Democratic candidate for Governor Scudder Parker has been in a serious hole. Atrocious name recognition, limited funds, and he can’t get press to pay him any attention… until today, that is, when Parker brought the NSA domestic spying issue home for Vermonters and finally made the Times Argus step up and take notice:

“I have asked my campaign staff to investigate whether the Bush administration’s warrantless spying activities, and the action of telecommunication companies involved in these disclosures, may have violated any Vermont laws, and if so, what actions have been taken to protect the rights of the citizens of this state,” Scudder Parker wrote in a draft of a letter to David O’Brien, commissioner of the Department of Public Service.

The fact is that it’s going to be much harder for Douglas to claim that Bush (and his association with him) are irrelevant to the election this time than it was two years ago, when Douglas laughed off any attempts by Clavelle to draw a linkage — and was gleefully joined by his plentiful allies in the Vermont Press. The excesses of the Bush administration are too pervasive, too omnipresent.

And Douglas knows it. That’s why he stands up quickly to inoculate himself, rather than dismiss it out of hand.

Jason Gibbs, a spokesman for Gov. James Douglas, said the governor had ordered O’Brien to determine if Verizon’s actions violated Vermont law immediately after hearing that Verizon had shared phone records with the NSA.

Things will have to change quickly for Parker to have a chance in this, but now that George Bush will be on the debate stage with him and Douglas, anything is possible.