vt.Buzz ~ a political blog

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

12.01.2008

On running for governor

A few thoughts on the notion that state Treasurer Jeb Spaulding is mulling a run for governor in 2010:

- The declaration makes him an instant enemy of the state, so to speak. Gov. Jim Douglas acknowledged earlier this year after House Speaker Gaye Symington started making noise about running that it can't help but change the dynamics to work with someone you know is coveting your job.

- On the other hand, Spaulding also declared he did not want to publicly criticize the sitting governor. That's got to sit well with the sitting governor, and would make it tough to campaign against him. It wouldn't, however, endear Spaulding to the pack of active Democrats who want to criticize Douglas with every breath they take.

- Spaulding won't be the only one doing this kind of mulling. As I reported in a post-election story, Democrats have already started talking about how not to be the last ones out of the gate for 2010. In a sense, it is very early to be talking about 2010, yet not early at all.

- Terri Hallenbeck

posted by vt.Buzz | 10:17 AM |

Comments:

An "enemy of the state"? Wouldn't it be nice to see a blog originated by other than a Douglas-hater sometime?

Oh well, Burlington, you know.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 10:50 AM, December 01, 2008

Actually, I think that the "enemy of the state" comment is overly favoralbe to Douglas.

It suggests that he is more powerful than most governors.

It wasn't an attack on Douglas ... if anything it was overly complementary.

I don't know what Burlington has to do with it.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 11:46 AM, December 01, 2008

Terri,

I'll bet the Governor is already drafting his first fundraising letter for the 2010 camapign - as he has done every December after an election.

Even though Douglas says it's too early to start campaigning, he starts building his war chest!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 11:55 AM, December 01, 2008

From the Fre Press home page...

Dec 1, 2008-- Associated Press

Douglas says he’ll push Obama for stimulus

MONTPELIER — Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas says he’s going to encourage President-elect Barack Obama to consider increasing federal funding for transportation infrastructure projects and Medicaid.

Douglas is due to meet with the president-elect on Tuesday at a meeting of the National Governors Association in Philadelphia.

Douglas says that he and his colleagues will focus on a new economic stimulus plan for the country that may include additional support for transportation projects that create jobs and help rebuild the nation’s infrastructure.

Douglas says every billion dollars spent on transportation creates about 35,000 jobs.

And he says federal support for Medicaid would reduce pressure on state budgets.
-----------------------------------

If only Douglas had taken that tact with George Bush - all he ever did was send a letter asking for help.

Now that it's a member of the opposite party, he is going to "push" for more help.

Douglas is weak and partisan!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 11:58 AM, December 01, 2008

Spaulding can't even get the Democrats to back his gas tax idea. Does he really expect them to endorse his candidacy? I think Jeb's beard is obscuring his view of political reality.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:40 PM, December 01, 2008

The fact is that former Administration Secretary (to Gov Douglas) Charlie Smith and the Snelling Center, Jeb Spaulding, and GOP House Rep Richie Westman are absolutely right but even more important are hiding behind GOP conservative mantra of "no new taxes".

Gov Douglas has offered up that he will increase user fees instead of raising taxes - semantics! In essence, the gas tax is a user fee as the only people who pay it are users!

Douglas lacks visiion and forthrightness preferring to toe the line for the conservatives!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 1:21 PM, December 01, 2008

Why don't you doogie dims tell us how to pay for Vermont's share of repairing our roads and bridges without raising taxes or imposing fees on Vermonters now that doogie's let them go totally to hell.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 3:42 PM, December 01, 2008

The roads in the NEK were FAR worse under Dean. Ask any Vt. highway engineer. Speaking of Dean, I thought lil' Howie was going to get one of them cabinet jobs!

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 3:57 PM, December 01, 2008

In other words, bubbakis has got bupkis.

I'm shocked.

Always a pleasure.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 4:14 PM, December 01, 2008

So, anyone who dares to run against doogie is an "enemy of the state who's coveting his job."

As if he's not tryin' to hang on to his job when he's allegedly negotiating with the legislature.

Gimme a break.

Who said the job was doogie's as long as he wants it and he gets to name his own successor?

Jeb should have run against him this time. If Pollina stops gummin' up the works, Vermont is finally free of the doogie/dubie debacle.

Doogie doesn't give a damn about anything but doogie.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 4:56 PM, December 01, 2008

bubba said...
An "enemy of the state"? Wouldn't it be nice to see a blog originated by other than a Douglas-hater sometime?

