Sen. Peter Shumlin, the Democratic candidate for governor, pushed his opponent, Republican Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie, to the limit yesterday – not once, but twice.
At 11:15 a.m. on Wednesday, Shumlin arrived unannounced at the lieutenant governor’s headquarters in Williston, with a group of business supporters and a gaggle of TV reporters in tow, to tell him how much the rising cost of health insurance is hurting their companies. Dubie wasn’t around, though – he was preparing for the Burlington Free Press debate that started at noon, according to his communications director, Kate Duffy.
The business people, including the CEOs of Small Dog Electronics, Seventh Generation, Burton Snowboards, Ben & Jerry’s, Wall Goldfinger and Main Street Landing, tagged along with Shumlin to tell Dubie that high health insurance costs are hurting their ability to hire more workers, according to a press release from the Shumlin campaign.
The members of the media on hand to watch the spectacle were: Bianca Slota and Andy Goodrich from WCAX, Stewart Ledbetter and Oli Birgisson from WPTZ, and Emily McManamy from the Burlington Free Press, Duffy said.
The Shumlin campaign made the surprise visit because, according to Alex MacLean, Shumlin’s campaign manager, they took issue with Dubie’s recent statement at a Vermont Public Television debate in which he said he hadn’t met a businessperson who thought a single-payer health care system would be a boon to Vermont’s economy. The business leaders who arrived on Dubie’s doorstep Wednesday support a universal health care system and are members of Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility.
In a statement, Donna Carpenter of Burton, said, “At Burton, our competitors are based in countries that are not responsible for their employees’ health care costs. Even though the economy is starting to turn around, health care costs make it difficult to think about hiring new employees in Vermont.”
The Dubie campaign called the unannounced visit a “childish stunt” and characterized Shumlin as a slick politician. “Inviting reporters along while he shows up at my office, wearing a microphone and grandstanding for the cameras, only proves Peter Shumlin is desperate for attention,” Dubie said in a press release.
Dubie told WCAX: “Showing up at my campaign office 45 minutes before we have an hour-and-a-half debate– it’s kind of a joke. You know, if he wanted to have a serious discussion, pick the phone up, make an appointment, I would have been there. I would love to talk to businessowners; that’s my essence– how can we grow jobs?”
Later, in the Free Press offices, Dubie lost his cool in an hour-and-a-half, tete-a-tete debate with Shumlin, which was simulcast to a viewing audience of just under 200. The subject? The discovery of tritium in a deep-water well connected to an aquifer at Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant.
Shumlin accused Dubie of representing the stockholders of Entergy Corp., which owns the nuclear power plant, rather than the interests of Vermonters. In the verbal repartee that ensued, the lieutenant governor became agitated, raised his voice and told Shumlin that he resented his remarks.
What follows is a verbatim transcription of part of that exchange. Or watch the link here, starting at about 32 minutes.
Shumlin: “Brian is an apologist for Entergy Louisiana and their stockholders. It doesn’t matter what lies or what kind of environmental disaster is ahead, he always finds a way to say we need another study, we have to see what the AG is saying in his report. Does Brian really believe Entergy told the truth about the underground pipes? That’s a question. Underground pipes leak tritium. Not just tritium. What’s unusual about Vermont Yankee for the next governor is that it’s strontium and cesium as well. Those are highly cancerous substances that are in the ground there. We need a governor who can lead the first time. There is nothing that would lead me to believe that Entergy can tell the truth, will tell the truth or should be doing business in Vermont.”
Dubie: “I resent the implication, him implying that I work for shareholders of Entergy Louisiana. I’m a Vermonter. I’m a Vermonter who has served in the Air Force Reserve for 18 years … I’ve served on the school board, I’ve served as lieutenant governor, I work for the people of Vermont. I’m mindful of the impact on 650 Vermonters who have a job who feel like this issue is being politicized and that they’re being used as toys.
“I work for the people of Vermont, safety would be a No. 1 consideration. I don’t work for the shareholders. I resent you questioning my integrity. I take it personal. I’m a lieutenant governor who has served my state. I’ll continue to serve my state. Please refrain from questioning my integrity, senator, and I won’t question yours.
Shumlin: “Brian, I do not question your integrity. Let me tell you who I work for. I am motivated by people where I grew up who have tritium, cesium and strontium going into their groundwater. Tritium is there. I understand nuclear substances move down hill, not uphill, and I’ve said this will be the worst environmental disaster in Vermont’s history. My experience with both you and the governor is that you’re an apologist for the Entergy Louisiana and the stockholders, and you won’t stand up for
Vermonters. How else can it be that we sit here with you saying, hey, we need more studies, we’ve got to hear from the Health Department. The Health Department? These are the same people who said to the guy I appointed to the oversight committee when he said there are underground pipes under that plant carrying highly radioactive substances that have not been maintained, the people you’re asking for answers from, said those pipes do not exist. They didn’t believe they existed until Entergy Louisiana allowed them to leak. So my point is, leadership. We need someone who is going to stand up for Vermonters. I don’t think you have on this one. I don’t think you will. I will.Dubie: “Then we just disagree, and I’ll continue to stand up for Vermonters, I’ll continue to ask tough questions, I’ll continue to say that safety and public health need to be our No. 1 consideration. That’s been my commitment as Vermont’s lieutenant governor. That will be my commitment as Vermont’s next governor.”
Attorney General’s Office won’t pursue RGA/Dubie collusion complaint
The Vermont AG’s office, headed by William Sorrell, a Democrat seeking re-election, said Wednesday that there is insufficient evidence to support an enforcement action against the Republican Governors Association and the Dubie campaign. The AG’s office issued a letter to the complainant, the Vermont Democratic Party.
The party filed a complaint in September alleging that the Republican Governors Association and Dubie coordinated efforts in the filming of the TV ad, “Vision for Vermont.” The Democrats accused the two groups of sharing scheduling information. Under the law, political action committees that spend more than $3,000 may not coordinate any activities with candidates. Tencher accused the RGA of using footage from a private Dubie campaign fund-raising event at Jay Peak Resort. (Dubie has not made his schedule public.)
Mike McShane, assistant attorney general, said his office could not release any of the materials gathered in the investigation, including e-mails, witness interviews and documents.
“We just concluded there wasn’t enough evidence to bring an enforcement action,” McShane said.
The AG found that the complaint was not “frivolous,” according to the letter from the office to Tencher.
Campaign Finance Complaint Letter 10-13-10
Tencher said Dubie and the RGA dodged a bullet.
“The letter states our complaint has merit,” Tencher said. “I think that in Vermont our campaign finance law is lacking teeth and repercussions for breaking the law.”
In an effort to distract voters from his own long list of ethical missteps, Peter Shumlin and his Democratic Party allies filed a wholly unwarranted complaint against the Friends of Brian Dubie campaign.
Upon a thorough investigation into the facts, the Attorney General of Vermont concluded the complaint was unwarranted and dismissed the complaint.
Corry Bliss, Dubie’s campaign manager, sent out a press release shortly afterward, calling for Shumlin to refund taxpayers for the time the AG’s office spent on the complaint.
“The filing of this complaint was a misuse of public resources,” Dubie campaign manager Corry Bliss said. “Peter Shumlin is a multimillionaire who uses his personal wealth to finance his own campaign, so surely he has the money to repay the taxpayers for what they spent on his failed attempt to deflect attention from his own ethical misconduct and the real issues of the campaign. There are serious issues to be addressed in this campaign; it’s a shame Peter Shumlin would rather spend his time making jokes and playing games.”
The complaint was made by the Vermont Democratic Party.
