Vermont’s highest-profile Republican official, Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, is temporizing just a bit on the state GOP’s clear choice for President, Mitt Romney.
Scott told the Vermont Press Bureau on Thursday that he will likely pull the lever for Romney on Super Tuesday, but an endorsement is an extra step he wasn’t willing to take.
…Endorsing Romney would mean he would have to get “100 percent behind the candidate,” said Scott, something his isn’t able to do.
His big objection seems to be Romney’s social status — which is kind of odd for the party that insists America is a classless society. Be that as it may,
“I come from a blue collar background and feel like I’m still blue collar, and I’m not sure Mitt Romney – and it’s not his fault – but I’m not sure he understands some of the struggles we all face,” said Scott. “He lives in a different world than I do.”
I know how you feel, Phil, I know how you feel. I do have to wonder how the rest of the state party establishment views his electoral diffidence.
And I realize Phil Scott is a man of principle, but did he perhaps take a gander at that new poll showing Romney getting trounced by Obama in Vermont? You don’t want to be too close to the guy in the shadow of a falling piano. Or, in T-Road terms, you don’t want to tail a car with a smoking engine.
Now, I certainly don’t want to be mis-understood as not empathizing with the tragedy of the fire that hit Dubois Construction (which Mr Scott owns) back in January; but it’s a little hard to understand what the owner of one of VT’s larger construction company’s really knows about “struggles”. Even harder is to understand how the owner of such a company (oh, he also is the owner of several race cars) can honestly consider himself “blue collar”. I mean, after the fire (in that very link, actually) he notes he’ll get through the +$1 million loss by “laying people off”. It’s one thing to come from a blue collar background- but to be at the point where one is the owner of a multi-million dollar company and call yourself “blue collar”? and to lump yourself in with people who are, you know, actually struggling? Is this some kind of Republican code of “conservative and white”? I’m just a bit confused, if not, well, struggling here.
Not his fault. Ha. Yeah, it’s not his fault he is tone deaf and cannot connect with working folks.
Same with Scott. Guess he and Romney have more in common than he thinks. He is after all going to ‘lay off’ some folks.
And some folks have a hard time buying heating oil and fuel for the car. Mr.’Dirty Jobs’ has enough $$ to burn that oil going in circles…. Trying to go as fast as he can…
Phil Scott’s biggest problem is that he is a Republican. He did great work after Irene and is still involved. He is right on most of the social issues. Give the guy a break. He is at least honest and basically says, “I will hold my nose and vote for Romney.” Not a bad place for an elected Republican, from my point of view.