Congrats to Seven Days for bagging an Election Eve scoop — getting a photo of the notoriously camera-shy Lenore Broughton, benefactor of far-right causes including Super PAC Vermonter(s) First.

The photo, which can be seen here (I won’t post it because they got the shot, they deserve the page views), was taken by photographer Andy Duback today at a Burlington City Hall elevator. He just managed to capture Broughton’s grim visage as the elevator doors were closing.

Just before they closed, Broughton had a message for the shutterbug: “You’re awful.”  Which, as far as I can remember, is her most extensive communication with the media this year.

I can hardly wait for the howls of outrage from the likes of Rob Roper. Assault by camera! Suppression of First Amendment rights! Harassing a frail old woman (work with me, Lenore) who merely wanted to express her opinions! Left-wing thuggery!

To which I would reply, oh, go soak your head. Broughton was in a public building, on her way to attending a public meeting of the Board of Registration of Voters (she’s one of nine members). She had her picture taken. Get over it.  

A single solitary man, standing Galt-like against the unruly hordes of spendthrift liberalism. A giant among men. A David facing Goliath with only a sling and a little rock.

I’m talking about Paul Decelles, Republican member of Burlington City Council, and a ballot question facing Burlington voters on Election Day. The initiative, which would refinance a debt burden left over from the Burlington Telecom mess, was placed on the ballot by Council on a 13-1 vote. Guess who?

Councilor Paul Decelles, R-Ward 7 – who cast the sole vote against placing the bond on the ballot – said Friday he has been waging “essentially a one-man war” against the measure.

This brave, brave man. At least that’s what he told Freeploid reporter Joel Banner Baird last week. Problem: at the time he peddled that bit of heroic self-pity, he knew he had a big, rich, powerful friend in his corner.

First they supported statewide candidates. Then they tackled legislative races. Now Vermonters First, the big-spending, conservative super PAC, is going local.

That’s right, folks. Lenore Broughton’s Super PAC has enlisted in Decelles’ “one-man war.” VF put out a highly deceptive mailer that hit city residents’ mailboxes on Saturday. And, as Paul Heintz reports…

Republican Paul Decelles, tells Seven Days he worked with Vermonters First treasurer and consultant Tayt Brooks on the super PAC’s new mailer.

“We definitely talked about it,” Decelles says. “They ran some things by us and we ran some things by them.”

From the timing, it’s obvious that he knew all of that when he bragged to Baird about waging “essentially a one-man war.”

To be fair, he did insert the weasel word “essentially.” But in fact, his little “one-man war” is backstopped by the political equivalent of an aircraft carrier.

Some hero.  

ICYMI, Randy Brock made a last-ditch effort to breathe life into his doomed candidacy for Governor, when he demanded a boatload of documents regarding state settlements with employees. Last Friday, the Shumlin Administration released the most relevant documents, thus defusing Brock’s ability to raise ersatz questions about the issue.

As far as we can tell, Brock hasn’t had a chance to read the documents — well, at least he hasn’t run to the microphones claiming to have found a smoking gun — but hey, VTDigger has stepped into the breach. One of its busy young bees, Nat Rudarakanchana, did look into the issue and came up with something of a bombshell — or at least a Roman candle. In the past five years, Vermont has spent nearly a million bucks on settlement claims with state workers according to information obtained from the state’s insurance carrier.

Wow, a million dollars. Big money. A sign of lax management by the Shumlin Administration, no?

Well, er, that would be no.

Of the 21 settlements listed in the document, 16 occurred during the Douglas Administration. Including ten of the eleven biggest payouts. The total score in dollars: Douglas $782,012.44, Shumlin $189,300. Even if you adjust the figures for Douglas’ longer tenure, he out-settled Shumlin by a wide margin.

As you might expect, Douglas has an explanation that could well have been made by Shumlin himself:

“With any group with large numbers of employees, there are going to be issues that require this kind of resolution,” said Douglas. “It’s just the nature of employment in a large organization.”

And another Brock balloon goes “pop”.

WCAX-TV, for managing to maintain ideological purity in the face of logic, common sense, and the need to fill a half-hour of airtime. I’m referring to this week’s edition of “You Can Quote Me,” Channel 3’s Sunday morning interview program, which featured three WCAX meteorologists being interviewed by reporter Gina Bullard about Superstorm Sandy. And you’ll never guess which subject never came up.

