I was disappointed to read that the Governor’s reelection campaign has nixed any and all debates apart from those hosted by media outlets.

Most specifically, I am disappointed that there will be no debate hosted by Toxics Action Center, the VNRC and the rest of the environmental community, who came together in November 2009 to launch the Democratic gubernatorial debates with an extremely friendly forum at their annual “Environmental Action”event in Randolph.

Governor Shumlin should remember that forum well.  He rocked the room with fiery promises, and received thunderous applause for most of his comments.  

Set aside for a moment the fact that this particularly warm reception was bolstered by his campaign posse, who were liberally peppered throughout the audience and conspicuously exited at the end of the debate without staying for any of the closing remarks from the groups who sponsored the forum.  This was the signature event that opened his stellar primary run.

Many of the same people who attended that first forum were present a year later, in November 2010, at the same annual event to hear the new Governor-elect address his environmental supporters in a recorded speech, reiterating his commitment to their shared values.  Despite what had turned out to be a bitterly fought primary race and close election, or perhaps because of it, the Governor’s response from this core constituency could not have been warmer.

Governor Shumlin might be feeling a little uncertain about his reception this time by the environmental community; especially so, in light of his stream-bed reclamation decisions, post-Irene.  This would be his opportunity to square himself with a key-constituency by recognizing their importance to his authority, and by making himself available for questioning.  The environmental community is, for the most part, a sympathetic audience, which stands ready to give a fair hearing to his rationale.  

He can’t possibly think himself more vulnerable than Randy Brock on environmental issues!

The AARP represents another front on which he might seize the opportunity of a debate to take control of the message.  He certainly has the healthcare chops to win a more focussed hearing from the AARP crowd for his rationale in opposing the CVPS payback that AARP (and Randy Brock) supported.  But I can well-understand that this is not necessarily a venue that is to his distinct advantage.

The environmental lobby is very definitely a venue where he needs to do some serious fence mending, and where there is no risk of being bested by Brock.  

It’s a snub that could well come back to bite him sometime in the future.