Time for a Friday end-of-week what is known and unknown about Lt. Governor Brian Hamlet “Lite Flight” Dubie.

First the KNOWNS:

Lite Flight has consulted with at least two (2) out of state political consulting firms to plot strategy for a gubernatorial campaign.

Lite Flight, despite being caught flat-footed by Jim Douglas’s wise read of a near impossible reelection year, has been receiving significant pressure to run for Governor.

Lite Flight makes a really good living right now as a full time private citizen pilot leveraging his taxpayer funded flight training and only part time Lt. Governor.  As Governor, he will need to take a big pay cut.  He does not relish this scenario (GMD, for the record, doesn’t actually blame the guy on this front. Seriously, who wants to work five times harder than they are currently clocking for the privilege of a 60% more/less pay cut?)

Also: Dubie has, of course, been in contact with national R’s who have made it clear they would like him to be their guy.

More knowns, unknowns and unknown unknowns not now knowable, below:

KNOWN UNKOWNS  There are two camps working the strings of the GOP primary nomination right now.

Camp one revolves around a few party leaders and social big government conservatives who want the State involved with everyone’s personal lives. They want an empty suit to dress their radical social agenda and Lite Flight is their man.

Camp two revolves around a collection of conservatives who are more concerned about the typical GOP agenda. For them, it is all about class warfare, low wage jobs, enabling corporate give-a-ways (VT Yankee/Walmart/Developers) and otherwise mortgaging Vermont’s future to score a short term gain at everyone else’s expense. This camp is also looking for an empty suit to dress up an ugly continuation of their failed Douglas-style economic policies. However, the difference here is that Camp Two is pressuring Dubie NOT to run.  This camp knows that Dubie can’t win and they have been “grooming” (not that you’d notice) Tom Salmon to run for them.  Tom Salmon says “I could be Governor tomorrow if I had the right people behind me.” What the good young man doesn’t realize is that the “right people” who’ve been whispering in his ear are some of the same people who have already pegged him for an empty suit puppet whose best qualification is that he will loyally carry water for those same “right people.”

We know about the two camps grooming/pressuring (pressing?) their suits.  It is unknown whose suit will be coming off the rack in the next few days.

KNOWNING the UNKNOWNS

Right now, Camp One has the upper hand.

Dubie wants to be Governor even if he doesn’t want to campaign for the job, give up his current cushy lifestyle, take the paycut, or quadruple his workload.

What is unknown is whether Lite Flight is going to make the leap and whether it will come before the middle of next week.

As of this posting, it is looking like Tom Salmon or Brian Dubie will be running for Governor before the end of the first week of October. Dubie’s awkward reticence would almost certainly mean “I’m out” for any other politician. But the ground work he has already laid, people pressuring him, the folks he has already brought in to sketch out a campaign, as well as those who are doing early work for him, all point to Dubie running for Governor.  

UNKNOWN UNKOWNS

To be discussed in the comments —

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