material!...."

In other words, ya got bupkis.

Thanks, as always, for that factually-challenged/fundamentally-dishonest/ignorant-trash perspective, little fella.

Always a pleasure.

Dismissed.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 8:40 PM, May 10, 2008

AH Coop cums through once again... what a butthead

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 9:13 PM, May 10, 2008

Symington better practice her speech all weekend...I've yet to hear her form a complete sentence...as for you, you factually-challenged/fundamentally -dishonest/ignorant-trash poophead..please provide examples where Ms. Symington has actually led our state to accomplish anything...come on...just one example...I thought so - you're not only dismissed but you're disgusting..you factually ignorant butthead AH...good ridence and here's to Jericho getting a new representative...one that doesn't stuuter...come on Floyd

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 10:10 PM, May 10, 2008

Anonymous said...

"AH Coop cums through once again... what a butthead"

In other words, you're dumb, you're scum and ya got bupkis.

Gee, thanks for clearin' that up, little fella.

Always a pleasure. Always a piece of cake.

Dismissed.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 10:12 PM, May 10, 2008

Terri makes a great point: How is Gaye going to finesse the issue of Act 60? Is it an accomplishment she can point to with pride, and argue that it only needs some more tweaking? Or does she have to argue that the Vermont Supreme Court mandated it, and it was the best that she (and the Legislature) could come up with?

As an aside, did anybody hear Anthony Pollina on Mark Johnson trying to deny that he ran the Vermont Milk Company, even though his campaign site bio says: "In 2003 he was approached by a group of dairy farmers interested in working together to keep farming viable. The result was the Vermont Milk Company - a farmer controlled ice cream, cheese and yogurt plant. Anthony ran the start up until 2008."

Michael Colby called in and made him squirm. It was pretty funny.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 10:18 AM, May 11, 2008

That's all Colby can do is throw potshots from the sidelines. He's a lot of talk and not much more. He should stick to farming and shut the hell up. Adds nothing to this debate whatsoever.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:57 PM, May 11, 2008

Same 'ol Pollina
Same 'ol Symington

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 3:04 PM, May 11, 2008

Same ol' nameless-nitwit nonsense.

Always a pleasure.

Dismissed.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 3:23 PM, May 11, 2008

Voyeur for Congress 2008.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 10:21 PM, May 11, 2008