Okay, in response to Mr. Margolis and others who seem to be doing a bit too much reading between the lines on my diary from yesterday:

1. The headline, Has Markowitz already been “annointed” by Leahy, Welch, VDP over other gubernatorial contenders? was in the form of a question. It’s about appearances, folks. I’m not going to name names here, but when someone (or ones) who works for, or has recently worked, for Senator Leahy and Congressman Welch, acts to facilitate (or even simply to embrace) one gubernatorial candidate’s unfettered access to Party resources (especially when the “camps” of those Democratic powerhouses have largely acted in the past as enforcers of the proper protocols surrounding such resource access) – in the Party office – you can’t help but ask the question. And I was far from the first to ask it. What do I think the answer is? I think the answer in the immediate term is ‘no,’ but once the question is called – which it has been by Democratic legislators (not by me) – the situation must be remedied, or the answer becomes ‘yes’ by default.

2. I have been hearing about this from many reliable sources – both in and out of the legislature. All are pissed off and, in my opinion, have a right to be. Had I not written on it, as I do all such things with this degree of information, it would’ve been – to my way of thinking – a deviation from the mission and method of this site specifically to protect one candidate (Markowitz) at the expense of others. I wasn’t willing to do that.

3. Although Markowitz’s opponents have the most to lose in the short term from this arrangement, Markowitz herself is the one who would come out of a primary as damaged goods if this narrative festers. I want whoever comes out of the primary to be undamaged, hence the decision to nip this in the bud now.

4. I was questioning what to do with this information long before the State Committee meeting. I’ve known about it for weeks. Bartlett’s publicizing of the letter just freed me up on how to proceed, given that the story was now “out.”

5. The Emily’s List information is a rumor. Not one that originated with me, but one that came to me. I contextualized it against the actual facts presented in the diary in an attempt to create a “unified field theory” of what was going on overall – likely that Markowitz was simply trying to intimidate possible challengers out of the race. That unified theory is speculation, and as of now, is simply a theory that happens to fit the facts. I still think its a good one. I also think its a perfectly legitimate strategy, as I stated explicitly in the diary. There is nothing inherently wrong or sleazy or untoward about trying to intimidate challengers out of the race with a sense of inevitability or invincibility.

6. Finally, the Party reference (VDP) in the title question (again – it was a question, hence the question mark) refers not to any specific individual, as the office and Voter File are not the responsibility or property of any specific individual. They are the property and responsibility of the corporation. I do explicitly label this affair as a case of preferential treatment. Whether or not the individual members of the State Committee knew about it or approved of it is secondary – it was the reality of the situation. It sounds likely that – as of Saturday – the answer is likely a “no”, or at least a qualified no. That qualification will depend on the nature of the agreement between the candidates and how the State Committee reacts or responds to questions and concerns about it. Already, I am hearing frustration that the damage is done and that the preferential treatment that has occurred to date is a bell that can’t be unrung. Maybe, maybe not. We’ll see.

(Great catch.  Thanks for posting this. – promoted by JulieWaters)

No doubt still energized after headlining last Fall’s gala Walmart rally Governor Douglas last week was the first governor to openly endorse (at his weekly press conference no less) Mass Mutual Insurance company’s philanthropic 10 yr. life insurance program offered in all 50 states .A press release was also available on the governor’s state run website describing the effort.The company and the governor stress the purely altruistic motives for this program and stresses that no marketing or promotion is being done to sell policies .

The governor’s spokesman also stress no connection between this and Mass Mutual Life  Insurance PAC’s two $1,000.00 donations to  Gov.Jim Douglas re-election campaign .

Jane Kolodinksy, chairwoman of the community development and applied economics department at the University of Vermont, is impressed with the strategy. She said it’s a “perfect marketing communications plan.”“Is it bad? No. It’s done all the time. … It’s actually brilliant marketing. Does it hurt anybody? I don’t think so. Will it help some people in the end? It will help a very small minority of people,” Kolodinksy said.

Steven Wark dismissed the criticism and claimed not to have known about the pending endorsement until after contact had been made between Mass mutual and the Gov.’s office .

