We’re almost at the end of a long campaign season that’s been extensively covered by Vermont’s political media. You wouldn’t think that there would be a major story that’s never been explored anywhere… but there was, until today. If you’re not a Times Argus or Rutland Herald subscriber, you probably missed it. I strongly recommend reading the whole thing; if you didn’t get a Sunday paper and don’t have online access, try your local library. And in the meantime, I’ll provide some highlights.  

The story, by Peter Hirschfeld of the Vermont Press Bureau, examines the Democratic and Republican grass-roots efforts: the field organizing and research, the nuts-and-bolts party-building that goes into a successful Election Day drive.

The conclusion: Vermont Democrats are thoroughly, fanatically prepared, while Vermont Republicans are basically in tatters.

The Vermont Democratic Party… has taken in slightly more than $1 million, and spent nearly $900,000 of it, according to federal disclosures.

Democrats now have 17 paid staffers, 11 of whom are devoted full time to field organizing. They have 90 phones in nine field offices across the state, where staff and volunteers had made 300,000 call attempts to Vermont voters, 30,000 of which resulted in contact, according to party officials.

….The Vermont GOP’s federal committee has raised $221,000 – less than a quarter what Democrats collected. It has zero paid staffers and has deployed 24 phones to five field offices.



“We’re outgunned, no question about it,” says Bradford Broyles, campaign manager for Wilton.

Ouch. Maybe this explains Wilton’s decision to skip the VTGOP’s election-night party in Montpelier, and spend the evening in Rutland instead.  

So it’s not bad enough that the Republicans trail badly in most statewide races, and have no resources of their own. And they are “outgunned” for the stretch drive. Beth Pearce’s campaign manager Ryan Emerson told Hirschfeld that a top-shelf field organization can sway the vote by five to ten percent.

As for the VTGOP… let the rationalizations begin!

“We’re a volunteer organization. We’re not like our sister organization that likes to pay people,” says Jack Lindley, chairman of the Vermont GOP. “If you don’t have energized volunteers, then you have to pay people. And we have energized volunteers.”

“No, I didn’t bring a gun to this duel. But I believe my opponent will be lulled into a state of false confidence by his superior firepower, and that will allow me to win.” Uh-huh.

Times like this, I feel a little sorry for Angry Jack. He sat himself down at the table and (for those familiar with Texas Hold ‘Em) drew a deuce-seven offsuit. No money, no candidates, a ramshackle organization, and no paid staff. I give him credit for trying to put lipstick on this pig, but I’m not convinced. If Republicans had any money, they’d be very happy to spend it.

Hirschfeld’s article also includes a thorough narrative of all the hard work over the last several years — literally — that built the Democratic organization we have today. Countless hours, much of it unpaid, by people you’ve probably never heard of unless you’re a real hard-core political junkie: Jesse Bragg, Ryan McLaren, Nick Charyk, among others.

It’s a great story, thoroughly reported, and heretofore untold. And not only tells a lot about what will happen on Election Day, but also how the Democratic Party has become such a formidable operation so quickly in the post-Douglas era.

Of course, all that hard work is for naught if we don’t all GET OUT AND VOTE.