During the presidential election, Vermonter (and my former officemate at the VDP) Robby Mook was Hillary Clinton’s big organizing gun, being dropped into must-win states like Nevada and Indiana to pull out a victory. But he’s not the only local-boy-done-good making waves in the national Democratic scene.

Sharp eyes may have noticed the name of Ben Metcalf on the recent press release from the Democratic Governor’s Association announcing their new Vermont ad. Metcalf is the DGA’s Chief Operating Officer, but more than simply filing reports, Ben has stayed involved in the key national party organization’s strategic decision-making – particularly as regards his home state of Vermont. If you don’t recognize him, but his name seems familiar, his mother Cindy was the Chair of the Vermont Democrats at the end of the last decade, and his father Steve (pictured on right) was an Orange County Democratic Chair, as well as being the Montpelier School’s Superintendent before passing away last year of cancer.

Besides having the good fortune of looking like Matt Damon, the now not-quite-so-young Mr. Metcalf never fit the profile of a typical DC political type. Always more fired up about the principles at stake than the game of politics itself (which, make no mistake, he knows well), Ben comes off a lot more like a straight up, make-the-world-a-better-place activist than a Washington hack (which is very much to his credit).

Ben worked with me, Robby, and many other Vermont political hack usual suspects in the late nineties to the early oughts, transitioning (as many in that coordinated campaign office did) into a role in the Dean for President campaign. Did he learn everything he needed to know to be a successful politico in hometown Vermont? Not likely – but I like to think I taught him how to scream at DC people over the phone effectively, at any rate.