UPDATED POST
Governor Jim Douglas never showed at last night's gubernatorial debate sponsored by Vermont Interfaith Action.
Gaye Symington, Anthony Pollina and Peter Diamondstone did. The event at College Street Congregation Church was billed as a forum for the candidates to answer questions about affordable housing, the crisis in home-heating, environment and green jobs, and health care - all issues important to VIA's eleven member congregations in Chittenden and Washington Counties - and burning concerns for all Vermonters.
It should be noted that VIA originally rescheduled the forum from October 15 to last night to accommodate Douglas' busy schedule. Still, the governor bowed out. Fox 44 made that a big deal and called his absence "controversial."
But really controversial - and disgraceful - were the other no-shows (they were not at fault) - three bona fide candidates were never invited.
They are Sam Young, Cris Ericson, and Tony O'Connor.
As a VIA leader and one of the original organisers for this forum, I lobbied for and convinced the staff and other organisers to include Diamondstone in it. But VIA was unwilling to include all seven candidates for governor in this debate about social and economic justice issues important for all Vermonters. VIA likes to build relationships with the power structure, but apparently those powerful people are only in the three major Vermont parties. It also likes to grovel and kiss ass: it begged and cajoled the powerful governor to come last night, yet wouldn't stand for democratic values and include Young, Ericson and O'Connor.
Pollina initially annouced as the Progressive candidate, but changed his mind and decided to run as an independent.
Why didn't VIA include other independents, too?
One of the tenets of VIA is to transform ordinary people into engaged citizens. The three candidates who were not invited last night are involved citizens who care about Vermont and had been all over the state to gather signatures to be placed on the November ballot. VIA does good work; it was at the forefront in bringing attention to the Westlake debacle, saving the Gosse Court Armory, initiating efforts to build affordable housing for UVM employees. I didn't attend the debate; indeed I have disassociated myself from VIA. Not to have had all seven candidates goes against the ideals of democratic engagement and the citizen activism VIA stands for. I don't want to be connected to an such a hypocritical group. Democracy is too important to me.
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2 years ago
Well said..it's about time you did this...
ReplyDeleteThey probably would have excluded Nader too if under different circumstances...
and here's what Cris Ericson had to say about VIA...
ReplyDelete"Vermont Interfaith Allliance only allowed candidates with
the most campaign fund money to participate in their debate,
and excluded Cris Ericson.
What faith!
What hypocrites!
What frauds against all religious values! "
Right on!!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHmm...what comment did you delete?
ReplyDeleteMy own, since it appears between the time I initially came across the blog post and when I managed to post my previous comment, the segment of the blog post I was commenting on may have been edited and thus the point I was raising became moot. Therefore I opted to delete it.
ReplyDeleteYes, Morgan, as I'm wont to do, I edited it a bit for clarity, I guess. (Also, maths were never my strong suit.). Thanks for linking to my post on your blog. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteI just want to add, at the get-go the VIA staff didn't want Diamondstone included. It wasn't "practical," I was told. And some were worried that he'd act out. Harrumph! But my persistence paid off in getting him on board. The staff realised their error, I guess, by saying really VIA is run by its leaders and not staff. But exclusion of Peter (and the others) was driven by the staff, IMO. And that's what I'm pissed about.
ReplyDeleteJay wrote:
ReplyDeleteYes, Morgan, as I'm wont to do, I edited it a bit for clarity, I guess. (Also, maths were never my strong suit.). Thanks for linking to my post on your blog. Cheers.
Understood Jay. You're welcome.
Regarding all the rest, good work! Thank you!
Personally, I'm against religious groups holding candidate forums. But, I'm really strict about state/church separation.
ReplyDeleteSam Young has a girlfriend, Jay. Just give it up.
ReplyDeleteTo Anonymous at 8:20 AM-
ReplyDeleteLOL. Huh? And what does that have to do with the price of eggs?
Oh, you're just hot for him.
ReplyDelete