Oh well, Burlington, you know.

10:50 AM, December 01, 2008"

Ya mean like the dimwitted doogie disciple who kicked off this thread, bubbakis?

Always a pleasure.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 5:00 PM, December 01, 2008

Maybe an insider has told Jeb Spaulding that Douglas won't run next time so he is trying to get it locked down.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 5:39 PM, December 01, 2008

Spaulding gets the moderate vote from both the GOP and Dems, he kicks butt versus any other D and unles Douglas or Dubie run he is a shoe in in 2010

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 8:46 PM, December 01, 2008

"If Pollina stops gummin' up the works, Vermont is finally free of the doogie/dubie debacle."

You keep repeating this factually incorrect nonsense. Even if all of Pollina's 21% had gone exclusively to Symington, she still would have come up short.

Guess you weren't a math major, either.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 11:16 PM, December 01, 2008

incompetent gop-trash hacks
gop scum brigade
incompetent
clueless
corrupt
incompetent
clueless
corrupt
incompetent
clueless
corrupt
pinhead
gop-slime brigade
clueless-cretin coalition
ignorant bigots
bupkis
racist trash
dumb
scum
diseased

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 11:21 PM, December 01, 2008

Now who's the "ignorant bigot"?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 11:21 PM, December 01, 2008

The GOP is racist? Two out of three white Southern voters vote for McCain while 95% of black voters vote for Obama. Tell me who is racist.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 6:44 AM, December 02, 2008

You're comparing apples and oranges.
If you were a member of a minority group which had been enslaved, oppressed and then consistently discriminated against as an improvement, you would also vote for someone like you, given the opportunity. It expresses a desire for real equality. On the other hand, whites have always been the majority and therefore have always held power; for them to vote against someone just because of race in order to retain the status quo is racist.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 8:00 AM, December 02, 2008

It's useless to argue or debate Bubba, he is close minded and very partisan!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 8:02 AM, December 02, 2008

bubba said...

"The GOP is racist? Two out of three white Southern voters vote for McCain while 95% of black voters vote for Obama. Tell me who is racist."

That would be the gop-slime brigade, bubbakis.

Not many Jews voted for Hitler, either. That didn't make them racist, it made them smart. Frequently dead, but smart.

Is it your clueless-cretin contention that they acted out of racism, bubbakis?

That's the most farcockteh meshuggah thing I've heard since one of you coalition of the clueless cretins contended that Hitler wasn't Anti-Semitic because he exterminated Gypsies, too, or the last time ya called me a stupid Yid flatlander or a dumb Kike flatlander, bubbakis.

Like the Third Reich, Nixon's Southern Strategy, strom thurmond's devolution from racist dixiecrat dreck opponent of the Civil Rights Movement to racist gop-slime opponent of the Civil Rights Movement and subsequent endorsement of Goldwater in '64 are matters of historical record.

Your factually-challenged psychotic slop, on the other hand, is your factually-challenged psychotic slop.

Always a pleasure.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 8:55 AM, December 02, 2008

The worse racist attacks in this country were two years ago against a black GOP named Michael Steele who dared to run as a Republican in Maryland. The dims had posters of Steele as Uncle Tom, added blackface, etc. and can you believe it.....the New York Times "kinda" overlooked THAT! As for Vermont, I have never seen a more blatently racist cartoon than the one by Montpelier moron Danziger where he compared Condi Rice to Butterfly McQueen ("I don't know nuthin' bout birthin' babies"). But according to the idiot poster of 8 am you gotta be WHITE to be racist!

Fools!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:29 PM, December 02, 2008

Name-calling doesn't replace logic.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:42 PM, December 02, 2008

It's only racism when Republicans are attacked? Look what Obama has put up with from Southern Republicans. You can't have it both ways

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:44 PM, December 02, 2008

Is Danziger black? Do you know for certain that the "dims" who provided the posters were black? If not, how does this support your contention?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:52 PM, December 02, 2008

1) The Steele posters don't exist. It's another GOP lie.

2) A majority of black voters in Maryland voted against Steele. In part because of Steele's fundraisers at a country club that won't accept African Americans.

3) Steele ran a terrible campaign. Accepted illegal campaign contributions -- including contributions from Jack Abramoff.

4) Why are we even talking about this washed up hack??

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 1:04 PM, December 02, 2008

bubba...

"The worse racist attacks in this country were two years ago against a black GOP named Michael Steele who dared to run as a Republican in Maryland."

