You know, I’m a big fan of democracy. I generally tend to encourage people to run for things. I generally like to see candidates from the left, I generally encourage such challenges to come in the Democratic primary, and I generally find myself concerned about the entrenched power of incumbency. So more power to Daniel Freilich, the announced primary challenger to Patrick Leahy who has garnered attention already in the national online media, right?

Okay, but I can’t help but feel annoyed reading Mike Eldred’s write-up of the guy.

Freilich recently returned to Vermont after 13 years on active duty in the Navy. After he left active duty for the Navy Reserves, he and his partner Donna Wilder searched Vermont looking for a place to relocate from Washington, DC, where they live now. “We found Wilmington and just fell in love with the area,” he says. “We liked the people we met and the area is just physically beautiful.”

So he moves to Vermont from New York in 1992 for his medical residency. He’s been gone for 13 years, has decided to “relocate” from Washington DC, so I infer from the piece that he was only a Vermont resident from 1992-1996. All of four years. He does seem to be registered to vote in Westford, but under a Rockville, MD address. I’m not sure how that works, but at least he has retained a connection to the state.

But it still feels a little too Jack-McMulleny to me. Maybe it’d be a little more appropriate to re-acquaint yourself with the state and become part of a local community before asking people to vote out Patrick Leahy on your behalf. If you really think Leahy should go, maybe it’d be a better idea for you to find others who feel similarly and see if you can work together to find a more suitable candidate?

C’mon, man. I know jobs are tight, but there are better ways…