We interrupt this brief sabbatical to say a word or two about today’s announcement that perennial GMD amusement, Bruce Lisman will enter the governor’s race as a…(drum-roll please)…REPUBLICAN!
Yes, Mr. Non-Partisan has finally traded his dog-whistle for a bright red soapbox; surprising no one.
We all knew what his tepid speechifying was leading to; ‘when’ was the only question.
Phil Scott’s presumed lock on the Republican nomination not withstanding, 2016 is really the best opportunity that Mr. Lisman will have to enter the arena, in the foreseeable future.
And what about that lock by the Lieutenant Governor? Could Lisman sense that Franklin County bad-boy Senator Norm McAllister’s refusal to go gracefully has party regulars up for a bruising in 2016?
As a political newcomer, Lisman can present himself as the clean-slate Republicans should flock to in the wake of Phil Scott’s demonstrated lack of leadership over the McAllister affair. (No pun intended.)
In a year when Trump-fueled crazy has taken a decidedly anti-Wall Street turn in the Republican Party, it would not seem beneficial to have as one’s primary credentials, executive service at Bear Stearns and JP Morgan Global Equities; but I never could understand how the Republican denial factory works, anyway.
Republicans should have an interesting 2016, as Lisman squares off with Scott and the Franklin County GOP is forced to face their own inaction with regard to McAllister and all of the social hypocrisy that is involved.
Make no mistake about it, even though the citizen-led effort to unseat McAllister has so far been deliberately non-partisan in tone; come campaign time, the gloves are off!
Republicans have had ample time since the end of April to put their house in order.
VPR reports that Lisman hired an expensive national opposition research group (one aligned with Republicans) to dig for dirt on Lt. Phil Scott business contracts.
That’s how the people Lisman hires work,I guess.
http://digital.vpr.net/post/up…
Phil would actually have a chance to win. Lisman, I doubt he could win anything.
Given that Lisman made his bundle out of state, articles about him have pointed out that he is originally from Vermont, but then go so far as to say he’s from “Burlington’s North End,” as if simply saying he’s from Burlington is not sufficient to suggest his supposed self-made-ness, or to remove the stench of Bear Stearns, etc.