Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Republican gubernatorial candidate Randy Brock had dinner Tuesday night with the man behind a new, conservative super PAC, Brock disclosed Wednesday.
But Brock says he and Tayt Brooks, the treasurer and consultant for Vermonters First, did not discuss the super PAC Brooks runs or Brock's campaign, which would be illegal. While super PACs are free to raise and spend unlimited funds to support or oppose political candidates, they are barred from coordinating or sharing strategy with campaigns.
Brock disclosed the dinner to a handful of reporters following a health care press conference in Berlin (pictured), during which the topic of Brock's relationship with the super PAC and its leaders came up.
Reached by phone immediately after Brock's disclosure, Brooks at first claimed he hadn't seen the gubernatorial candidate in months.
Asked when he last saw Brock, Brooks said, "I really honestly don't know."
Asked again, he said, "I have to think about it."
Asked a third time, he said, "The last time I saw Randy Brock was probably a few months ago."
Informed of Brock's disclosure, Brooks quickly changed his story.
"I did meet with Randy last night," he said. "I happened to catch up with Randy last night."
With the 2012 campaign season in full swing, Seven Days has teamed up with VTDigger.org to create a fact-checker feature to test the "truthiness" of claims made by the candidates who want your vote this November. This week's Fact Checker was written by Paul Heintz.
CLAIM: “As city treasurer, Wilton turned Rutland’s $5 million deficit into a $3.8 million surplus.”
— Television commercial supporting Republican state treasurer candidate Wendy Wilton, paid for by the conservative super PAC Vermonters First.
FACTS: When Wilton and Rutland Mayor Christopher Louras took office in March 2007, the city was reeling from years of sloppy bookkeeping.
Due to an improper commingling of accounts, the city’s general fund had been depleted to cover deficits in its water and sewer funds. The situation grew so dire that Rutland had to borrow $5 million in 2006 to plug a hole in the general fund.
Monday, September 17, 2012
It looks like Shumdog's campaign is a millionaire.
Extending his fundraising streak for yet another month, incumbent Gov. Peter Shumlin on Monday reported raising more than a million dollars total for his reelection campaign — $1,000,467.02, to be precise.
For the third month in a row, Shumlin out-raised Republican opponent Randy Brock and spent less than the Franklin County state senator. In the reporting period ending Friday, Shumlin brought in $161,000, compared with Brock's $62,000. The incumbent spent just $35,000, while his challenger spent nearly every dime he raised last month: $61,000.
Since the emergence of a Vermont-based, conservative Super PAC was first reported a week and a half ago, political observers have been wondering who's bankrolling it.
The answer came Monday when the group, Vermonters First, filed its first fundraising report with the Secretary of State's office.
And the answer is ...Lenore Broughton.
While not exactly a household name, the self-described "former speech/language pathologist" is one of Vermont's most generous contributors to conservative causes. The Burlington resident owns and finances True North Reports, which bills itself as "an online communications service dedicated to fostering public debate over Vermont based issues from a free market perspective."
According to the report filed Monday, Broughton donated $100,000 to Vermonters First on August 27. She has since performed $34,500 of "research and consulting" work for the group, which she donated as an in-kind contribution.
This week in news and events in the Green Mountain State's political sphere: an "interesting" Obama fundraiser, a Vermont appearance by former Obama adviser Van Jones, and some newsworthy readings at the Burlington Book Festival.
Monday, September 17
- Today's the deadline for monthly campaign finance reports. It's like Christmas for political reporters.
- Vermont Business Magazine hands out its 5x5x5 Growth Awards, for five growing local businesses in five categories over five years, at the Doubletree Hotel in South Burlington.
Tuesday, September 18
- Jonathan Goldsmith, a.k.a. the Most Interesting Man in the World, holds a fundraiser to support Barack Obama's reelection campaign at Nectar's. We wrote all about that one last week.
