Guess who’s helping to fund the Governor’s ball?

Today’s Rutland Herald has an AP piece by Dave Gram, which refers to Vermont Yankee as a “platinum sponsor” of the Inaugural Ball.  

Vermont Yankee Spokestooge Rob Williams claimed it was no different from a donation to the Vermont Foodbank.  

This, of course, begs the question: why didn’t VY just donate $5,000 to the Vermont Foodbank directly instead.  Wouldn’t that have saved on administrative costs?  Rep Nease had the same question, quoted in the article as saying “I just think the appearance of the governor accepting $5,000 from Entergy is not OK.  They… could have given to the Foodbank directly.”

So really, what’s the big deal.  It’s not as though Vermont Yankee is in a major battle for its continuing existence, one in which the Governor is a major player of some sort.  I mean, obviously, if that were the case, we’d be in a whole different situation.

Right?

Right?

[With a slightly more hopeful update as of Saturday evening — NanuqFC]

I had occasion to head over to the DNC website today. I encourage all those good folks who would come to the aid of their party to check it out.

The link leads to video, posted today, of Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, Obama/Emanuel’s prize pick to replace Vermont’s former Governor Howard Dean as the DNC Chairman (hey, both states start with “V,” isn’t that enough?).

Kaine spends almost 27 minutes answering selected questions sent via email.

First up: a boomer who converted from R to D because of Obama and wants reassurance that Democrats won’t forget all those Obamacans. Kaine blah blahs about how Obama won, especially in Virginia, by appealing to Independents and “moderate” Republicans (never mind the base).

Next a military wife and mom about healthcare benefits for vets and their families. Kaine talks about being commander in Chief of the Virginia National Guard (echoes of Palin, anyone?), and Gen. Shinseki as head of the VA.

If you’re keeping score, that’s two conservative questions and two conservative answers.

More — and the real disappointment — on the flip.

Third comes a question (again) about appealing to Independents and R’s, and “creating a culture of listening.” The listening part is what Kaine responds to. Not bad, but nothing to hang your hat on.

The next two questions ask about youth outreach and what the Democrats are going to do about the the economy. Again, not too bad, although the outreach answer is pretty Virginia-centric before spreading over to Obamaland, and the economy is a policy issue that will be decided by Congress and the President, not by the Chairman of the DNC.

Here’s the thing that caught my ear and generated not unexpected waves of disappointment in the old aural canal:

Kaine reads a question [the sixth] from an activist in “red state Texas” about the Party’s (read Kaine’s) plans for the future of the 50-state strategy. Kaine admits that a lot of the questions he got were concerned with the future of the 50-state strategy, and this is just the one he picked to represent them all. In answer, he rehearses how he got the governorship thanks to the strategy. (We’re now halfway through the video). Results, he says, speak for themselves. But it’s not good enough to do just what you did yesterday. He will, he says, sit down and analyze what’s the best thing for the future of the party and says that whatever that best thing is, it will include different strategies for different states.

As far as I can see, Kaine’s answer to the hottest question there is among the party’s base — which he doesn’t even address until halfway through this video — amounts to a lot of blah blah and no commitment to DNC funding for state parties any time soon. And without that funding, we here in Vermont, home of the faintly praised Howard Dean, have no chance of hiring a staff or fielding a credible team next year in 2010. Sounds to me like we’re being set adrift to sink or swim on our own. All that matters to Kaine and the DNC is the presidential contest, not the lower tier races that make up the farm teams for Congress and build support within a state for a Democratic majority.

The VDP has learned what having actual staff is like through the 50-state strategy, also known as the State Partnership Program. Liz Saxe (now working as an assistant to House Speaker Shap Smith) did a great job as communications director, keeping grass roots activists up on issues and media coverage across the state. Other staffers — including Field Director Gretchen Kreusi — did more-or-less credible jobs. And now, just when the VDP is trying to hire a new director (the decision is made with Kristina Althoff’s withdrawal, a case of her jumping before being pushed; just waiting for the negotiations with the new guy), imagine that conversation: We can offer you below-average salary for a state party executive director, and btw, you have no staff, and if you want staff, you have to raise the money on your own to hire them.

The DNC is meeting in Washington the day after the Inauguration.

It might be logical, if our DNC committeeman cared about the entire VDP instead of simply protecting his candidate, to think that perhaps Chuck Ross might fight for 50-state funding, or that accountable-only-to-herself (thanks to her large contributions to campaigns) DNC Committeewoman Billie Gosh might raise the point and put some energy into it. But I suspect we’d have people passing out or turning Democratic chokehold blue holding their breath waiting for that to happen.

[Update: Word is that VDP Vice Chair Judy Bevans will stay in DC in order to attend the DNC meeting, and specifically to urge the renewal of the State Partnership Program as soon as possible. You go, girl! The state Chair seems to be, as usual, absent from any real work on behalf of the party.]

NanuqFC

In a Time of Universal Deceit, TELLING the TRUTH Is a Revolutionary Act. – George Orwell