If Lenore Broughton had actually hired a smart political operative to run her Big Bucks Bonfire, Vermonters First, the op’s first move would be to start sending camera crews to Governor Shumlin’s news conferences.

Because the Governor is making the conservative anti-tax argument as well as, or better than, any Vermont Republican in sight. Can’t you just see the 2014 Vermonters First attack ads, with Shumlin railing against Legislative Democrats for trying to “raise every single broad-based tax in Vermont,” aiming to “stall our economic recovery,” and “asking Vermonters to pay more taxes than they need to pay”? (Quotes are all from last Thursday’s presser.)

Great stuff. It oughta be far more effective than the warmed-over Tea party crapola that wasted a million bucks of Broughton’s inheritance in 2012.

This is why I hate it when Democratic politicians adopt Republican talking points. They help make the opposition’s case, lending it credibility that the conservatives could never muster on their own. When Democrats talk like Republicans, they allow the battle to be fought on Republican turf.

And when a Democrat characterizes other Dems as irresponsible spendthrifts, well, I think we all know who gets the benefit of that.

As the Legislative session nears its end, top lawmakers have been compromising in the Governor’s direction on taxes. Shumlin, meanwhile, continues to express optimism in the process…

I have a very good relationship with the leadership in the Senate and the House, and I know we’ll come to the end of this process with a thoughtful bill…

…while simultaneously refusing to give an inch on taxes:

…that gets the job done without asking Vermonters to pay more taxes than they need to pay.

The Governor’s rhetoric is undiminished, even though the actual tax measures currently under consideration are relatively minor and intelligently targeted.  

Shumlin rails against lawmakers who want to “raise every single broad-based tax in Vermont.” There are two problems with this:

— Lawmakers went scrounging for money because they knew the Governor would reject any big tax hikes. So instead of taking one simple approach (raising taxes on the rich, for instance), they tried to nickel and dime their way to a balanced budget, hoping to fly under Shumlin’s anti-tax radar.

— Some of the tax increases are minuscule. For instance, the Senate Finance Committee’s proposal to make bottled water subject to the sales tax. Technically, that’s an increase in a broad-based tax — but it’s a narrowly focused increase on a product that almost nobody actually needs.

The Governor also continues to repeat his “hardworking Vermonters” line — “This is not the time to raise income taxes, sales taxes, meals taxes on hardworking Vermonters.” Which would be relevant if the Legislature were really threatening “hardworking Vermonters” with big tax hikes. In truth, the tax hikes and shifts that are happening or that would happen if Shumlin had his way — the gas tax, the Earned Income Tax Credit cut, the increases in property taxes — hit “working Vermonters” hardest, while Legislative proposals try to minimize the pain on the middle class and working poor.

Shumlin’s ire even extends to Sen. Tim Ashe’s brilliant proposals to cap the mortgage interest deduction at $12,000 and impose a 3% minimum tax on those earning more than $125,000 a year.

To the former, my thought was, “How much property do you have to own, in order to pay more than $12,000 a year in property taxes? And to the latter, my response was: “Wait, there are top earners who are paying less than 3% in state income tax?”

They are not paying their fair share. Not by a longshot.  

The Legislature has tried to meet the Governor halfway, and he has refused to budge. In the process, he’s created a whole lot of potential campaign material for Vermonters First.

If they ride his material to some measure of electoral success in 2014, then remember to thank our Governor, Peter Shumlin, for lending a helping hand to some of our most downtrodden citizens — Vermont Republicans. And for contributing to the defeat of some fellow Democrats.