Bill Sorrell knows he has been less than active in past years soliciting campaign donations. He tells VtDigger.com:

“I’ve had the luxury in the past of not having serious opposition.” He added that he’d not been overly active in soliciting contributions in years past.  

The simple three word version:“I am rusty.”

Knowing that he is rusty, you’d think Sorrell might well have spent a little extra time and attention  considering how something might look to voters. You know, a thing like donations from businesses that have had legal difficulties with the state, for example.  

The Sorrell campaign received a $2000 donation from one company, Dish Network, which in the past paid the state of Vermont to settle an unfair and deceptive sales practices case. Another donation of $250 came from the Arizona-based company Lifelock that had paid the state to settle fraud and deceptive advertising charges.

Sorrell has reached settlements with both firms in recent years, winning substantial awards for Vermonters. In July 2009 Vermont and 45 other states settled with Dish Network over allegations of “unfair and deceptive sales practices” for $5.9 million, with Vermont receiving $125,000. Less than two years later, Dish again paid Vermont $125,000 in August 2011, to make amends for 310 fraudulent letters sent to Vermont consumers. […]

In March 2010, Lifelock refunded some Vermont consumers and paid the state $15,000 to settle claims of deceptive advertising by the firm. Lifelock exaggerated the risk of identity theft before falsely claiming it could absolutely “guarantee” against such theft.

Sorrell makes the understandable case that it’s no big deal; a communications pro notes that this isn’t unusual, and of course everybody does it. These donations might be right, wrong, or soon forgotten, but if he wasn’t rusty, Attorney General Sorrell might have asked “How do I look in this donation?”