Vermont families who meet the criteria are eligible for a free, 10-year term-life insurance policy through the program. The insurance would not distribute a lump-sum check, but would establish a trust fund that could be used for a wide range of educational needs for the children. The funds cannot be used for other types of expenses, however. The signup date for Burlington is Saturday.

John Pastore of Pastore Financial Group LLC is hoping the LifeBridge program could result in $15 million to $20 million of coverage written for Vermonters, or 400 policies. Aside from the program’s overall limit of 20,000 policies nationwide, there is no cap on how many policies can be written in Vermont, as long as the applicants meet the requirements, Pastore said. Roughly 9,500 policies have been written throughout the U.S.

“Through LifeBridge, Mass Mutual has identified a way to tie their philanthropic focus — education — with their primary product — life insurance,” Douglas said

http://www.vermont.gov/portal/…

http://www.burlingtonfreepress…

(thanks to Think Progress blog for the graphic which credits Open Left blog for the idea)

The comparative standings of various things:

Personally I find this a ‘duh’ moment. People are smart enough to realize that if you smoke pot you can go on to win 8 gold medals in the Olympics or become President of the United States among other things; while being one of those radical right wing nutjobs only makes you a loser, liar, oxycontin addict, someone who hates democracy and the United States and all the good things we like to believe we stand for and worse.

Hosted by Liz and Eric Miller, last night’s fundraiser for the Vermont Democratic Party was a great first step in putting the VDP back in business since the Democratic National Committee has stopped funding State Parties.  

Burlington Photographer Carolyn Bates released the following photo of elected Vermont Democrats in attendance at this VDP Fundraiser.  Many more photos will be popping up on the VDP website and other venues as Carolyn was photographing non-stop.

©2009 carolynbates.com

From left to right: Acting Vermont Democratic Party Chair Judy Bevans, Senate President Pro-Tem Peter Shumlin, Former Governor Howard Dean, Attorney General Bill Sorrell, Chittenden County State’s Attorney TJ Donovan, Secretary of State Deb Markowitz, and State Representative Joey Donovan.  Speaker of the House Shap Smith and Senator Doug Racine, who were also in attendance, left prior to this photo shoot for previously scheduled events.

As usual Howard was warm, approachable and full of humor.  He regaled the group with humorous stories while reminding everyone that now was not the time to let up.  Using the health care issue as an example, Howard noted that now the hard work must begin.  It is time, he admonished, to make sure that all Dems become more progressive rather than compromising our party’s principals in order to win a few Republican votes.

Transparency in Government is one of my pet peeves, so I love how up close and personal Vermont Politics are.  As Howard reminded all of us, Vermont politics is about people, people involved in their community governments with the vehicle of town meeting.  

I moved to Vermont from Connecticut in 2001 only 2 weeks prior to September 11.  I hated the Bush years. Connecticut’s Governor John Rowland, later indicted on fraud and put in jail for one year, was the first Governor to endorse President Bush, and was being considered for a cabinet post, until his penchant for using other people’s money came to the surface.  For five years, I was a newspaper reporter in Connecticut, first with two award-winning weeklies and then for a daily newspaper, which I thought would be the ultimate gig.  It wasn’t.  I went from two award-winning weekly newspapers to the one daily paper in our rural part of Connecticut.  It was the paper that was the machine behind Governor Rowland’s election.  That paper, The Waterbury Republican-American, would not even allow us, mere reporters that we were, to cover Democratic party candidates unless we had an OK from the editors or publishers.  After working for a year, primarily on the police beat, I went into teaching.  

Last night’s event was about people.  I thank my neighbors Eric and Liz Miller for hosting last night’s Howard Dean Welcome Home VDP fundraising event along with Arthur and Anne Berndt, Tom and Susan Boswell, Hon. TJ Donovan, Crea and Phil Lintilhac, Hon. Deb Markowitz, Hon. Doug Racine, Hon. Peter and Deb Shumlin, Hon. Bill Sorrell, Jane and Bill Stetson, Hon. Shap Smith & Melissa Volansky, and Steve Waltien.  I also thank Selene Hofer-Shall for her vision, energy and work to put together such an event as a way of jump starting the almost empty VDP account!