Those distant shouts of political joy you hear are emanating from the Brian Dubie/Phil Scott GOP gubernatorial campaign HQs in the Green Mountain State tonight. This is all on the heels of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Peter Shumlin’s decision on Wednesday to declare victory and then today’s decision by second place finisher (within a state-required two percent margin) Doug Racine to request a vote recall.
The Addison Independent online story confirms Democratic gubernatorial candidate Doug Racine’s decision to call for a primary election recount today. While not a surprise, this does call the question as to what the political impact shall be.
With no unity around a Democratic candidate, there were more than a few people with proverbial checkbooks open on Wednesday ready to start to restore the Democratic race’s cash but were faced with an unanswerable question, “To whom shall I write this check?” The flurry of excitement that the morning after an election engenders was a missed opportunity for the Democrats. While they will have their day of unity at some point within the next two weeks, you have to wonder how they can catch up to the Dubie/Scott ticket.
Unopposed in the primary, GOP candidate and sitting Lieutenant Governor Brian Dubie, holds the enviable position of flush cash reserves and no clear opposition from the Democrats out in the trenches in the near-term.
Washington County’s State Senator Phil Scott defeated Mark Snelling, the son of former Governor Richard Snelling and brings to the ticket a lot of attention from people who assumed that the Snelling brand would offset Scott’s central Vermont strength with statewide support. In a settled race, this point would likely have little shelf life, but not this year.
