Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Richard Cassidy, a South Burlington resident who has practiced law in the Vermont for 32 years. He is the Vermont Democratic National Committeeman-Elect.
“Promise her anything, but give her Arpege.”
— 1960’s Lanvin add slogan
Promises are seductive. That’s why many ambitious politicians can’t resist promising themselves into office, and then must inevitably disappoint. Those disappointments in turn feed voter cynicism. And that cynicism, in its turn, cheapens the coin of political debate, as many voters feel justified in expecting the impossible from the mere mortals who hold elective office and categorize all politicians as liars when some don’t deliver.
In his campaign for Attorney General, TJ Donovan has become a champion of promises.
Consider, for example, two Donovan fliers sent last week. The first promised:
“TJ Donovan will end the revolving door of incarceration.”
“TJ Donovan will fix our criminal justice system.”
Those are worthy goals.But let’s face the facts. The Attorney General of the State of Vermont is not the czar of our criminal justice system. We have a governor, 180 state legislators, 14 independently elected states attorneys, 14 independently elected sheriffs, innumerable local police chiefs, a commissioner of corrections, a director of public safety, and some 40 judges, all of whom play a role in shaping the policy of our criminal justice system.
Can an Attorney General play a leadership role in criminal justice system reform? He can and should. But Donovan is overreaching when he makes it sound like reform is a no-brainer that he will take care of singlehandedly.
There is important work to be done on this subject, and to give more credit than is due given his language, no doubt what Donovan means is that he will take a more proactive role than Sorrell has on this issue. But “more” is a long way from “fix” and “end.”
Donovan’s implied criticism loses much of its sting when viewed in context. After all, Vermont already has one of the most progressive criminal justice systems in the country.
And Donovan’s promises just don’t square with his own statement that every single person in jail in Vermont deserves to be there.
In last Tuesday’s mailer Donovan made three more big promises. We are told that:
“TJ Donovan will protect our children’s future.”
“Vermont Yankee should be retired and TJ will get it done.”
“Vermonters have a right to know what’s in their kids’ food.”
Just how he will protect our children’s future is left unstated.
Nor has Donovan provided one word about what it is that he will do that amounts to “whatever it takes to shut Vermont Yankee down.” This is after Donovan was critical of Sorrell for doing just what an attorney general can do to close the plant – appealing an adverse decision on the issue.
Donovan’s “kids’ food” promise relates to genetically engineered food. He tells us that Vermont should lead the way. But when asked how, Donovan resorts to saying that will seek “incremental progress,” and has nothing to say about what that progress will entail.
Many will say that this is all just politics as usual. I suppose it is. But it’s also a signal. It’s a signal that should he be elected Donovan will take the office of Attorney General in a more political and therefore less professional direction. As a lawyer with a deep interest in politics and government, I don’t think that is a good thing.
The job of the Attorney General is fundamentally that of being the state’s lawyer. That means doing just what Bill Sorrell has done and will keep doing if re-elected – building and managing the states’ largest law firm to provide excellent advice and advocacy for state government.
