Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Ron Pulcer of Rutland Town.
Vermont is well known for its relatively clean “natural environment,” compared with other states. Likewise, historically Vermont has a relatively cleaner “election environment” (at least we are not South Carolina). Here in Vermont, care should be taken to preserve our election environment. The example should be set starting with the 2010 governor’s race.
During the Vermont Democratic gubernatorial primary, the five candidates maintained a relatively positive tone and showed respect for each other. During that time, Republican Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie kept mostly silent about his potential opponent.
But in the shadows, the Republican Governors Association, Democratic Governors Association, and other outside groups were eagerly waiting to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertising for Vermont’s Governor’s race, and now some have already begun.
There are basically two types of political advertising; positive and negative. It is likely that the RGA and Republican National Committee, DGA and Democratic National Committee, “527 orgs,” corporations and unions will fund negative ads with ominous sound tracks like you would hear in horror films. Meanwhile each campaign can appear to “take the high road” and put forth more positive ads about their respective candidates.
Brian Dubie’s campaign theme is “Pure Vermont.” Peter Shumlin’s campaign theme is “Leadership for a Strong Vermont.” Both slogans contain the name of our state. However, a quick review of the campaign finance reports of Dubie and Shumlin show that they each have collected out-of-state contributions. This is not surprising and is pretty much expected these days. But the good news is that citizens can review these reports on the Vermont Secretary of State website: http://www.vermont-elections.org/elections1/campaign_finance.html.
The current salary for the office of governor is $142,542. If you include the high end of the benefits range, this costs the taxpayers about $200,000 per year. For a two-year term, the total is about $400,000. According to the Sept.15th campaign finance reports, Mr. Shumlin has raised $650,340.53, more than 1.5 times that amount. Mr. Dubie has raised $1,186,891.55, almost three times the compensation for the office of governor.
The bad news is that for the outside groups meddling in Vermont’s election, there is usually not very much transparency, whereby citizens can ascertain who is funding these campaign horror ads. Do we really need all this extra negative advertising for a job that pays less than $200,000 per year? Although, if some ads are produced using Vermont workers, that might help our economy, albeit slightly.
In 2002, I did not vote for either Brian Dubie or Peter Shumlin. I did not know much about them back then. When I listened to the debate on Vermont Public Radio, I was not particularly impressed with either candidate (my opinions of both men have improved since then). Due to my frustration with both parties, I ended up voting for Anthony Pollina. Likewise, I did not vote for Jim Douglas or Doug Racine. Instead, I voted for Con Hogan, because in my opinion he would have made the best governor.
In the 2010 election, I will be paying more attention to the debates, and less attention to the campaign ads. I try to ignore the negative “horror film” ads, which are just as annoying as spam in your e-mail inbox. The political parties and outside interest groups may have thousands or even millions of dollars to throw around for campaign ads. But we the people have the power, the power in our index finger. We can simply press the “mute button” on our TV remote control. We can also click the delete button on negative e-mails from outside groups.
Besides the debates, I will also be looking at campaign finance reports. Who are the folks from out of state that give large donations? Likewise, via news reports and websites, I will be interested in where the outside orgs are getting their funding. What do those individuals and organizations want and expect from the next Governor of Vermont?
That brings me back to the candidate’s campaign slogans. Their claims of “Pure Vermont” and “Strong Vermont” seem downright silly and less than honest when each candidate may very well just allow certain outside organizations to run their negative ads on their behalf (at the expense of the other guy). Also, how can these candidates claim they are “fiscally prudent” when they are spending more than what they will earn as governor?
My hope is that Mr. Dubie and Mr. Shumlin can each run a clean campaign, about the important issues that will affect Vermonter during the next decade. I urge both candidates to tell their attack dogs (external organizations) to quietly go back to their kennels, or go to some other states with their campaign ad coffers.
But this op-ed is not enough. Mr. Dubie and Mr. Shumlin need to hear from more than just one voting taxpayer like me. They need to hear from many other citizens, whether Republican, Democrat or Independent, that we the people want to see a vigorous and competitive, yet clean and respectable campaign. Vermont can be better than the other 49 states in terms of election quality. But it won’t happen unless we speak out.
If you are sick and tired of the same old campaign ad horror film sound tracks and scary candidate mug shots, then I urge you to send a message to Mr. Dubie and Mr. Shumlin. Please review the online petition, “Vermont Election Environment: Keep it Clean, Keep it Honest” at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/vt_clean_election_environment/. If you choose to sign the petition, you can also add your own comments to the candidates. Or, you can bookmark this petition (just in case), and wait and see how the campaign unfolds. I will notify both the Dubie and Shumlin campaigns about the petitions and voter comments. Follow the associated blog on the petition page, where I have already included links to Vermont campaign finance reports and related articles by VTdigger.org.
Imagine a Vermont with a relatively clean natural environment and a relatively clean election environment in 2020. But it won’t happen if the candidates and their parties go too far to the negative side in 2010. Anyone interested in joining forces to act as citizen watchdogs to monitor the top dogs and the attack dogs, you can email me at VTCleanElectionEnvironment@gmail.com.