Yep. Climate change. Or global warming, whichever. Those dastardly phrases never once passed the lips of anyone on the panel. Another example of why the late lamented Peter Freyne dubbed Channel 3 “WGOP” for its fealty to conservatism.

There was time to shamelessly plug WCAX’s new mobile weather app, and there was time for the weather guys to talk about how social media has changed their jobs (“people don’t have to wait for the 6:00 news anymore”), but not a peep about how Sandy and other weather events might be related to climate change.

Bullard came close a couple of times; she brought up the number of severe weather events in our recent past, but diverted the question into a safe channel. And near the end of the show, she asked the panel if Sandy was a taste of what’s to come. The answer was confined solely to the outlook for this coming winter.

I realize that there isn’t a direct provable link between climate change and any single storm, but to spend a half hour on Sandy and not even broach the subject? You may have outdone yourselves, WGOP.  

Wendy Wilton, for abandoning a sinking ship. Seems the Republican candidate for Treasurer — the VTGOP’s best hope to elect a real conservative to statewide office — won’t be attending the party’s election-night gathering in Montpelier. Instead, she’ll watch the returns in her home city of Rutland.

You’d think WIlton would have shown a bit more loyalty to the party that elevated her to its statewide ticket. But maybe she simply knows where her support really comes from: Lenore Broughton and her tame Super PAC, Vermonter(s) First. I mean, the VTGOP may have given her the nomination, but because they have such limited resources, they haven’t been able to give her much in the way of tangible backing. As the Vermont Press Bureau’s Peter Hirschfeld reported, the VTGOP’s field operations and GOTV effort are much weaker and less well organized than the Democrats’. That may well cost her the election. And if she does win, the credit will belong to Lenore Broughton and Vermonter First, not the Republican Party. So why drive up to Montpelier just to spend the evening with a bunch of ill-tempered and increasingly inebriated middle-aged men watching their party slide into the abyss?

After the jump: yogurt FTW, a Young Republican A$$hole outdoes himself, and a rare double for Wendy Wilton.

Commonwealth Dairy of  Brattleboro, for being Vermont’s latest entrepreneurial success story. Last week, the company announced a $12 million expansion of the plant where it makes Greek-style yogurt. It’s still early days, and the big boys are rushing to market with their own Greek-style offerings, but Commonwealth is growing fast, providing good jobs and a big new market for Vermont dairy farms. (Commonwealth sells under its own label, Green Mountain Creamery, and also produces yogurt for other clients.)

And all this in a state that, if you believe the Republicans, is so punitive of success that the entrepreneurial spirit is in danger of extinction. Company executives credited Vermont’s Congressional delegation for helping them obtain federal tax credits for developing businesses, and also praised the “terrific workforce” in Brattleboro. I guess there’s more to encouraging entrepreneurialism than low taxes and lax regulation, and I guess the Bratt is more than just a haven for hippie burnouts.

Corry Bliss, young Republican operative/Karl Rove wannabe, for taking his current campaign to new lows of deception. That would be the Senatorial bid of Republican Linda McMahon in Connecticut. Bliss was last seen in these parts piloting the Brian Dubie campaign to defeat; he was last heard from in these parts issuing a court-ordered apology to settle a libel lawsuit arising from the Dubie campaign. And regarding the quality of that effort, here’s a remarkable piece of testimony:

“Corry Bliss took a candidate that was up 20 points and turned him into a loser by election day,” said Bradford Broyles, a Republican activist from Mendon, a town in the central part of the state, near Killington. “We’re still repairing the damage to the Republican party.”

That would be the same Bradford Broyles who is flacking for Vermont’s most mendacious candidate (2012 edition), Wendy Wilton. Talk about the pot and the kettle.

Anyway, Bliss has confirmed his reputation as a grade-Z Republican operative in the Rovian tradition with this shamelessly misleading door-hanger:

Which tells you all you need to know about Corry Bliss’ ethics. Not to mention Mitt Romney’s popularity in the Nutmeg State.

The guy who repairs my wood stove, for getting off the ad-lib of the week. While he was at my house last week, I happened upon the wire story about someone reporting a naked man on I-91 in southeast Vermont. When the Vermont State Police responded, they found a mannequin alongside the highway.

