Vermont Megathread

[Electric Circus]

Dean can really twist the knife on education, this Saunders appointment has been a disaster, and I think Jason Gibbs has really overplayed his hand here.

Maybe they got their committee member early on and didn't bother to take the temperature further? It's their biggest blunder in a long time. Education can't be treated as a low priority when people are apoplectic about their property taxes.

[KaiserDave]

Dean can really twist the knife on education, this Saunders appointment has been a disaster, and I think Jason Gibbs has really overplayed his hand here.

Maybe they got their committee member early on and didn't bother to take the temperature further? It's their biggest blunder in a long time. Education can't be treated as a low priority when people are apoplectic about their property taxes.

I think this entire debacle might be the greatest unforced error of the administration in 8 years.

[Roll Roons]

https://twitter.com/philscott4vt/status/1789431181680783520?s=46
Let’s do this.

[KaiserDave]

Poor Senator Mazza.

[Eraserhead]

Howard Dean is a clown at this point... and I say that as someone who would have liked to have seen him elected President at one time.

[windjammer]

Is Phil Scott going to run again?

[KaiserDave]

Is Phil Scott going to run again?

He just announced he is.

[Compuzled_One]

For the source:
https://vtdigger.org/2024/05/11/phil-scott-to-seek-5th-term-as-governor/

Unless Dean is his opponent, I genuinely think Scott might win every precinct.

[KaiserDave]

For the source:
https://vtdigger.org/2024/05/11/phil-scott-to-seek-5th-term-as-governor/

Unless Dean is his opponent, I genuinely think Scott might win every precinct.

Scott did not win every precinct in 2022, and he will not do better than he did then. He is not winning the Old North End of Burlington, no matter what he does.

[Compuzled_One]

For the source:
https://vtdigger.org/2024/05/11/phil-scott-to-seek-5th-term-as-governor/

Unless Dean is his opponent, I genuinely think Scott might win every precinct.

Scott did not win every precinct in 2022, and he will not do better than he did then. He is not winning the Old North End of Burlington, no matter what he does.

They were all under 60%, that's definitely flippable. Admittedly, it is an election year this time, but it still wouldn't be the most surprising thing.

[KaiserDave]

For the source:
https://vtdigger.org/2024/05/11/phil-scott-to-seek-5th-term-as-governor/

Unless Dean is his opponent, I genuinely think Scott might win every precinct.

Scott did not win every precinct in 2022, and he will not do better than he did then. He is not winning the Old North End of Burlington, no matter what he does.

They were all under 60%, that's definitely flippable. Admittedly, it is an election year this time, but it still wouldn't be the most surprising thing.

It is very hard to imagine Scott over performing 2022, even if Dean doesn't run.

[KaiserDave]

The Deputy Mayor of Winooski is running for Lt. Governor, challenging Zuckerman. I couldn't tell you why, maybe Democrats want Zuckerman gone?

[Born to Slay. Forced to Work.]

The Deputy Mayor of Winooski is running for Lt. Governor, challenging Zuckerman. I couldn't tell you why, maybe Democrats want Zuckerman gone?

Isn’t Zuckerman anti-vax?

[Left Wing]

The Deputy Mayor of Winooski is running for Lt. Governor, challenging Zuckerman. I couldn't tell you why, maybe Democrats want Zuckerman gone?

Isn’t Zuckerman anti-vax?

No, not in any meaningful sense anyway. He’s recanted his pas vaccine hesitancy from years ago and even back then supported vaccine mandates. This talking point has kind of gone through a pretty ridiculous game of telephone to the point some people are under the impression he was railing against the covid vaccine or something.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

The Deputy Mayor of Winooski is running for Lt. Governor, challenging Zuckerman. I couldn't tell you why, maybe Democrats want Zuckerman gone?

Isn’t Zuckerman anti-vax?

I believe so

[KaiserDave]

The Deputy Mayor of Winooski is running for Lt. Governor, challenging Zuckerman. I couldn't tell you why, maybe Democrats want Zuckerman gone?

Isn’t Zuckerman anti-vax?

No, not in any meaningful sense anyway. He’s recanted his pas vaccine hesitancy from years ago and even back then supported vaccine mandates. This talking point has kind of gone through a pretty ridiculous game of telephone to the point some people are under the impression he was railing against the covid vaccine or something.

This. He’s not anti-vax, to call him that makes the term meaningless. I have personally spoken to him on the subject, my interpretation is that he harbored some hippie-dippy views about vaccinations around 20 years ago but in no way does he have any meaningfully anti-vaccination views today. He is vaccinated (COVID, MMR, etc.), his children are vaccinated.

[Electric Circus]

The Deputy Mayor of Winooski is running for Lt. Governor, challenging Zuckerman. I couldn't tell you why, maybe Democrats want Zuckerman gone?

What does tolerating Zuckerman do for them? He's a wildcard and not particularly popular. I've only heard of this guy once before, but he seems promising, young, and reliable.

On another note, I'm always confused when I see media outlets describing it as a "mostly symbolic" role, which seems to be rote in articles describing the office. The Committee on Committees is a huge deal, especially as state politics get more adversarial. On top of which, it's already getting a bit of a shake-up this year with Mazza's departure. That gives Democrats a big incentive to want someone who is more in their corner in the spot.

[KaiserDave]

The Deputy Mayor of Winooski is running for Lt. Governor, challenging Zuckerman. I couldn't tell you why, maybe Democrats want Zuckerman gone?

What does tolerating Zuckerman do for them? He's a wildcard and not particularly popular. I've only heard of this guy once before, but he seems promising, young, and reliable.

On another note, I'm always confused when I see media outlets describing it as a "mostly symbolic" role, which seems to be rote in articles describing the office. The Committee on Committees is a huge deal, especially as state politics get more adversarial. On top of which, it's already getting a bit of a shake-up this year with Mazza's departure. That gives Democrats a big incentive to want someone who is more in their corner in the spot.

Renner is very popular in young VTDP circles in Chittenden County. If he can run a strong statewide campaign Zuckerman is beatable. After all, he only defeated Kitty Toll by a negligible margin, and Renner has a far more densely-populated geographic base than Toll.