It's Friday, and that means another Vermonters First mailing has hit your doorstep.

Like clockwork, the conservative super PAC has been firing off direct mail pieces targeting legislative races each Friday for the past three weeks. For the first time, this week's mailer names the Democratic and Progressive legislators it hopes voters will reject.

"Vermont Democrats VOTED TO RAISE Your Property Tax Rates Twice. AND THEY WILL RAISE YOUR TAXES AGAIN," one side of the mailer screams. "Stop the Democratic Supermajority."

In true fill-in-the-blank style, the version we saw (pictured below) tells us, "WE CAN'T AFFORD: Rep. Sarah Buxton."

click to enlarge

Does Republican gubernatorial candidate Randy Brock want to eliminate income sensitivity in the statewide property tax?

Gov. Peter Shumlin and the Democratic Party would certainly like you to think so. During Wednesday's gubernatorial debate on WPTZ, Shumlin said that Brock recently told Vermont Public Radio that he wanted to end the program that lets taxpayers who earn less than $87,000 a year pay property taxes based on their income, rather than their property wealth.

He said Brock's plan would "raise property taxes" on families earning $30,000 to $50,000 a year.

Then Shumlin looked dead into the camera and uttered the sharpest line of the night: "All I can say to Vermonters is, watch out. If you're a middle-class Vermonter, what you just heard is that Randy is willing to reduce income sensitivity on property taxes — the one thing that's making property taxes affordable ..."

At which point Brock interjected, "Now, Governor, that's not what I said at all. I said that we should review our entire tax code so that things that look like income taxes ought to be called income taxes."

"Well, now you sound like Mitt Romney," Shumlin shot back. "Specifically, how you gonna do that?"

Link to debate video — exchange starts around minute 37:40

The next morning, Dems doubled down with a press release titled "Brock Denies His Own Statements During Gubernatorial Debate." The release included a link to an October 1 VPR story that Shumlin cited in the debate as the source of his "Brock wants to kill income sensitivity" claim.

In this case, what the story reported and what Brock claims his position is are two different things.

We once again interrupt our really pretty serious campaign coverage to bring you this bit of election-year infotainment.

Every candidate running for office knows that how you look is almost as important as what you say. But politicians, as a rule, don't have huge fashion palettes to work with. For the fellas, there's the shirt and tie, with an optional blazer. For the ladies, it's a Hillary-style pantsuit or a Palinesque pencil skirt and blouse.

But in Vermont — a state known for its trendsetting fashion sensibilities — candidates are finding subtle ways to spice things up: a fleece vest here, a yellow rain slicker there. Hey, they don't call us the Milan of New England for nothing!

So here's a game for you politics/fashion junkies, using photos the candidates themselves posted on their Facebook pages. With apologies to US Weekly, we present "Vermont Candidate Fashion: Who Wore It Best?" Two candidates wearing the same attire — you decide who looks better. Check back for results.

THE FLEECE VEST

Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin, or Democratic Attorney General Bill Sorrell

Better late than never: The news and politics from this week's print edition of Seven Days...

• In this week's cover story, Paul Heintz looks at the state of the Vermont Republican Party — short on cash, organization and viable candidates.
• In a related story, Andy Bromage tries to shed a little light on Lenore Broughton, the woman who's contributed more than $600,000 to conservative super PAC Vermonters First. (You've already read what happens when you try to photograph her...)
• Cass Gekas is young, broke and running for lieutenant governor. Does she have a shot at unseating Phil Scott?
• Burlington voters will cast their ballots on a $9 million bond that Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger says is necessary to secure the city's financial future. 
• In a related story, learn about the other ballot items Burlington will vote on come Nov. 6, including a waterfront revamp and a referendum on pot legalization.
• Remember playing Army as a kid? A group of Vermonters are taking that to its logical extreme in Charlotte using Airsoft guns.
• Yours truly asked two of Seven Days' graphic designers their thoughts on this year's crop of campaign lawn signs. If they're going to be ubiquitous, they may as well look good.
• In Fair Game, Paul Heintz takes a closer look at the latest campaign finance reports. Plus, the future of the attorney general's office, and auditor candidate Vince Illuzzi un-endorses Mitt Romney.

Illustration by Kym Balthazar

UPDATE: Shortly after publishing this post, we learned from the Shumlin campaign that the ad mentioned immediately below won't air until Monday. A separate ad featuring Barre Mayor Thom Lauzon and Rutland Mayor Chris Louras, which was just posted on YouTube, began running today. We've included that video at the bottom of this post.

Gov. Peter Shumlin posted his first campaign ad of the season Thursday on YouTube, and it hits on some familiar themes: job creation, health care reform and the state's recovery from Tropical Storm Irene.

If you're like us and you drink every time you hear him say some variation of how he "gets tough things done," then you'd better keep the TV off 'til Nov. 6 — or find yourself a designated driver.

The ad features the governor speaking directly to the camera, with what could pass for the West Wing soundtrack playing in the background. Looking mighty sincere, he tells us, "When you elected me governor, I said we'd get tough things done. And together, we've made it through some tough times."

After breezing through his accomplishments, Shummy flashes us his trademark smile and says, "So I'm asking for your vote. With your help, we'll keep getting tough things done, together."

