Editor’s note: Steve Cormier, is Vtdigger.org’s intern; he is a senior at Lyndon State College.
Twenty Vermonters and two Democratic gubernatorial prospects turned out for Saturday’s candidate forum in Newport.
Faced with more empty chairs than people, organizers started the forum earlier than scheduled – 1 p.m. – after Matt Dunne announced that he had to race off to another public appearance on the other side of the state — Magic Hat’s Mardi Gras Parade.
“They do things a bit differently in Burlington,” Dunne said, as he left the small gathering at Newport’s American Legion Hall for the crowds on Church Street.
“Well I think it’s better to be talking to folks than waving to them for an afternoon,” said Doug Racine, who took questions at the front of the room for the remaining hour-and-a-half.
The other Democratic candidates – Secretary of State Deborah Markowitz, Senate President Pro Tempore Peter Shumlin and Sen. Susan Bartlett – were notably absent.
As was the Republican candidate for governor, Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie, who was also a no-show—however, his campaign managed to make an appearance. A Dubie staffer was on hand to record the action with a video camera.
“Brian Dubie has been ducking every event that has been held,” said Racine, as he registered his disappointment that the lieutenant governor had sent staffers out instead of attending himself.
The Orleans County Progressive Party Caucus set up the afternoon event to draw candidates to the far northeastern corner of Vermont, which organizers said is often overlooked.
Dunne and Racine covered many subjects lightly — and the big issue of the day turned out to be health care, perhaps in response to the presence of several attendees who were members of the Vermont Worker’s Center “Health Care Is A Human Right Campaign.”
The two candidates agreed on the concept of universal care and disagreed on the federal government’s role in moving reform forward.
“My goal is that [health care] has got to be affordable and universal,” Racine said.
Vermonters should not be dependent on insurance companies and employers for access to health care, Racine said, particularly at a time when many are unemployed and in financial straits because of the recession.
Dunne told the audience, “we need to make sure everyone is covered.”
Disagreement over health care policy emerged when the discussion turned to the role that the federal government might play. The Obama administration has been trying to get a health care bill out of Congress for the better part of a year now and its fate is still up in the air.
Racine views Washington’s inability to make significant changes to the health care system as a potential boon for the states. If he is elected governor, Racine said, he would go to the White House and ask for federal help to reform health care in Vermont. He said the state’s efforts could become a national model.
Dunne doesn’t see the federal government playing a role in reform.
“We are not going to get solutions out of Washington,” said Dunne. “We can do this ourselves.”