- Longtime political journalist Barrie Dunsmore gives a talk called "Discerning Fact From Fiction: Navigating Political Campaigns and the Media." (Sounds useful this year, no?) The talk begins at 7 p.m. at the Writers' Barn in Shelburne. It's free, but RSVP by emailing [email protected].
For the past year, Bliss has been managing former World Wrestling Entertainment president and CEO Linda McMahon's second bid for a U.S. Senate seat representing Connecticut.
With Bliss onboard — to the tune of $15,000 a month — the wrestling magnate is doing far better than she did in 2010, when she lost to Richard Blumenthal by 12 percentage points. This time, according to recent polls, she finds herself neck-and-neck with Democratic U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy — providing a surprising boost to Republicans' chances of taking control of the Senate.
This weekend the Hartford Courant published a profile of Bliss — and his role running McMahon's campaign. It's worth a read.
Reporter Daniela Altimari calls Bliss "the driver of her vaunted attack machine," who "practices an aggressive, hard-hitting brand of politics that critics say is ripped from the playbook of Karl Rove."
The story briefly recounts Bliss' time in the Green Mountain State and his scuffle with NRG Systems and AllEarth Renewables founder David Blittersdorf. It also quotes UVM political science professor Garrison Nelson, who seems pleased Vermont is rid of the guy.
"Mr. Bliss brought a blatant ugliness to the campaign,'' Nelson said. "It was sad for those of us that knew Brian and like Brian. We were delighted when Mr. Bliss left."
You can read the Courant story in full here.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Updated below with comment from Randy Brock
"The Tunbridge World's Fair is in full swing through the weekend," Gov. Peter Shumlin's staff tweeted Friday, helpfully including a link to a photo of the gov at last year's fair (see right).
But don't think that means Shummy's at this afternoon's antique tractor pull.
In fact, the gov is out in Los Angeles at campaign fundraiser, says campaign manager Alex MacLean. Shumlin left for SoCal Thursday evening and will return Saturday; while he's there, he'll also appear on "California Edition," a public television show, to talk health care reform.
It's only September, and already the sign-whining has begun.
In an email sent to supporters Friday, the Vermont Republican Party used a vandalized Randy Brock lawn sign to solicit donations to the party. Peculiarly, party chairman Jack Lindley seemed to draw a connection in the email between the vandalism and Brock's political opponent, Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin.
"In so many ways what you see is symbolic of what is wrong in Vermont. And wrong about Governor Shumlin," he wrote. "The arrogance of power. His 'my way or the highway' mentality; his arrogant refusal to listen to the ideas of others; his refusal to debate Randy Brock."
In an interview with Seven Days, Lindley took his almost-accusation a tiny bit further.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Nope, not Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, though they're back up to $31.48, from a low of $17.11 in July.
The Burlington Free Press!
Well, kind of. Its Virginia-based mothership, Gannett, reached a high of $17.46 on Tuesday — up from $8.28 a year ago. And you'll never guess what's driving the bulls on Wall Street. (Not to be confused with the bears on South Prospect Street.)
Barrington Research Associates analyst James Goss tells Bloomberg the company's local television stations have been raking in advertising dollars thanks to Olympics coverage and the presidential race.
Sounds like all those Super PAC ads are good for someone!
"They're not just dependent on print circulation," Goss says.
"I have been proud to carry the VT-NEA endorsement in every one of my past elections, but given your support of Phil Scott I am no longer interested," Pearson (pictured at right) wrote union president Martha Allen and executive director Joel Cook in an email obtained by Seven Days. "It seems your endorsements have ceased to be grounded in a voting record or stance on issues."
The 12,000-member union announced its endorsement of statewide candidates on Monday and plans to unveil its endorsements of legislative candidates early next week. The teachers' union mostly backed incumbent office-holders, including Gov. Peter Shumlin, Secretary of State Jim Condos, Treasurer Beth Pearce and Scott — as well as long-time Sen. Vince Illuzzi (R-Essex/Orleans), who is running for state auditor.