To which my stove guy, without the slightest pause, said “Did they taser it first?”

Also, a thumbs-up to the VSP for thoroughness:

State police say if anyone is missing a mannequin to contact the Brattleboro barracks.

Freeploid political reporter Terri Hallenbeck, for resorting to filler material in the heat of Campaign 2012. On Friday, Hallenbeck posted a lengthy entry on the Freeploid’s political blog vt.Buzz that was a listing of issues at stake on Election Day — in other states.

Cribbed from the New York Times.

Hallenbeck made a weak-tea case for the post’s relevance in its headline: “Marijuana, marriage and other hot Vt. issues other state (sic) are voting on.” She then reported that the Times had a “condensed rundown” of what’s at stake elsewhere, and then noted that the Times had nothing much to say about Vermont because it’s a “steadily blue state” with “no ballot measures” this year. The rest of Hallenbeck’s post was a bullet-point rundown of what other states will be voting on.

Hard to believe a political reporter couldn’t find anything else to occupy her time just a few days before the election.

was destined to go to Governor Peter Shumlin for his buddy act with Republican Lieutenant Governor Phil Scott. But a late recount swung the final tally in favor of Republican candidate for Treasurer Wendy Wilton, for running a fundamentally dishonest campaign.

Lots of politicians lie. (cough)Mitt Romney(cough) But it’s rare for a big lie to provide the entire basis for a campaign, as in the case of Wendy Wilton. Go back 18 months or so; she was a one-term State Senator who lost her bid for re-election, and then served as Rutland city treasurer. Nice, but not usually a launching pad for a statewide political career.

Then she ginned up a slanted “study” of Governor Shumlin’s health care reform plan that labeled it a fiscal disaster. And that turned her into the closest thing to a “rising star” in the dim constellation of the VTGOP. She traveled the state giving talks and media interviews, and her “study” became the basis for Republican attacks on the issue.

And she became a viable candidate for statewide office. Not because of her performance as Rutland’s treasurer (which is something else she has freely and consistently lied about), but because she presented a plausibly “expert” analysis that could be used as a cudgel against Shumlin’s plan.

Then she became the nominee for state Treasurer. And ever since, she has denied the plain truth of her entire political record and depicted herself as an objective technocrat.

There are politicians who lie. But Wendy Wilton is a politician who IS a lie. Big difference, and worthy of a Poke in the Eye.  

We’re almost at the end of a long campaign season that’s been extensively covered by Vermont’s political media. You wouldn’t think that there would be a major story that’s never been explored anywhere… but there was, until today. If you’re not a Times Argus or Rutland Herald subscriber, you probably missed it. I strongly recommend reading the whole thing; if you didn’t get a Sunday paper and don’t have online access, try your local library. And in the meantime, I’ll provide some highlights.  

The story, by Peter Hirschfeld of the Vermont Press Bureau, examines the Democratic and Republican grass-roots efforts: the field organizing and research, the nuts-and-bolts party-building that goes into a successful Election Day drive.

The conclusion: Vermont Democrats are thoroughly, fanatically prepared, while Vermont Republicans are basically in tatters.

The Vermont Democratic Party… has taken in slightly more than $1 million, and spent nearly $900,000 of it, according to federal disclosures.

Democrats now have 17 paid staffers, 11 of whom are devoted full time to field organizing. They have 90 phones in nine field offices across the state, where staff and volunteers had made 300,000 call attempts to Vermont voters, 30,000 of which resulted in contact, according to party officials.

….The Vermont GOP’s federal committee has raised $221,000 – less than a quarter what Democrats collected. It has zero paid staffers and has deployed 24 phones to five field offices.



“We’re outgunned, no question about it,” says Bradford Broyles, campaign manager for Wilton.

Ouch. Maybe this explains Wilton’s decision to skip the VTGOP’s election-night party in Montpelier, and spend the evening in Rutland instead.  

So it’s not bad enough that the Republicans trail badly in most statewide races, and have no resources of their own. And they are “outgunned” for the stretch drive. Beth Pearce’s campaign manager Ryan Emerson told Hirschfeld that a top-shelf field organization can sway the vote by five to ten percent.

As for the VTGOP… let the rationalizations begin!

“We’re a volunteer organization. We’re not like our sister organization that likes to pay people,” says Jack Lindley, chairman of the Vermont GOP. “If you don’t have energized volunteers, then you have to pay people. And we have energized volunteers.”

