by Paul Dame
Tuesday’s primaries told the tale of two different parties.
The Democrat Primary proved that is has been overtaken with the farthest left Progressives. In every single race that Democrats were given a chance, they chose the candidate furthest to the left and repeatedly rejected their moderate or centrist candidates.
Democrats rejected the more neutral technocrat Chris Winters for Secretary of State, instead choosing Sarah Copeland-Hanzas who took incredibly controversial steps to politicize the charter changes like the Barre City Flag ordinance, and who also rejected the single member map created by the bipartisan reapportionment committee which resulted in overturning the will of some communities, and forcing two Republican incumbents into a contested primary. Here Democrats chose ideological purity over pragmatism.
– Paul Dame, VT GOP Chair
“And while a majority of Republicans split their vote between two conservative women, the plurality of Republican primary voters who chose Liam Madden, an anti-establishment Marine and environmentalist demonstrates that even people who consider themselves Independent find themselves more closely aligning with the Vermont Republican Party because of our defense of free speech, protection of the second amendment and other traditional Vermont values which Progressive Democrats have abandoned.”
Democrats also rejected the more moderate Molly Gray in favor of Progressive ally Becca Balint. Aside from Becca’s endorsement from Progressives like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, she also has made extreme statements expressing her desire to “Tax the hell out of fossil fuels” which is in stark contrast to Gray’s willingness to work across the aisle on Republican priorities, like repealing the Military Pension Tax.
And in the race for Lt. Governor, Democrats again rejected moderates like Kitty Toll and Charlie Kimbell to go all in on another well-known Progressive candidate David Zuckerman who received even fewer votes than Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
And most alarmingly of all, Democrats in Chittenden County stuck with Progressive Sarah George, despite the concerns of law enforcement community and neighboring State’s Attorney’s offices concerned about the rapid spread of crime and inconsistency of prosecutions. Democrats have positioned themselves to reject the calls for common sense public safety reforms, and instead are pushing forward with a woke agenda that is literally setting criminals free.
Democrats have shown in their primary, that there is no longer any room for moderates, centrists or independents in their party.
Meanwhile on the Republican side our primary produced a much more diverse field of candidates, all from the same electorate.
First, Gerald Malloy won the U.S. Senate primary with a clear Conservative message that highlighted his military service and traditional Republican values.
Then Gov. Phil Scott and Senator Joe Benning were the clear choices of Republican voters looking for a more moderate and common sense approach.
And while a majority of Republicans split their vote between two conservative women, the plurality of Republican primary voters who chose Liam Madden, an anti-establishment Marine and environmentalist demonstrates that even people who consider themselves Independent find themselves more closely aligning with the Vermont Republican Party because of our defense of free speech, protection of the second amendment and other traditional Vermont values which Progressive Democrats have abandoned.
While Progressive Democrats have continued the process of eliminating all but the most radical elements of their elected leaders, Republicans have chosen to broaden their approach to attract a growing coalition of Conservatives, Republicans and Independents to vote Republican elsewhere on their ballot this fall.
The author chair of the Vermont Republican Party
Categories: Commentary
It also shows that the party is susceptible to a disingenuous dirtbag.
The operable word here is “susceptible”. Unfortunately, it is more than that, it is “hijacking of the first order”, and who let it happen?
It wasn’t like he was claiming to be a republican….this is the same trick Sanders did….we are fooled again. Or perhaps complicit, or perhaps it was all by design.
I’m going to suggest it was all by design. they pick who they want to run, support and foster, it’s not a fair contest.
Scott clearly knows how to run a campaign…..where’s the love for everyone else in the party? They didn’t even have a mailing list for his home county, county of the capital. The boys in Barre are doing a stellar job.
Perhaps the party is led by disingenuous dirtbags….birds of a feather…
Guy, can you research and find out which Vermont towns and/or counties the votes for Madden came from?
I just looked at the town-by-town voting totals. to summarize: Redic won Greater Burlington (where’s she from), Tynio won the Northeast Kingdom (where she’s from), and Madden won almost everywhere else.
This sounds like a Fred Tuttle situation all over again, just different names. Think about it now: Who is going to be assigned to the Voter Fraud problem for Nov election? AND, How bad do the Demo/Progs want to BE SURE someone beats Redic? I believe we have already seen that indicator.
I wish I had known this information prior to the primary. Then, this state does not have any bios ready at the early voting date. The brief bio that I was able to find did not state any of this info.
Perhaps every candidate should be asked to submit a bio, as detailed as they care to make it knowing the voters will have access to it, along with their financials before being placed on the qualified candidates list.
I think serious consideration should be given to in person party caucuses for the purpose of nominating the candidates. It is obvious to me that this procedure we are following now is broken. The Dems will not go for this change because they have been the beneficiaries.
For me, the gravy train should be over, or the Secretary of State and Boards of Civil Authority need to come up with plans and action to prohibit hi-jacking.
He has a campaign website on which he attempted to appeal to both Republicans and Democrats.
The information was out there. All of it, for anyone who looked. And we all got caught not paying attention. My guess is that some of us were all-in for Ms Tynio and some of us were all in for Ms Redic, and we just didn’t bother checking out the silly, unserious outlier. And why would we? He couldn’t get a coherent thought across at the VTDigger debate, and he couldn’t answer the most basic questions on a radio interview. We left out the possibility that the other side had planned the whole affair, so thousands of voters didn’t turn out for our preferred candidates.
