Will Republicans lay down arms and unite behind some common messaging?
by Kolby LaMarche
In the Vermont General Assembly, our legislature, voters have given Democrats command of a wide supermajority, controlling, for example, 104 out of 150 seats in the House.
At the same time, Vermonters have consistently elected Republican Governor Phil Scott. But despite the governor’s best efforts to slow Democrats, the overwhelming majority held by Democrats typically results in the override of virtually all the governor’s vetoes.
Many Democrats in Vermont argue that such a consolidation of political power could facilitate streamlined, progressive decision-making and expedite policy implementation.
However, beneath this veneer of efficiency lies a deeper threat: the erosion of democratic values via one-party rule. Not to mention the present and future damages this legislature has inflicted unto Vermonters in such a short amount of time.
We must confront the inherent risks posed by unchecked political dominance. But how, who, and when?
Enter Vermont Republicans, desperate to answer that call, but seemingly preoccupied with in-house distractions echoing from 2015.
The State of the VTGOP
Identity Crisis
Before resigning from the Burlington and Vermont Republican Party in 2021, I was embattled with passionate members of my own city committee. They wanted me gone, largely, because I refused to continue supporting President Donald Trump.
Both those Republicans and I wanted to change the Republican Party, just in two vastly different ways.
The entire time I was in the Vermont Republican Party, it was a constant war between a faction dedicated to Trump and America First politics, matched against a moderate Republicanism, commonly made up of Governor Scott fans.
I’ve played the game, I get it.
Unfortunately for Vermont Republicans, since I left in 2021, that battle over identity is still raging on.
Just last week in Windsor County, Vermont Republicans faced internal legal strife. John McGovern, long-time county chair and anti-Trumper, was named a defendant in a lawsuit filed by fellow committee members, as well as Paul Dame, chair of the VTGOP, as co-defendant.
On the day a county meeting was held, McGovern resigned and the committee, under new leadership, then unanimously endorsed Donald Trump in a vote of 54-0.
Whatever faction one may be in, one, who is a Vermont Republican, will know full well that it is this issue, the issue of the party’s political identity, which has put the biggest hamper on any chance for electoral gains.
But…
GET REAL
Amidst all the stuff happening in the VTGOP, a clarion call has, I believe, emerged: Vermont Republicans need to GET REAL.
Republican activist and former candidate for state senate, Bill Huff, has introduced a platform which he asserts should be the party’s primary focus in the upcoming November elections. And it’s pretty good.
As our state contends with a myriad of self-inflicted crises, exacerbated by a Democratic supermajority, pragmatic, alternative messages – like this – can gain traction.
It highlights our fiscal strain inflicted by escalating costs of living, unchecked spending, and critically neglected areas such as our roads and education.
If adopted by the party, GET REAL, in my opinion, would be the clearest, most comprehensive, and unifying messaging the VTGOP has ever done in recent memory.
The destiny of GET REAL will mirror the fate of the party come November, without a doubt.
Personally, as a leftist, I don’t have much skin in that game. But to keep democracy, our republic, healthy, Vermont Republicans need to step up as a major party and GET REAL.
Will Republicans lay down arms against one another and finally unite behind some common messaging?
Or will their nearly decade-old political scars continue to hold them back from engaging weary voters, proactively contributing to the marketplace of ideas, and taking on a misguided and destructive Democratic supermajority?
Burning Sky is dedicated to providing critique and commentary on the issues of the day from an unapologetic perspective, fueling change in the heart of Vermont. Authored by Kolby LaMarche every Saturday.