“No, I didn’t bring a gun to this duel. But I believe my opponent will be lulled into a state of false confidence by his superior firepower, and that will allow me to win.” Uh-huh.

Times like this, I feel a little sorry for Angry Jack. He sat himself down at the table and (for those familiar with Texas Hold ‘Em) drew a deuce-seven offsuit. No money, no candidates, a ramshackle organization, and no paid staff. I give him credit for trying to put lipstick on this pig, but I’m not convinced. If Republicans had any money, they’d be very happy to spend it.

Hirschfeld’s article also includes a thorough narrative of all the hard work over the last several years — literally — that built the Democratic organization we have today. Countless hours, much of it unpaid, by people you’ve probably never heard of unless you’re a real hard-core political junkie: Jesse Bragg, Ryan McLaren, Nick Charyk, among others.

It’s a great story, thoroughly reported, and heretofore untold. And not only tells a lot about what will happen on Election Day, but also how the Democratic Party has become such a formidable operation so quickly in the post-Douglas era.

Of course, all that hard work is for naught if we don’t all GET OUT AND VOTE.  

Oh, look: Randy Brock’s trying to convince folks that the race for Governor isn’t a lost cause. He commissioned a poll from an Ohio-based Teabagger/religious right “opinion researcher” named Fritz Wenzel. Seven Days’ Paul Heintz has all the details, so I won’t delve into this too deeply except to note that even a completely biased pollster, paid by the Brock campaign, couldn’t do any better than to give Governor Shumlin a measly five-point lead.

And of course, Brock didn’t release the entire survey; just the results that look good for him.

The topline: According to Wenzel, likely voters favor Shumlin 46-41 over Brock, with eight percent for “other candidates” (which would be pretty extraordinary itself) and five percent undecided. Wenzel did not release the questions asked, which is pretty damn important in assessing the reliability of a survey.

Other red flags: It was an automated poll, conducted entirely in one night. (Polls usually take a few days to complete, because the pollster picks a sample and then makes multiple tries to reach the voters in the sample. To wrap up the survey in one night, Wenzel must have deviated quite a bit from his planned sample.)

And, as Heintz reports, Wenzel’s other polls usually skew Republican. Which only befits a guy who’s worked for candidates like Ohio nutball Jean Schmidt, Kentucky nutball Rand Paul, the ultra-right conspiracy-theory peddler World Net Daily, and the very conservative Family Research Council.

Nice choice of colleagues there, Randy.  

One of the VTGOP’s most frequently-employed tactics in this year’s campaign has been the raising of questions. They throw out allegations of misconduct or corruption and, when asked for evidence, they claim that they’re just asking questions, just stating concerns.

A few examples: After the August primary, VTGOP Chair “Angry Jack” Lindley was all fired up over the messy outcome of the Progressive primary, and said “The process… may suggest that there is collusion between the Progressive Party and the Democratic Party.”

Then, in mid-October, Wendy Wilton asked for an investigation of overtime pay in Treasurer Beth Pearce’s office. She called it a simple request for information, but threw around evidence-free charges of “an overtime scandal” and “gross mismanagement.”

Last week, of course, brought the edifying spectacle of Wilton accusing the Vermont Municipal Bank Board of conspiring with the Pearce campaign to put the city of Rutland on the VMBB’s “watch list.” Plus Randy Brock’s fishing expedition for signs of misconduct in state settlements with terminated employees.

And this week brought AG candidate Jack McMullen seeking a probe into possible collusion between incumbent Bill Sorrell and a Super PAC that supported his re-election bid. All of these top Republicans making serious accusations, even as they admitted that they didn’t have the slightest shred of proof.

This used to annoy me. But lately, I’ve come to see the brilliance — and immense personal satisfaction — of the maneuver. It’s fun! Therefore, I now present a series of questions — just asking, mind you, I’m not accusing anyone of anything. But I think it’s important for the people of Vermont to be given clarity on these issues.

Questions… after the jump.

Is the Vermont Republican Party a complete disgrace, for fielding a ticket laden with hopeless cases and shackling them to a platform with no appeal to the majority of state voters?

In his private moments, is Phil Scott deeply embarrassed to be publicly associated with these clowns?