I think it is possible those who voted in the Republican primary for Liam Madden are either A) Democrats who vote in the Republican primary to choose the weakest “Republican” candidate for U.S.House, against which the Democrat candidate will run or B) uninformed voters who filled in the oval next to the name at the top of the ballot. I am hard pressed to believe moderate Republicans who have done their research would vote for Madden over Ericka Redic. I think Dems vote for Scott in the Republican Primary, as well – it’s a win in the general election either way for them: Dems win whether Scott or Siegal wins.
So Paul, this is a good thing?
Vermont doesn t need nuts. Whether they are right wing, or Extreme Progessives. Especially right now. I m mostly old school Labor Democrat, not ‘Progressive’. I vote for the best candidate always over Party. I support Phil Scott because he is a sane anti Trump Republican. We need balance to keep the Bernie wanna bes from killing us with their good intentions. I m supporting Liam Madden, and I wish Christine Nolan had won. Sarah George winning dumbfounds me, more than Trump winning the Presidency, and him still being a force to some, in the Republican Party. When did screwball fringe candidates become viable selections?
When did screwball fringe candidates become viable selections??? Now that funny. Seems like you support most of them.
If you were pro labor you would be pro Trump!
Thank you for being a sane voice. Evidently, if you’re not a conspiracy theory, QAnon following wing nut then you are a RINO. The majority of people live in the middle of the political spectrum. Evidently, being a centrist who actually seeks solutions through compromise is a fools errand. I always vote for the best candidate, party be damned.
Vermont has three Socialists Parties.
Dame is such a moron. If the GOP is “attractive” to Independant voters than its not GOP or republican or conservative for that matter. What an f’n joke. I’m all done with the VT GOP. Pulled my money this year, now I’ll pull my designation. July 27 2016, thats the day I left the Demoncrat party. August 12 2022, buh bye GOP.
I agree, but the GOP Vermont party you left is not the national GOP party. There are RINOs there also, but they are being driven out by the voters in other states. Vermont will remain almost, but not quite Mass. or NJ. There are few Vermonters left or they have surrendered to the new progressive order. I never thought of leaving my birth state but, it won’t matter because another liberal will replace me and the song will continue. What a sh__ty deal to be forced out of your own state because you can’t stand what’s become of it!
GOP in VT is DONE !! Give it up Dame ! You are not what this party needs !
No, it shows that the Vermont Republican Party is being completely destroyed under the disastrous failed leadership of RINO Paul Dame.
‘It’s Not Biden’s Fault’: The Political Impotence of Chairman Dame
https://vermontcitizen.godaddysites.com/memes
Speaking of the disastrous failed leadership of RINO Paul Dame, word is VTGOP RINOs are planning to run atrocious Christina Nolan as AG.
Never forget: Nolan issued a statement aligning with the illegitimate Biden regime and saying she wanted to prosecute patriots for defending their stolen votes on January 6th.
Christina Nolan is a would-be tyrant just like Merrick Garland.
This is the kind of traitor scum that Paul Dame and treacherous VTGOP RINO’s are going to force on us in their secret meeting tonight, which Dame has banned voters from attending.
So you don’t like the possibility of Christina Nolan running as a Republican for A.G. ? Which one of the alternatives do you prefer ? Charity Clark, a Democrat, who has very little if any real experience prosecuting cases in court. She’s a staff lawyer in the AGs Office, or Brooke Paige ? and I won’t even get into his experience, or are you one of those who won’t vote because the perfect candidate is not running ?
Unfortunately the Madden Victory does not show independents being attracted to the Republican Party. What in fact it shows is a naivete of the party to believe his BS and their overall desperation of the GOP and lack of connection with the Vermont conservative in general. The back door deals that led to this situation are endemic of what is wrong in the party and why it’s fractured. A party that’s more concerned with getting Independents and Democrats to shift over instead of getting the 40,000 + Republicans that sat out the election out to vote says it all
Charles Piso commented above that the Madden situation “shows the naivete of the party” and that “the back door deals that led to this situation are endemic of what is wrong in the party and why it’s fractured.”
In the seminal paper Political Warfare, the original analysis of the political warfare campaign targeting President Trump (things have obviously gotten far worse since it was written in 2017), Rich Higgins characterized establishment Republican RINOs as “the Opposition” and said they are the Left’s “designated defeat mechanism”:
“More afraid of being accused of being called a racist, sexist, homophobe or lslamophobe than of failing to enforce their oaths to ‘support and defend the Constitution,’ the Republican Establishment accepts and enforces cultural Marxist memes within its own sphere of operations. In doing so, knowingly or not, it becomes an agent of that.
These ‘conservatives’ become increasingly indistinguishable from their democratic counterparts save that they misrepresent themselves to their constituents. Lacking the discernment to recognize their situation, they will work with globalists, corporatists, and the international financial interests and will likewise service the deep state.
These establishment Republicans are the hard left’s designated defeat mechanism.”
Dame’s bizarre 1984-esque article gaslighting conservative voters that the hijacking of the primary, which was enabled by his own abject failure of leadership, is somehow a positive thing, clearly illustrates that VT GOP Chair Paul Dame is – emphatically – the Left’s “designated defeat mechanism.”
Dame is a disgrace and should resign immediately.
https://unconstrainedanalytics.org/potus-and-political-warfare/
It would be great to have a serious interview, with Mr. Dame.
What I see in both publications is a printing of how he wants to spin it…This sadly is by far the most prevalent way of reporting in our state. There are no interviews by the press anymore, just printing of propaganda. Daily Chronicle being the exception many times.
Clearly it seems everyone is jumping ship of True North Reports, good reporting and articles here, keep up the good work Guy.