1. Chittenden County Senator and former State Auditor Ed Flanagan is definitely on the mend (it was good to see you, Ed).
2. “Jefferson’s Manual,” state-based Presidential Impeachment is still very much a hot topic evoking strong expressions of support, as well as some cold immobile stares.
3. If the Democrat-supported candidates win for US House and US Senate, our Washington delegation will have approximately one full head of hair between them.
4. Award recipient and Rutland Resolution Author Jeff Taylor has been a “troublemaker” for the Party before — having successfully challenged the Delegate selection process as discriminatory back in the mid seventies.
5. Rich Tarrant has a firm handshake (no, I don’t know WHAT he was doing there or why I had to be the first person he bumped into coming into the gathering).
6. If possible, you should try to avoid direct sunlight from the hours of 10 AM to 2 PM.
7. At the end of the day, actual Party designation is meaningless — it’s the issues and values that really matter to all the folks who call themselves Dems (according to VDP Chair Ian Carleton in his introduction of Bernie Sanders… undoubtedly there were many in the room who disagreed, but they would’ve looked pretty petty not applauding…)
8. Virtually every Democrat over 60 apparently used to be a “Goldwater Republican” (or was that a “Rockefeller Republican?”)
9. Peter Welch seems to read this blog, as a statement he made in introducing Gaye Symington (“Good policy IS ALWAYS good politics”) would seem to be a pointed smackdown of this post from a few weeks ago that I caught hell for. Coulda been a coincidental turn of phrase, but then again it’s a small state.
10. Regardless of lingering frustration from the left over impeachment, healthcare and other issues, this party is really surprisingly strong and united (which I wasn’t necessarily expecting to see, but it did my heart good). It should be a good election season.
…and that these sorts of big, coat-‘n-tie fundraisers are really not for me anymore (okay, so that was eleven…)