Does Randy Brock wake up in the night wondering what in God’s name he got for his $300,000 “loan” to his own campaign?

Is Darcie Johnston the biggest waste of salary in Vermont since Bill Boettcher?

Is Wendy Wilton’s entire campaign based on a Big Lie — that she’s a nonpartisan technocrat, when in fact she’s a far-right ideologue?

If Vince Illuzzi is elected, will he conduct a vendetta against the lawyers and judges who tried to disbar him for ethical violations?

Is Jack McMullen’s mustache real, or did a small critter die on his upper lip?

If you showed pictures of John MacGovern and Mark Donka to every voter in Vermont, would any of them be able to tell which is which?

Will Annette Smith do significant damage to her anti-wind cause when her write-in campaign for Governor gets a mere handful of votes, thus belying the conventional wisdom that there’s “growing controversy” about utility-scale wind power?

If you could prescribe one — and only one — medication for Angry Jack Lindley, would you choose a hypertension drug or a mood stabilizer?

Is Rob Roper the most talentless hack in Vermont broadcasting?

Are Roper and El Jefe General John McClaughry complete hypocrites for using a nonprofit organization to fund their careers promoting the wonders of the free market?

Remember, folks: I’m not sayin’, I’m just askin’. No proof, no evidence, only questions.  

I tell ya, the state’s editorial boards were bound and determined to go for Vince Illuzzi in this year’s race for Auditor. In the process, they’ve ignored the two candidates’ qualifications and history, and some papers have even ignored their own past positions.

Previously we’ve chronicled the Freeploid and Herald/Times Argus, which reversed their positions of two years ago (hearty and detailed endorsements of Doug Hoffer) to plump for Illuzzi this year while offering dubious arguments on Vince’s behalf. We also documented the St. Albans Messenger’s ass-backwards depiction of Hoffer as the more political of the two men — when, in fact, Vince Illuzzi is one of the most thoroughly political characters in Vermont.

And we’ve recounted Illuzzi’s past ethical troubles, including multiple suspensions of his law license and a very close brush with disbarment. (Illuzzi has claimed to have matured since then; but hell, he was in his FORTIES when a lot of that stuff happened.)

Now comes the Addison Independent, which can’t bring itself to endorse either candidate (Profiles in Courage there, Angelo), while tarring Hoffer with the completely absurd accusation of partisanship.

First, the Indy dismisses Vince.

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.

As we have said, Illuzzi is an insider, a dealmaker with a lot of friends in high places and a squicky ethical record. So the Indy can’t bring itself to back Illuzzi. What about Hoffer?  

Democrat Doug Hoffer, on the other hand, is not someone you’d call a team player. He is, by his own admission, “a number’s guy,” (sic) and that can work for or against either side of the political aisle. That’s a good attribute as an auditor. Hoffer, however, is hamstrung by his ideological outlook. He’s a devout progressive and comes as close to Sen. Bernie Sanders’ political leanings as any other statewide candidate on the ballot. That’s not a great attribute when asked to run the numbers on potential programs that inevitably have a political bent – and numbers, as we all know, can be used and abused at will.

Sure, Doug is on the left side of the political spectrum. But he has never, ever subverted his professional work for partisan purposes.  The Independent offers no evidence for its defamatory statement; it can’t, because there is none. In nearly 20 years doing exactly the kind of work an Auditor should do, Doug has gained a reputation across the board for integrity and objectivity. The Independent, in other words, is makin’ shit up. And unfairly smearing a good man in the process.

Vince Illuzzi, to his credit, has run a pretty clean race. None of the hyper-partisan attack politics of his ticketmates. The Independent just said worse things about Doug Hoffer than Vince Illuzzi ever has.

What’s even stranger about the Indy’s lies is that the paper used to have a much higher opinion of Hoffer. This is from its endorsement of Hoffer in the 2010 Democratic primary:

Hoffer… would bring a sharp and probing intellect to the position while pledging to keep his personal politics off the table. The auditor’s job, he says, is to provide the Legislature with the facts and reports it needs to ensure the legislation as proposed is based on good data and the programs passed are working as cost-effectively as they were intended.

Gee, exactly the opposite of the Indy’s 2012 view. A hearty endorsement, in fact, of Doug’s professionalism and objectivity — the very traits it now finds lacking.