Here's the ad:

This week's issue of Seven Days has a story on Lenore Broughton, the mysterious Burlington woman who is bankrolling the conservative super PAC Vermonters First to the tune of $682,500 — singlehandedly boosting the electoral fortunes of two down-ticket Republicans and a selection of legislative candidates.

While we learned quite a bit more about Broughton's background than had previously been reported, we were not able to get a photograph of her. Broughton is notoriously private and would not agree to be interviewed for the story, much less photographed.

As the story notes, there doesn't appear to be a single picture of her anywhere on the web — a rarity in this digital age. (If you know of one, by all means, email us.)

On Tuesday, we tried — and failed — to capture the elusive GOP funder on film. This picture was pretty much all we managed to get (explanation below). Here's how it went down. 

As we reported in this week's Fair Game, Republican gubernatorial candidate Randy Brock has a new television ad out today hitting Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin on his record on taxes and spending.

"It continues to show the contrast between what Gov. Shumlin will do and what I propose doing," Brock told Seven Days late Tuesday. "I propose more focus on honest spending."

Here's what the new ad looks like:

According to records filed with the Secretary of State's office, it looks like Brock's buying just $30,000 in air time, which won't get him too far. The Franklin County senator hinted to reporters last week that he may replenish his campaign account with another personal loan — he's already invested $300,000 of his own money — but Brock said Tuesday that he has yet to make such a decision.

Shumlin's campaign plans to air its first two ads of the cycle starting later this week at a cost of $125,000.

We caught up with the governor Wednesday after a press conference at Winooski's MyWebGrocer and asked him about Brock's ad. Though he hadn't yet seen it, Shumlin was more than happy to discuss his own spending record.

A Burlington bakery was transformed into a post-debate spin room Wednesday afternoon, when Sen. Patrick Leahy dropped by for a round of Romney bashing.

Vermont's senior senator called a press conference at August First Bakery and Cafe on South Champlain Street to offer his own postmortem on Tuesday night's presidential debate. Leahy was joined by bakery owners Jodi Whalen and Phil Merrick, who said their small business has thrived during the Obama presidency.

"We opened our bakery in 2009 with a staff of five and I'm happy to report that today we now employ 23 people, many of them full-time," Whalen said.

Leahy said the Obama that showed up to last night's debate was "the Barack Obama that we know." He was clear, concise direct and honest, the senator said. Romney, Leahy said, only gave "slogans, tested catch phrases and no substance."

He wasn't so enamored of the president's first debate performance. "This was not the Barack Obama I know so well. And it worried me that ... I think he was, he saw some things that were patently untrue being said by former governor Romney."

Leahy made one thing clear: He apparently received the Democratic talking points memo. He hit Romney for his "binders full of women," for opposing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, for saying he'd let Detroit go bankrupt, and for not revealing the deductions and loopholes he'd eliminate to balance his $5 trillion tax plan.

Holy crap!

That's pretty much all there is to say about the latest campaign finance filing from the conservative super PAC Vermonters First, which has now raised an eye-popping $685,000 and spent $561,000 of it.

In a month and a half!

Most of that, of course, comes from Lenore Broughton, the little-known — but apparently totally loaded — conservative donor from Burlington. Broughton gave the super PAC another $548,000 in the last month, bringing her total contribution level to $682,500. Her checks rolled in every week or so:

• $100,000 on Sept. 14
• $140,000 on Sept. 21
• $140,000 on Oct. 1
• $130,000 on Oct. 5
• $38,000 on Oct. 9

By my back-of-the-envelope calculations, that indicates Broughton should be opening up her checkbook right about... now!

Broughton's bucks are mostly going toward TV ads and direct mail. In total, Vermonters First has spent at least $265,000 on TV, $200,000 on mail, $17,500 on polling and $2000 on robo-calls. It also paid consultant and treasurer Tayt Brooks, who appears to be dodging media phone calls these days, $8000.

We can no longer say Broughton is the super PAC's sole donor, however. The group picked up a $150 check from Stan Webster of Randolph, $250 from Keith Stern of North Springfield and $500 from Joyce Errecart of Shelburne.

But those sure ain't Broughton bucks!

The super PAC's fundraising numbers came out Monday afternoon in time for the last campaign finance filing deadline before election day. We'll be mining the numbers in this week's Fair Game. But, for the time being, here are some top-line figures for your perusal:

Here's what's up in newsland and politicsville this week. Got a newsworthy event for next week's calendar? Email us by Friday to submit.

Monday, October 15

• At 7:10 a.m., Republican gubernatorial candidate Randy Brock is on "Charlie, Ernie & Lisa" on WVMT 620 AM.
• At noon, Republican Lt. Gov. Phil Scott is on Vermont Public Radio's "Vermont Edition" to discuss his bid for a second term. Listen live.
• At 5:25 p.m., U.S. Senate candidates debate live on Channel 17 (CCTV) — well, all except the actual senator, Bernie Sanders. Challengers John MacGovern (Republican), Cris Ericson (United States Marijuana), Laurel LaFramboise (VoteKiss), Peter Moss (Peace & Prosperity) and Peter Diamondstone (Liberty Union Party) will be there. Steam it live.
• Also, Monday is the deadline for candidates' monthly campaign finance reports — so we'll get a look at the state of the money race with three weeks to go.

Rest of the week after the jump...