Oh geez. Following state campaign law is just so hard!

At least it must seem that way to Tayt Brooks, International Man of Mystery, and sole paid staffer at conservative Super PAC Vermonters First.

Last week, the Tayter filed notice with the state elections office that VF was putting out mailers in numerous House and Senate districts, targeting Democratic candidates. As part of that notice, VF is required to list all candidates who are named in the mailings. They also have to send notices to those candidates, that they are being named (er, slammed) in the mailings.  

Well, they missed one: Maida Townsend of South Burlington. And unfortunately for the I.M.O.M., the candidate received the anti-Townsend mailing herself. Oops.  

From the Democratic Party’s news release:

“Under Vermont law every candidate has the right to know within 24 hours when mass media buys targeting them are made. This requirement is particularly important when misleading information is being spread about the candidate. The decision by multi-millionare political puppeteer and Vermonters First foremost funder Lenore Broughton to violate this requirement is unacceptable,” said Vermont Democratic Party Chair Jake Perkinson. “Only when Maida received the mailing herself did we realize that she was also a targeted candidate in Broughton’s most recent misleading Tea-Party inspired attacks.”

The Dems have filed a complaint with the Attorney General’s office. Now, as campaign violations go, this is small potatoes. But it does point out the potential problems when you have basically a one-man operation… even if it’s Tayt Brooks, Super-Genius … doing the paperwork for a $700,000 (and counting) operation.

And I have to congratulate Jake Perkinson for coming up with the “political puppeteer” line … except now I have an indelible mental image of Lenore Broughton’s hand up Tayt Brooks’ backside.

Pardon me, I’ll be taking a very long, very cold shower.