I had to chuckle at Terri Hallenbeck’s piece in today’s Free Press:

Hoffer’s win surprising to many.  ‘Forgotten’ man to become Vt. auditor

As our regular readers will attest, he was not forgotten on the pages of GMD.

In fact, while newspaper after newspaper lined up to endorse Vince Illuzzi, always framing it as sort of a left-handed compliment,  we noted the endorsements and remarked on the common weakness of their rationale.  

Why was it, they should be asking themselves, that the papers seemed to line up unilaterally behind Senator Illuzzi, but always while holding their nose?

Free Press:

He is a political machine, and he remains a publicity hound.

St. Albans Messenger:.

..Mr. Illuzzi, a lawyer, has had his license suspended for ethical violations (in) 1993 and he did not have his license restored until 1998.  He’s also not shy to find the political spotlight and rush to its center.

Addison Independent:

Republican Vince Illuzzi has garnered much support from a lot of politicos throughout the state, which may tell you something. Throughout his 32 years in the Legislature he has made a lot of friends and has played the game of politics well. But while Vermont is largely free from the political partisanship that plagues other states, Illuzzi does understand political power and has wielded that power, at times, for partisan purposes over the years. That’s an attribute that doesn’t work well in the state auditor’s office.

While GMD repeatedly reminded everyone, including the mainstream media that, not only was Hoffer the most qualified and ethically reliable candidate for the job, he was also the only candidate for the office who had demonstrated a focussed interest in doing that job, and that job only, over the course of two full election cycles.

Take a look at the outcome of the 2012 election in Vermont and try to tell me that GMD is not the best media barometer of where Vermonters’ live right now in the real world.  

Yes, we have a liberal bias; but conventional newspapers frequently have a strong bias as well.  Look at the Caledonian Record, for example.  At least we’re upfront in not representing ourselves as a “balanced” news source, even though we could argue that the views of our Democratic, Progressive and Independent contributors are representative of those held most widely across the state.

So, Conventional Media Folks, you look askance at the opinions expressed here on GMD and dismiss them as “fringe” at the peril of your own relevancy.  Lesson learned.