(#1 is, of course, TJ Donovan’s candidacy for Attorney General. See kestrel9000’s diary below.)

State Senator Randy Brock, presumptive Republican nominee for Governor, has announced some key members of his campaign team. They include some well-connected Vermont Republicans, as well as a couple of national political strategists who’ve worked on election victories for some notoriously conservative candidates.

The locals: to no one’s surprise, Darcie Johnston is on the team, leading Brock’s fundraising effort. Johnston is a longtime consultant to Brock; until recently, she headed the anti-health care reform group Vermonters for Health Care Freedom. Oh, and one other nugget: She was the one who goaded the Douglas Administration to try to shut down Karl Hammer’s Vermont Compost operation in 2008:

Vermont Compost’s latest troubles started on March 12, when one of Hammer’s neighbors – Darcie Johnston – complained to Douglas about health hazards she believed were associated with the farm…

An expert from the DEC was dispatched to the scene; her report found no health hazards. But even so, the Administration pursued the case with great vigor. More vigor than it had shown for just about any other environmental issue in the state.  

Other locals on the Brockwagon: Mark Snelling, campaign treasurer. President of Greenleaf Metals, onetime candidate for Lieutenant Governor (didn’t clear the primary), holder of various volunteer posts and a famous name. And Paul Gillies, Montpelier-based attorney, will be the campaign’s legal counsel.

And now I’ll spend some time on the two outsiders. After the jump…  

Brock’s general consultant, lead strategist and pollster is Bob Wickers, California resident and principal in the political consulting firm Dresner Wickers Barber Sanders. The Brock press release touts Wickers’ Vermont ties:

Since 1988, Bob Wickers guided all three of Jim Jeffords’ campaigns for U.S. Senate, Randy Brock’s 2004 race for State Auditor and Mark Snelling’s 2010 campaign for Lt. Governor.

Funny, those names aren’t spotlighted on Wickers’ website. He prefers to trumpet a bunch of hard-right worthies such as Mike Huckabee’s 2008 run for President, Nebraska Governor Mike Johanns, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley, and Arizona’s Trent Franks, one of the most conservative members of Congress.

Wickers also helped get Scott Pruitt elected Attorney General of Oklahoma. Pruitt was the only AG who refused to sign onto the government’s settlement with the nation’s five biggest banks over their mortgage lending activities, thus forgoing millions of dollars for Oklahoma mortgage holders simply to make an empty political point. Pruitt is one of the most enthusiastic red-state AGs in the legal battle to overturn President Obama’s health care reform. Thanks, Bob.

The last entry in our rogues’ gallery is media consultant Nick Everhart, Ohio resident and partner in “Strategy Group for Media,” a conservative campaign firm specializing in, yep, media strategy. Its client list include Ohio Governor John Kasich, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, Congressmen Todd Akin and Joe Barton, plus Americans for Prosperity, the Family Research Council, and Michele Bachmann’s PAC.

What this says to me is that Brock will eschew whatever is left of the party’s tradition of centrist moderation in favor of a Fox News/Tea Party-style of hard-right conservatism and attack politics. We’ll see how that plays in Vermont.

Unanswered question: Last week, Brock said that his campaign would “rely more on specialists… from outside firms while trying to be lighter on paid staff.” So how much time will these high-powered national consultants actually give to the Brock campaign? Will they be present on the ground in Vermont, or will they be Skype-ing it in?  

Brock promises further additions to his campaign team in the near future, including a campaign coordinator. Which would seem to be the most important position in an effort comprised of pay-for-play consultants. And would seem to be a difficult (if not thankless) job, refereeing arguments between the local and national geniuses and trying to leverage as much time as possible from people who have other commitments.

On the other hand, this crew couldn’t do much worse than, say, Corry Bliss. Or could they?