As you may know, the Indy is owned by one Angelo Lynn, brother of Emerson Lynn, owner of the St. Albans Messenger. Angelo wrote the Indy’s endorsement editorial — and its endorsement of Hoffer in 2010. This year, each paper slapped Hoffer with the same evidence-free accusation of political bias. The guys obviously had some kind of conversation about the Auditor’s race, perhaps trying to gin up some basis for avoiding a Hoffer endorsement.

All in all, the Great Men of Vermont Journalism have not exactly covered themselves in glory with their illogical and, in some cases, actively mendacious endorsements in this year’s Auditor’s race.  

Last week, Randy Brock tried a desperation heave in his failing candidacy for Governor. On October 25, he requested a boatload of documents from the Shumlin Administration. He claimed that someone had told him there were problems with how the state had settled claims of misconduct by state employees, and he wanted immediate release of relevant documents so he could hunt for evidence.

The timing was so late that it seemed as though the Administration couldn’t possibly deliver — thus allowing Brock to raise questions about a cover-up without any actual evidence. Instead, reports VTDigger:

The state’s Department of Human Resources responded ahead of schedule to a public records request, today [Friday] releasing a raft of settlement documents for gubernatorial candidate Randy Brock that detail state employee settlements last year.

Oh snap. Shumlin defuses the “cover-up” complaint by releasing the documents “ahead of schedule,” and gives Brock the onerous task of wading through all that stuff in a mere couple of days. Even if he were to find something, there’s hardly enough time left to exploit it.

Brock, of course, reacted with all the grace and good will characteristic of Republicans in 2012.

“I’m pleased that they responded, yes. But I can’t speak to the quality of the response until I’ve had a chance to go through it.”

“I certainly hope that it’s complete.”

Nice.

And what’s more…

Brock also wouldn’t commit to spending the weekend reading the documents, saying he’d have to balance heavy campaigning with some reading on the road.

I’m sure he’s got a heavy schedule. But doesn’t he have staff? Aides? Extremely well-paid campaign consultant Darcie Johnston? Volunteers with a legal background who could wade through the documents and summarize them? Brock’s disinclination is more evidence that he never actually wanted the documents; he just wanted to be able to “raise questions” without a shred of proof.

I tell ya, we may have escaped the worst of Superstorm Sandy, but the Republican flop sweat is getting close to flood stage.  

If you got all your election news from WCAX-TV, you wouldn’t know that Vermonter (Lenore Broughton) First was super-funding the candidacy of Wendy Wilton. You’d know little or nothing about the Super PAC she has lavishly funded — to the tune of at least $800,000 so far. You’d know virtually nothing about Broughton, and you probably wouldn’t have heard the name “Tayt Brooks” (International Man of Mystery) at all.

That’s because the state’s most watched TV news service has almost completely ignored the subject. The only event that focused substantial airtime on Broughton or Vermonter First was a small protest outside her Burlington home. A protest which has been faithfully recounted whenever WCAX mentions Broughton — which is almost never.

Let’s take you back to October 11, the day of that protest. The lead-in to the WCAX story read as follows:

Vermont has seen the rise of local Super PACs during this election season, pushing political messages with radio and TV ads. But one big Super PAC donor got a message at her home today, from dozens of protesters. Gina Bullard was there.

Pardon me. “Dozens”? Other media estimates of the “crowd” ranged from 15 to 20. WCAX’s own footage shows the group posing on Henry Street in front of Broughton’s home; I counted 17 in the shot.

“Dozens”?

After the jump: WCAX ignores the political surprise of the year, and airs a completely pointless report on petition signatures.

The rest of the story shows the protesters ambling down Henry Street and standing around, chatting amiably. Protest organizer Peter Sterling is seen walking onto Broughton’s porch and delivering a note — the only time anyone visibly set foot onto Broughton’s property. The focus of the entire piece is about the protest’s Henry Street location, not the substance of its message.

That is the only time, as far as can be determined from the WCAX website, that the station has done a story of any length connected with Broughton or her Super PAC. The only other archived stories that mention Broughton or her Super PAC are brief text-only pieces about the mid-September and mid-October campaign finance reports. (Mid-September was when VF made its first public splash, reporting total donations of $100,000, plus “in-kind” donations of $34,000, all from Broughton. Mid-October was when we found out that Broughton’s generosity had reached the breathtaking level of $680,000.)