Sure thing, bubbakis. That was much worse than the lynchin' of Emmett Till by two klan-cretins who were immediately acquitted by an all-white jury in just over an hour because they took a coke and smoke break before selling their stories to Look Magazine for four grand each and admitted that they'd tortured, lynched and killed the 13 year-old Till before tying a 75-pound fan from a cotton gin around his neck with barbed wire and tossing him off the Tallahatchie Bridge into the river because he'd allegedly whistled at a white woman offending their "good Christian values."

Then there's that Byron de la Beckwith cretin who murdered Medgar Evers and kept getting let off by with mistrials when all-white juries hung on him and loudly and proudly walked around Mississippi for 30 years boastin' that "no white man would ever be convicted of killin' a nig..r in the State of Mississippi.

Then there's the thousands of other lynchings and murders committed on Blacks by White Racist Trash in this Country, but you're more worried about some unflattering Danziger cartoon of clueless condi.

The bush administration has proved that she'd be just as clueless if she were a dumb white dude, bubbakis.

Bubbakis, you're ignorant trash no matter what color or sex ya are.

Take it where the climate suits your sheet, schmuck.

Disappear.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 2:33 PM, December 02, 2008

Anonymous said...

"It's useless to argue or debate Bubba, he is close minded and very partisan!"

Then there's that whole caseless, clueless and dumb as a box of rocks with bupkis thing.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 3:06 PM, December 02, 2008

SOMEONE's got his panties bunched up today!!!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 4:50 PM, December 02, 2008

Ya, sure. For a black person to vote for a black person because he is black, is not racist. But for a white person to prefer a white candidate over the candidate who happens to be black, that is racist.

Sure thing, guy.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 10:18 PM, December 02, 2008

the gop-slime brigade
Hitler
your clueless-cretin
farcockteh meshuggah
coalition of the clueless cretins
racist dixiecrat dreck
racist gop-slime
Your factually-challenged psychotic slop
your factually-challenged psychotic slop
ignorant trash
schmuck

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 10:23 PM, December 02, 2008

most black and white people voted for Obama because he's a hell of a lot better than McCain/Palin.

Get over it.

The election is over. Get rid of the sour grapes.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 10:24 PM, December 02, 2008

it's not sour grapes to respond to jw's illogic and idiocy

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 10:48 PM, December 02, 2008

Anonymous...

"Ya, sure. For a black person to vote for a black person because he is black, is not racist."

Gee, I hate to keep confusin' ya with the facts, little nameless-nitwit/factose-intolerant fella, but seein' how Blacks Constitute a mere 12.7 percent of the US Population, even if Obama got 100 percent of the Black Vote, he'd lose if he got nothin' else.

I voted for him, little fella. I'm not Black. I'm not Hispanic or Asian, either. I'm just a White Boy from Vermont.

Obama got more votes than anyone in US History and a larger share of the popular vote of anyone since bush 41 because people with brains voted for him.

Clearly, the ignorant anonymous trash/gop-scum vote wasn't enough to carry the day for clueless mcsame, the Majority of Congress or most Governor's Mansions and State Legislatures, either.

However, if it makes ya feel better, little fella, the ignorant, white, gop-slime/kukluxkrishtin vote in Georgia reelected scumbag Saxby Chambliss tonight.

Now, if only that pesky Al Franken could get himself killed in a plane crash like Senator Paul Wellstone did in 2002, clueless coleman just might get himself reelected in Minnesota after all.

"But for a white person to prefer a white candidate over the candidate who happens to be black, that is racist."

It is if they're racist trash votin' for racist hacks like saxby chambliss, little fella.

What percentage of the saxby chambliss vote was white, today, little fella? What percentage wasn't?

Always a pleasure.

# Posted by:

JWCoop10 | 10:59 PM, December 02, 2008

Post is about Jeb Spaulding and somebody's talking about Georgia, Chambliss, and racism.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 5:05 PM, December 03, 2008

So did Spaulding get the insider information that Douglas is not going to run again?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 9:34 PM, December 03, 2008

Insider information or no, Jeb Spaudling can't win the Governor's race. He's only slightly less of a "wet noodle" than Symington was... been around a while, and his great accomplishments are?...... anyone? Bueller?...

If the Democrats want to have the slightest chance of winning the office away from Douglas or even Dubie, they will need to find a D who the Progs will actively support... Ed Flanagan comes to mind.

Spaudling is a non-starter there...

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 11:10 AM, December 05, 2008