Editor’s note: Jon Margolis is VTDigger’s political columnist.
[Y]ou don’t suppose Gov. Phil Scott is running for president?
Surely not. He’s the little-known (outside Vermont) one-term governor of the second smallest state in the union, and the current president, who is running for re-election, is a Republican like Scott.
And yet … and yet … if he starts dreaming about it, that speech he made on the Statehouse steps Wednesday afternoon would serve as a boffo opener for a national campaign.
Undeterred by a few score dissenters chanting “traitor” and shouting insults, Scott calmly but forcefully explained why he was signing three gun safety bills into law.
“Public safety is the top priority of government – a responsibility I take seriously as governor,” he said.
Scott, who is running for re-election as governor, took a risk by holding the signing ceremony outdoors, with legislators who had voted for the bills behind him and some 400 supporters and opponents (and several television news cameras) in front of him.
The danger was that calling so much attention to the new laws, whose passage through the Legislature aroused passions pro and con these last two months, would stir emotions ever more, and alienate the gun rights forces who ended up on the losing side.
Perhaps it did, though as one pro-gun protester noted, gathering to shout at the governor allowed him and his fellows to blow off some steam. “It was cathartic,” he said.
And even though the people who turned out to cheer Scott were outnumbered roughly 2-to-1 by orange-clad pro-gun forces, the event was clearly a political winner for the governor.
Not despite the protesters. Because of them. The men (and a few women) shouting “liar,” and other insults as they tried to drown out Scott’ speech might have deserved fees from the Scott re-election campaign. Their bellowing made him look good.
Politicians always look good if they stay calm and appear in control while their opponents are being rude. That’s what happened. The protesters were rude. The governor was in control. Only once did he even seem to notice the protesters. That was when he was booed after reporting the agreement of new spending on school safety.
“You want to boo that? Go ahead and boo,” he said. Otherwise, he continued as though the protesters weren’t there. At the beginning of his speech, they seemed to be trying to drown him out. They failed. Of course, he had two advantages: the higher ground and a sound system. But by refusing to get ruffled, he also demonstrated a strength that did not depend on mechanical devices. Voters like candidates who seem strong.
Scott didn’t let the protesters bother him. But he didn’t insult them, either. “I understand your frustration,” he said, and told them that he was a life-long gun owner himself, who until just a few weeks ago opposed new gun laws. That did nothing to appease them, but it was a reminder that he and they share a cultural background. He seems to understand them, and not to fear them.
Angry as some of the protesters were, they neither hurt nor threatened anybody. Some of the pro-Scott, pro-gun control demonstrators made a point of standing next to the orange-vested opponents. Somebody said he saw a pushing incident, but no punches were thrown, no injuries reported, no arrests made by the many police on hand.
The bitterness of the protesters was balanced by the celebration of the lawmakers and their supporters, many of whom had been working to pass gun control measures for years. More than one legislator noted that this was the most emotional and the most culturally divisive issue that had come before them since the civil unions bill of 2000.
That bill was signed in private by Gov. Howard Dean, in stark contrast to Wednesday’s public event.
The protesters played most effectively (if, of course, unwillingly and unwittingly) into Scott’s hands near the end of his 20-minute speech as he went beyond the gun issue – and beyond Vermont issues – to lament that “too many of our fellow citizens – on both sides of every issue, not just on guns – have given up on listening, deciding to no longer consider other opinions, viewpoints or perspectives.”
An effective declaration in front of people who are proving your point by trying to shout you down. Don’t be surprised to hear more of that kind of talk from Scott in the coming weeks.
All in all, a very good political day for the governor, with one complication. The complication came from the leadership of his own political party. The Vermont Republican State Committee sent an electronic missive to its supporters Wednesday under the logo: “Make Vermont Great Again.”
The wording was against a blue background, not a red one. Still, the motto was all but identical to “Make America great again,” the words written on President Donald Trump’s red baseball caps. Considering that Trump’s approval rating in Vermont is in the 30 percent range, the political wisdom of this slogan in this state is open to debate.
And while the statement said nothing specifically about guns, it did point out that the Democratic-controlled Legislature is “stripping away every right and freedom Vermonters hold dear.” This is essentially the outlook of the gun rights protesters – that the bills signed into law Wednesday take away their rights.
Scott signed those bills. The timing of the GOP statement is, at the very least, worth noting.
