The three major party candidates for Vermont governor stuck to well-honed themes Tuesday and broke little new ground in a televised debate exactly two weeks before Election Day.
Their upbeat rhetoric included salty jabs by Republican Phil Scott and Democrat Sue Minter as they laid out their proposals, including their plans for prosperity.
The debate was sponsored by WPTZ-TV and was held at ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center in Burlington. It came on the heels of a new poll that showed Scott with a lead of seven percentage points. A previous poll the week before indicated the race was a dead heat.
The third candidate, former Red Sox pitcher Bill “Spaceman” Lee, who’s running under the Liberty Union banner, notched single digits in both polls. He stood to the left of Minter and Scott. As always, he diagnosed problems and solutions in shamanistic terms.
“I’m so far left, I’m right,” Lee said, later adding, “I’m your worst nightmare.”
Over the course of the last few weeks there have been a bevy of gubernatorial debates, including ones hosted by VTDigger, PBS, WCAX, the Vermont Press Association and Seven Days.
As in past debates, Scott focused on keeping the state’s budgeting process in line with the growth of the economy, while Minter proposed a number of programs that she said would reprioritize the way the state currently approaches and spends money on economic development and focus on innovation.
Minter said she supported background checks, while Scott said the gun laws in Vermont should not be changed. The Democrat wanted to raise the minimum wage while the Republican said an increase would burden small businesses.
On marijuana legalization, Minter was supportive. She said she would seek to have comprehensive planning around the regulation and distribution of the drug, and said she wanted a law that would also allocate resources to reduce substance abuse and impaired driving.
Scott reiterated that he was open to legalization, with the caveat that Vermont should wait a few years in order to study the positive and negative impacts in other states where legalization has already happened, like Colorado.
He also cautioned supporters that it would be unlikely that a legal marijuana market could replicate the farmer’s market model.
“The Seagrams of the world, the R.J. Reynolds of the world, they are licking their chops at this very moment thinking about the next income for them,” Scott said.
Lee was unabashedly in support of legalization, saying he put pot on his pancakes.
“I’ve been on the cover of High Times three times,” Lee said. “And I’m still healthy, I’m still productive and I’m still doing the job.”
What was perhaps most revealing in Tuesday’s WPTZ debate were the positions candidates chose not to completely reveal.
While Minter has voiced interest in a carbon tax in the past, she again insisted Tuesday that she would not support one as governor.
But similar to her answer at the WCAX debate, Minter wouldn’t rule out signing a carbon tax bill if it came to her desk. A carbon tax was introduced by a Democrat in the last legislative session and gained no real political traction.
Minter was squishy about basing F-35 fighter jets in Burlington. The former transportation secretary quickly veered into talking about her cleanup work during Tropical Storm Irene.
Minter’s complete answer regarding the possibility of F-35s in the state:
“I’m a strong supporter of our National Guard, certainly during Irene I worked very closely with the guard, not just here in Vermont but eight different states. And the service they provided after 9/11 — our Green Mountain Boys, who fly over Fenway Park!”
Scott was more straightforward: “It’s part of our tradition, part of our economy, and I believe we should have the F-35 in Vermont.”
Lee — who has difficulty hearing — confused the question about the F-35 with one regarding the controversial EB-5 immigration program. He said he was against both.
As they have in the last several matchups, Minter and Scott criticized their opponent’s support coming from national political groups.
Both the Republican and Democratic Governors Associations have rolled out a slate of negative ads in the campaign to boost Scott and Minter. (The RGA has spent roughly $2 million on Scott, the DGA roughly $1 million for Minter.)
Minter made clear that she believed Scott had benefited from more outside money but declared “Vermont is not for sale in this election.”
Scott insisted that he had never run a negative ad in his campaign, and said he disavowed a RGA-produced spot called “Minter’s Mentor.”
“I think it is unfortunate to have some of the ads run that have run against both Sue and myself during this campaign,” Scott said. “I’ve never run a negative political ad in my life. This is my ninth election, never done it never will.”
The lieutenant governor then went on to push back against a spot produced by national Democrats and Planned Parenthood in which Scott is portrayed as an opponent of women’s reproductive rights. (Minter did not disavow the Planned Parenthood spot).
“I’m pro-choice,” Scott said. “When they talked, on the national level, about defunding Planned Parenthood, I said that’s a bad idea. I think they do great work for women’s health and I think we should preserve them.”
“What I can say is, ‘Welcome to my world,” Minter said. “This has been happening for three months.”
“It’s been happening to me as well, Sue,” Scott countered.
Lee later added that he had only been supported financially by one donor.
“I’ve taken 20 dollars from a guy from Wisconsin,” Lee said. “He was 91 years old.”
