The Jeremy Dodge land purchase threatens to become a political tar baby for Governor Shumlin — something that causes lasting harm to a politician’s image. (Think John Kerry and windsurfing, or George H.W. Bush not knowing the price of milk.) The Governor apparently realized this on Friday, when he stopped issuing brief written statements and instead held a series of tete-a-tetes with selected State House reporters.

In those interviews, Shumlin gave some ground, opening the door for renegotiation of the deal — this time, with a lawyer representing Dodge. But he hasn’t gone far enough to unstick the tar baby. And the longer he waits, and the more iterations of his story come out, the harder it’ll be to put this deal behind him.

So, what’s he still doing wrong? Well, how about this classic bit of Shumlinia, combining narcissism, myopia, and a straw-man argument in a single brief statement:

“He needed action right there and then,” Shumlin said during his first interview since news of the controversial land deal broke Wednesday. “I could not in good conscience walk away. … I just wasn’t going to do it. Now, maybe some folks can do that. I don’t have the ability to do that – that’s just the truth.”

So, in Shumlin’s mind, “helping a neighbor” means “buying his assets at a rock-bottom price when he has nowhere else to turn.” No other options came to mind? Like, helping Dodge achieve the substantial tax relief he was entitled to? (See below.)

Apparently not, since he posited two, and only two, possible courses of action: buying Dodge’s land, or walking away. And, in the Governor’s mind, his critics would have preferred that he walk away. Well, that’s ridiculous, and Shumlin knows it.

After the jump: a classic refusal to take responsibility, the tax relief Jeremy Dodge should have gotten, and a nasty little surprise in the VTDigger interview.

Here’s another classic Shumlinism: He absolutely refuses to acknowledge any wrongdoing on his own part. Key exchange with VTDigger’s Andrew Stein:

Q: Do you think you did anything wrong in this matter whatsoever?

(Long Pause)

A: I understand why people can have divergent views of whether I should have gotten involved at all. In the end, I am an individual who lives in the state of Vermont, and I didn’t have the capacity to turn to a neighbor in a really desperate situation – someone for whom many in the community have no sympathy because of the horrendous things he’s done – and see a guy who is working to better himself and basically sentence him back to jail. I couldn’t do that.

“Long pause,” indeed. And instead of bearing any responsibility for allowing Dodge to go unrepresented in the deal, or failing to advise Dodge of other potential recourses, Shumlin shifts the blame to his critics. And, just for good measure, casually tosses a handful of mud on Dodge’s reputation. (The Governor is never shy about reminding us of Dodge’s unsavory past.)

The potential tax relief available to Dodge was outlined by Peter Hirschfeld on Thursday (article NOT paywalled) the Mitchell Family Organ. To recap, Dodge inherited the property and home in 2009. Since then, the tax bills have been piling up, but only because Dodge was ignorant of his options:

Between 2010 and 2012, according to state records, no one filed a homestead declaration on the Dodge property. Dodge, who says he never made more than $10,000 in each of those years, was charged full freight on property taxes as a result. His bill for tax year 2012 – the property was at that point appraised at $233,700 – came in at $4,597.11.

Income sensitivity would have cut the bill to a fraction of that amount – the law limits property-tax bills of low-income homeowners’ to about 5 percent of annual income.

It’s too late for Dodge to get full relief under a homestead declaration, but he could have sought at least some retroactive relief from the town of East Montpelier. In other words, if not for Dodge’s ignorance of the law, he probably could have retained the property indefinitely.

And Shumlin, as a longtime lawmaker and real estate investor, must know the law as well as anyone. It beggars belief to think that Shumlin wasn’t fully aware of Dodge’s options. I have to conclude that he chose not to offer that information to his neighbor in need.

That rather uncharitable inference gets some support from this statement by Shumlin to VTDigger’s Andrew Stein:

I became aware because people told me his place was coming up for tax sale, and people said you really ought to buy it because he’s your neighbor.

I’ve never bought anything on a tax sale, but I felt like I owed him the courtesy of telling him I knew there was a tax sale. I didn’t want it to be a surprise if I showed up there.

And there’s a twist I haven’t seen anywhere else. Before Jeremy Dodge ever told Shumlin of his troubles, the Governor was fully aware that Dodge’s property was about to go to tax auction. And Shumlin planned to bid on the property.

In other words, before this selfless act of Samaritanship ever crossed his mind, Shumlin had already decided to buy the land.

Puts things in a different light, doesn’t it?

When you look at this picture, taken by Stefan Hard of the Times Argus, you understand Shumlin’s interest — and his current reluctance to void the transaction.

The shining house on the hill at right is the Governor’s bucolic getaway. The smaller structure on the left is Dodge’s place. And hey, if you’re a high-profile figure who’d like a little privacy (and we all know how jealously Shumlin guards his personal life), wouldn’t you want to snap up the next house over?

Shumlin, of course, puts a positive spin on his insistence that Jeremy Dodge vacate the property his family has owned for decades. To Shumlin, the Dodge manse is too far gone to be rehabbed, and Dodge would be better off somewhere else. (Which didn’t stop the Governor from charging Dodge $1000 a month in “rent” for a house he thinks is unfit to live in.) This ignores the obvious affection for the land felt by Dodge and his adult children. Did anyone ask Jeremy Dodge where he’d prefer to live?