I think this is kind of a big deal:
Peter Shumlin today received the endorsement of the Vermont State Troopers. The endorsement marks the first time the VTA has endorsed a Democrat for Governor since endorsing Howard Dean in 2000.
The state troopers never endorsed in opposition to Jim Douglas and apparently a lot of other support for Douglas isn’t materializing for Dubie either:
Earlier Tuesday, the Dubie campaign said it would announce an endorsement from Rep. Richard Howrigan, of Fairfield, the only currently elected Democrat expected to openly endorse the Republican candidate in the gubernatorial race.
But when the Dubie campaign issued its press release about the endorsement event, Howrigan was not on the list. A family member, Anne Howrigan, was listed in his place.
“They’ve been pushing me for awhile to endorse Brian, but I’m just not ready,” Richard Howrigan said Tuesday. “Come back to me in a month. I still need some time to decide between him and Shummy.”
I can imagine that things inside the Dubie campaign have got to be just a wee bit uncomfortable right about now.
One of the “Democrats for Dubie”, Frank Cioffi, President – Greater Burlington Industrial Corporation had this to say about Peter Shumlin in the 2010 Legislative Summary for the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce & GBIC (linked below):
“Speaker Shap Smith, Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin and Governor Jim Douglas worked together on many issues and in the process, delivered results that will benefit Vermont for years to come.”
“The Chamber and GBIC are very pleased that so many of our members’ priorities were acted on this year.”
“Many legislators contributed to the successes we achieved on behalf of our members and we want to thank them for all of their hard work over the past two years. Speaker Smith and Senator Shumlin led the House and Senate through innumerable difficult choices”
Sounds as though, at the time, Frank Cioffi was very pleased with the job Peter Shumlin did for the state of Vermont and yet he sings an entirely different tune today. Curious, huh?
http://www.vermont.org/pdf/201…
Clearly they want pornographers out on the streets!
As for Dick Howrigan, who is on the ballot with me in Franklin-2, I’ll be very disappointed if he endorses Dubie. If he were to do that, I would hope Democrats will consider me instead of voting for him for the eleventy-seventh time.
I like him, had a lovely chat with the man at the Dem Unity kickoff at Cosmic. Sam was taken with Dick. But I’d seriously question his judgement.
Good to see the VSP endorsement going to Mr. Shumlin. If you listened to the VPR debate, you heard Mr. Dubie talking about visiting trooper barracks as part of his 26.2-hour tour (which I think isn’t kosher as a candidate), but it still didn’t help him secure the endorsement.
It’s a great endorsement and kind of knocks the wind out of Dubie’s sails as he tries to hammer Shumlin on his prisoner thing. It makes Dubie seem a bit ridiculous.
Stunning victory. VTers who may be a bit jittery re Shumlins pragmatic stance may this assuage your fears.
I just hope Peter doesn’t feel compelled to reward the troopers by giving them their shiny new toys (viz. posts of the last few days about the State troopers pining for a bagful of tasers…)
I had one of those fundraisers from the Professional Firefighters fundraising scam call me the other night. I told him that actions have consequences and that in the future, instead of calling me he should call Dubie.