Campaign finance reports part 2: Poll-happy Governor

Douglas loves his polls. He always spends scads of money on polling, and according to his campaign finance filing, he’s already done 3 this year for a total of $23,000. And the timing may suggest that he may not be as confident as he seems. Consider:

From April 8:

Lawmakers voted Tuesday morning to override Gov. James Douglas’ veto of the bill, with a narrow victory in the Vermont House paving the way for the state to become the first to allow same-sex marriage without a court order.

2 1/2 weeks later, $10,000 for a poll.

From June 2:

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) – State lawmakers are headed back to work now that Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas has followed through on his promise to veto the 2010 state budget.

A week and a half later, 8 grand for a poll.

Clearly, part of the strategy for beating Douglas should be to force him to take controversial actions whenever possible, as he seems to be compelled to dash off to the pollsters at thousands of dollars a pop to check his numbers everytime he sticks his neck out there. heh.