And the mid-October story is a real piece of work. Although the news is about Broughton’s $680,000, the story actually spends as much time rehashing the days-old Henry Street protest as it does on the actual NEWS. Here is the entire text:

A Burlington woman targeted by a campaign protest last week has continued to give generously to a Vermont super PAC — with contributions now topping 680-thousand dollars.



Protesters marched to Lenore Broughton’s home on Henry Street to voice their support for single-payer health care. Broughton is the primary benefactor of a super PAC called Vermonters First that has spent money on ads opposing a single-payer system. Vermonters First has also run ads in support of Republican candidates.
 


According to a campaign finance report released Monday, Vermonters First has raised $684,861 since forming, and Broughton has donated all but 23-hundred dollars of that amount.

That was October 16, and it was (again, as far as I can tell from WCAX’s website) the last time Broughton was named in a WCAX newscast. There has never been any mention of the link between Broughton, VF, and the richly-endowed candidacy of Wendy Wilton. Which maybe shouldn’t be too surprising, since a lot of Broughton’s money has gone into the coffers of WCAX to pay for endless ads for Wilton. And as often as not, if you watch a news video on WCAX.com, it’s preceded by a VF ad for Wilton.

I don’t think WCAX is corrupt. I do believe this is yet another sign of its ideological tilt to the right. And it reflects fundamentally flawed news judgment. Lenore Broughton has been the surprise story of the campaign, seemingly coming out of nowhere to break all pertinent records for money in Vermont politics. If that isn’t worth a story or two, then I don’t know what is.

And apparently WCAX also doesn’t know what is. Having completely failed to report on Broughton’s activities or those of her Super PAC, WCAX managed to produce and air one of the most worthless, meaningless pieces of alleged journalism it has ever been my misfortune to witness. On Thursday November 1, WCAX spent two and a half minutes (standard length for its “long” pieces) on a completely asinine exploration of something that apparently struck some news editor as questionable or scandalous: the fact that people (including prominent politicians) routinely sign a candidate’s petition when they have no intention of supporting that candidate.

I guess somebody thought this required exploration, when in fact it’s standard practice everywhere I’ve ever lived. Over the years, I’ve been asked to sign candidacy petitions by numerous people, and I’ve always signed. It’s not a promise to support a candidate; it’s just helping them get on the ballot. I’m generally in favor of broad ballot access, so I sign. Might make an exception for the LaRouchies, but anyone else is okay by me.

The story began with VT Dem chair Jake Perkinson being quizzed about the fact that he signed candidacy petitions for the two major candidates for Auditor: Dem/Prog Doug Hoffer and Republican Vince Illuzzi. WCAX had examined both candidates’ petition sheets and determined that yes, indeed, Perkinson had signed both. Somebody call the Pulitzer committee!

Here’s the crucial portion of Steimle’s interview with Perkinson, who remarkably managed to keep a straight face:

Reporter Susie Steimle: Did you sign Doug Hoffer’s petition?



Jake Perkinson: I don’t remember.



He did however sign Republican Vince Illuzzi’s petition for auditor — something he said he doesn’t regret. 



Reporter Susie Steimle: If you could go back to that day and sign the petition again would you? 



Jake Perkinson: Yes.

Good God. Steimle then reported the result of her investigation: “Signing a candidate’s petition doesn’t necessarily mean you support that candidate.” Wow.

But wait! There’s more!

Steimle also wasted a few minutes of Secretary of State Jim Condos’ time, asking him if it was surprising that some people might sign multiple petitions. As with Perkinson, Condos gets full marks for keeping a straight face when confronted with this ignorance of election law; he simply told Steimle that it was completely normal. In fact, he added, his own petitions included the signatures of top Republicans.

You see, Susie (and whatever idiot assigned this story), candidate petitions are a mere formality. And almost everyone is agreeable to sign, including a candidate’s political opponents. Indeed, considering that all those folks spend a lot of time together around the Statehouse, I imagine there’s a whole lot of mutually agreeable petition-signing.

This is how WCAX chose to spend its resources and airtime.

Lenore Broughton? Ehh, not so much.

p.s. If anyone at WCAX can point me to more coverage of Broughton or Vermonter(s) First, please do so in the Comments below. If I’m wrong, I’ll be glad to say so. I will also advise you to upgrade the “Search” function on your website.