Vermont held its primary elections last week, and the contest for the Republican nomination for senator was a curious one. The campaign pitted a Republican who is not from Vermont against a Vermonter who is not a Republican.
The first, Jack McMullen of Massachusetts, is a millionaire businessman with no experience in politics. He’s owned a vacation home in Vermont for 15 year and since last year has rented an apartment in a middle-class neighborhood in Burlington. The other, Fred Tuttle, is a retired dairy farmer, also with no experience in politics. Mr. Tuttle has rarely left Vermont, the exception being his service in World War Two.
Both these men are opportunists, in the great tradition of politicians. Incumbent Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy is just about unbeatable and no Vermont Republican wanted to take him on, so Jack McMullen came motoring up the interstate to exploit a cheap and quick opportunity to make a name for himself in politics. Fred Tuttle, who two years ago starred in a satiric movie about a farmer who runs for Congress, jumped into the race at the last minute to protest McMullen’s carpetbagger status.
Much of the media in Vermont was hostile to McMullen from the start. He was never able to get off the carpetbagger issue and talk about the topics he really felt were important.
It was just as well. I took the time to read Mr. McMullen’s literature and it was the usual Republican boilerplate about taxing and spending, about the proper role of government in the lives of individual citizens, about how Pat Leahy has been too long in Washington and has lost touch with Vermont. Jack McMullen admitted he’s a flatlander, but he argued that being a Vermonter is a state of mind. Now, I’m a carpetbagger here myself, but Jack McMullen’s mind must be elsewhere.
The problem with Mr. McMullen’s platform was that it had nothing to do with Vermont. There are legitimate issues for a Republican to campaign on in Vermont, but Jack McMullen did both his party and his state a disservice by failing to learn anything about Vermont before deciding he deserves to represent the state in the U.S. Senate.
For crying out loud, he spent half his campaign shaking hands in front of Wal-Mart, a corporation Vermonters fought for ten years, trying to prevent them from coming here. How out of touch can you be?
I know most of you don’t live in Vermont, but this is a real trend in American politics today. Someone with a barrel of money, a campaign primer from the Democratic or Republican Party and one or two paid consultants decides he or she can buy an elective office. Ross Perot tried it, Steve Forbes tried it and there’s a good chance a millionaire near you is trying it now.
Someone has to do something about these people and in Vermont, that someone is Fred Tuttle. Fred is a 79-year-old dairy farmer with bad knees and a thick Vermont accent. With a candor unseen in politics, Fred freely admits his limitations. He cannot, for instance, describe the First Amendment of the Constitution. Fred’s platform is simple to the point of non-existence. He thinks people should do more farming. Beyond that, he said he’s happy with the job Senator Leahy is doing. He promised that if he won the primary, he would not campaign in the general election.
Fred Tuttle did win the primary and by a healthy margin. We have open primaries in Vermont and Jack McMullen blamed cross-over Democrats for his defeat. He called the whole thing a Democratic plot and then churlishly refused to visit his campaign headquarters to thank volunteers and supporters.
Paying no heed to the voices of the electorate, he has decided to run as an independent and is collecting signatures, probably in front of Wal-Mart.
Nothing that has happened in Vermont this campaign season has been in the best interest of democracy. It’s a sad day when the best outcome voters can choose is parody instead of disaster.
Parody Instead of Disaster
Vermont held its primary elections last week, and the contest for the Republican nomination for senator was a curious one. The campaign pitted a Republican who is not from Vermont against a Vermonter who is not a Republican.
The first, Jack McMullen of Massachusetts, is a millionaire businessman with no experience in politics. He’s owned a vacation home in Vermont for 15 year and since last year has rented an apartment in a middle-class neighborhood in Burlington. The other, Fred Tuttle, is a retired dairy farmer, also with no experience in politics. Mr. Tuttle has rarely left Vermont, the exception being his service in World War Two.
Both these men are opportunists, in the great tradition of politicians. Incumbent Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy is just about unbeatable and no Vermont Republican wanted to take him on, so Jack McMullen came motoring up the interstate to exploit a cheap and quick opportunity to make a name for himself in politics. Fred Tuttle, who two years ago starred in a satiric movie about a farmer who runs for Congress, jumped into the race at the last minute to protest McMullen’s carpetbagger status.
Much of the media in Vermont was hostile to McMullen from the start. He was never able to get off the carpetbagger issue and talk about the topics he really felt were important.
It was just as well. I took the time to read Mr. McMullen’s literature and it was the usual Republican boilerplate about taxing and spending, about the proper role of government in the lives of individual citizens, about how Pat Leahy has been too long in Washington and has lost touch with Vermont. Jack McMullen admitted he’s a flatlander, but he argued that being a Vermonter is a state of mind. Now, I’m a carpetbagger here myself, but Jack McMullen’s mind must be elsewhere.
The problem with Mr. McMullen’s platform was that it had nothing to do with Vermont. There are legitimate issues for a Republican to campaign on in Vermont, but Jack McMullen did both his party and his state a disservice by failing to learn anything about Vermont before deciding he deserves to represent the state in the U.S. Senate.
For crying out loud, he spent half his campaign shaking hands in front of Wal-Mart, a corporation Vermonters fought for ten years, trying to prevent them from coming here. How out of touch can you be?
I know most of you don’t live in Vermont, but this is a real trend in American politics today. Someone with a barrel of money, a campaign primer from the Democratic or Republican Party and one or two paid consultants decides he or she can buy an elective office. Ross Perot tried it, Steve Forbes tried it and there’s a good chance a millionaire near you is trying it now.
Someone has to do something about these people and in Vermont, that someone is Fred Tuttle. Fred is a 79-year-old dairy farmer with bad knees and a thick Vermont accent. With a candor unseen in politics, Fred freely admits his limitations. He cannot, for instance, describe the First Amendment of the Constitution. Fred’s platform is simple to the point of non-existence. He thinks people should do more farming. Beyond that, he said he’s happy with the job Senator Leahy is doing. He promised that if he won the primary, he would not campaign in the general election.
Fred Tuttle did win the primary and by a healthy margin. We have open primaries in Vermont and Jack McMullen blamed cross-over Democrats for his defeat. He called the whole thing a Democratic plot and then churlishly refused to visit his campaign headquarters to thank volunteers and supporters.
Paying no heed to the voices of the electorate, he has decided to run as an independent and is collecting signatures, probably in front of Wal-Mart.
Nothing that has happened in Vermont this campaign season has been in the best interest of democracy. It’s a sad day when the best outcome voters can choose is parody instead of disaster.