Five Democratic Candidates Speak in Hartland

Hartland -- Two years ago at this time, Vermont Democrats were struggling to line up a candidate to run against Republican Gov. Jim Douglas.

Now, with Douglas having decided to retire after eight years in the corner office, Democrats face a bounty of candidates, all of whom spoke last night at Damon Hall in Hartland.

The five Democrats running for governor sought to introduce themselves -- and press their case -- at a Windsor County Democrats candidates forum attended by nearly 200 Upper Valley residents.

Senate President Pro Tempore Peter Shumlin, a Putney Democrat, said he'd shown political courage in pushing the gay marriage bill through the Legislature last year and that Democrats need to winnow their field and make conclusions soon “about who is best suited” to defeat Republican Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie, likely to win his party's nod to succeed Douglas.

“We will not beat Brian Dubie by throwing darts. We will beat Brian Dubie by articulating a vision for the state” and demonstrating how Democrats can help with job creation and ease the fiscal crisis, Shumlin said.

Former state Sen. Matt Dunne, a Hartland native, recalled how the community rallied around his family when his father died when Dunne was 13. He also stressed Vermont values and the state's history of innovation.

Dunne twice said extending high-speed Internet service to every community in the state was equivalent to bringing electricity to rural areas generations ago.

“Today, if you do not have high-speed Internet running to the barn and the garage, you are not going to be creating jobs,” said Dunne, who is head of community affairs for Google.

State Sen. Susan Bartlett, a Lamoille County Democrat, repeatedly stressed her experience as chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and said she wants to bring a “value of tolerance” while also emphasizing the need to restructure state government.

Along with some of the other candidates, she took a direct shot at Douglas, saying, “I don't particularly care for the way he handles state government … it's a very exclusive, top-down type of management.”

Secretary of State Deb Markowitz also faulted Douglas, saying she entered the race last year, before he announced his intentions to retire, and said he had hired “political cronies.” “I'm running for governor because I believe something has to change in Montpelier,” said Markowitz, who said she would focus on job creation and protecting the quality of life in Vermont.

State Sen. Doug Racine, a Chittenden County Democrat who narrowly lost to Douglas in 2002, said the Republican governor, and Dubie by extension, were responsible for “the failed policies of the last seven years.”

“He promised jobs in this state, and it hasn't happened,” Racine said of Douglas. “He had no economic development strategy.”

While the candidates all supported single-payer health care and the importance of creating jobs in the renewable energy field, Racine was the only one to put new taxes on the table in discussing how to close the state's $150 million deficit.

Saying the state should take a “balanced approach,” Racine said the state has the capacity to raise taxes on “the people who can afford it” and added, “I believe we should do that because we cannot abandon our commitment to social and economic justice.”

The forum was billed as “Meet Your New Governor,” and Democrats were energized by the size of the crowd.

“I think it's very clear we have not had positive leadership for the past eight years,“ said Norwich resident Irv Thomae, who said he felt any of the five candidates offered a strong choice for voters.

The Windsor County forum was the first of several such events around the state. “I think it's a very important county, because it's a very Democratic county compared to many of the others, so I imagine a lot of primary votes are going to come from this county,” said Linda Weiss, a Corinth resident and secretary of the state Democratic Party. “It also has a very active and involved Democratic community.”