… who is — or thinks he is — responsible for the sun, the moon, and the stars.

Apologies for my third Lisman post in the past 24 hours, but damn if he isn’t just the gift that keeps on giving.

Earlier, we brought you news of Lisman’s search for a pair of bobbleheads to help advance Campaign for Vermont’s legislative priorities, whatever the hell they are. Well, a Freeploid article covering the CFV job search included some absolutely choice comments from Lisman and/or his hacktastic publicist, in which Lisman tries to take credit for every recent development in Vermont politics that bears the slightest resemblance to the ever-vague CFV agenda.  

Lisman contends Campaign for Vermont is already affecting policy debate in Vermont. Elected and appointed leaders, he said, are starting to sound like they’ve been reading Campaign for Vermont’s policy papers.

… He notes that Shumlin has shifted his rhetoric and is talking about shared economic prosperity and making changes to the property tax system that pays for Vermont schools.

He notes that Education Secretary Armando Vilaseca talks of consolidating schools.

He points out that House Speaker Shap Smith is talking about “results-based budgeting.”

… On its Facebook page, Campaign for Vermont has posted several notes in which it blatantly claims credit for influencing the debate. One recently said of an article on pension reform, “We thank Treasurer Pearce for responding to our call for action on this important issue.”

Shumlin has “shifted his rhetoric”? Hell, he hasn’t made a public appearance during his entire governorship without saying “jobs and economic prosperity” at least a dozen times!

And Beth Pearce responding to CFV’s call for pension reform? Complete nonsense. Pearce has been a green-eyeshade number-cruncher for years.  

Lisman takes credit for all this and more, even though — as Freeploid scribe Terri Hallenbeck points out — these issues have been booted around Montpelier since the days when Lisman was still a Wall Street kingpin, and long before CFV was even a gleam in his cloudy eye.  And she quotes State House lobbyist Todd Bailey as noting that “it looks like Campaign for Vermont is more interested in self-promotion than actually getting things done.”

Here’s a couple of helpful hints for Lisman and his planned lobbying effort under the Golden Dome:

— Don’t try to take credit for things you didn’t do.

— If you really want to Win Friends and Influence People, don’t even try to take credit for things you did do.

In either case, be generous with praise and avoid upstaging the people you hope to build relationships with. All those people still remember CFV’s gangbusters debut, with its endless series of radio ads decrying “the leadership in Montpelier.” They know you were talking about them. They see through your pathetic glory-grabbing. They don’t appreciate it. And it won’t make them receptive to future blandishments.

If Bruce Lisman really wants to build support for his agenda, he needs to learn just a little tiny bit of diplomacy. Otherwise, his lobbying expenditures will be just as useless as his flood of TV and radio ads have been.