Editor’s note: Don Peterson is a contractor and a self-described unpaid lobbyist for the natural world. He is a longtime resident of Lowell.
[A] politician that misses a change in the way the wind blows is soon out of a job. The local example of this might be our own governor, who missed the backlash unleashed by attempting to fund his single payer initiative via a levy on the payroll tax. He’s looking for a new job as I write this, and seems to have applied to the Clintons for a promotion to Washington, D.C. He’s a superdelegate to the Democratic presidential nominating convention this summer, and has already pledged himself to Hillary Clinton’s campaign to be the candidate of the party.
At the time of his pledging his support to her, she was the runaway favorite and was considered a sure thing. The wind was a full gale in her favor. Pat Leahy also pledged to her, as did Howard Dean and National Committeewoman Billi Gosh. If there’s one thing a political animal loves, it’s a sure thing.
But then Bernie left his office, walked outside onto the Capitol grounds and said he thought there was a better option than business as usual in the Democratic Party. So saying, he launched his improbable run for president. With that, our superdelegates here in Vermont, the people charged with making sure the status quo prevails in the event of an uprising, are faced with a hard choice — the local candidate, who got 71 percent of the popular vote in his last campaign, or the odds-on favorite to win the bigger race.
After our March primary the voters will have declared how Vermont Democrats stand in the matter of who we want to represent us in the White House.
We have nine super delegates here in Vermont. The four mentioned above, all of them seasoned insiders, are ready for Hillary. Three are waiting for a clearing in the weather: Vermont Democratic Party chair Dottie Deans and vice chair Tim Jerman, and our U.S. Congressman Peter Welch. Two others have committed to Bernie, State Democratic Committeeman Rich Cassidy and (one imagines) Bernie himself.
Bernie is upsetting the applecart for our superdelegates. No doubt those that work with him would say he always upsets the apple cart. Our governor is stuck with Hillary to the bitter end; at this point I suspect a Bernie Sanders administration wouldn’t let him sweep up after the inaugural parade. But Sen. Leahy has a legacy to protect, and a long honorable career representing Vermonters. Of all our superdelegates, it pains me to think he can’t declare for Bernie. I once heard him rail about “the old bulls” in the Senate; hopefully he hasn’t by this time become one of them.
That the state party leaders are holding back is understandable. More than most they are the head counters, the ears to the rail. At some point in the near future I predict they will announce that the Bernie train is coming to town, and it’s time for all good Vermont Democrats to get on board. Soon, sitting on the fence will not be a comfortable seat. After our March primary the voters will have declared how Vermont Democrats stand in the matter of who we want to represent us in the White House.
Once outside the I-89 corridor I can’t imagine Vermont Democrats will reject their favorite politician. I really hope Vermont’s superdelegates will all unite with the state’s voters. It’s time to admit that the wind has changed both in the country and in Vermont.
