Main Street Landing Co-Founder Donates $25,000 to Liberal Super PAC

by Paul Heintz Posted on September 10, 2012 at 4:47PM

On the same day a new conservative "super PAC" launched a two-week advertising campaign backing Republican candidates for statewide office, a liberal counterpart received its first five-figure donation. Shelburne real estate developer and philanthropist Lisa Steele on Monday donated $25,000 to the liberal advocacy group Vermont Priorities, according to board chairman Bob Stannard.

Sanders on Moyers: BFFs? (VIDEO)

Sanders feels the love on Bill Moyers & Company.

by Paul Heintz Posted on September 10, 2012 at 9:58AM

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is famously combative toward the media. That's mostly because we're shallow and dominated by our corporate overlords.

New Calendar Feature: The Week Ahead

by Andy Bromage Posted on September 10, 2012 at 9:54AM

Ain't it hard to keep track of all the news and politcal happenings of the week? Now you don't have to — because we're gonna do it for you!

AFL-CIO Backs Hoffer for Auditor, Stanak for Attorney General

by Paul Heintz Posted on September 10, 2012 at 6:40AM

Updated below with Vermont-National Education Association endorsements announced Monday afternoon. As we reported in last week's Fair Game, Sen. Vince Illuzzi (R-Essex/Orleans) has so far run the table on labor endorsements in his bid for state auditor.

Conservative Super PAC to Back Illuzzi, Wilton (VIDEO)

by Paul Heintz Posted on September 7, 2012 at 5:39PM

Vermonters First, a new conservative-oriented "super PAC," will back two down-ticket Republicans in a two-week burst of advertising slated to hit the airwaves Monday. The group plans to run two 15-second commercials spotlighting Republican state auditor candidate Vince Illuzzi and Republican state treasurer candidate Wendy Wilton.

Mapping Out the Democratic Attorney General Primary Results

by Tyler Machado Posted on September 7, 2012 at 4:35PM

One of the storylines heading into last week's Democratic attorney general primary was that Chittenden County state's attorney T.J. Donovan might not have enough name recognition in Vermont's other 13 counties to unseat Bill Sorrell for the nomination. Of course we know now that Sorrell won the primary by a thread, but now that we have official results from the Secretary of State's office, we can see how the vote broke down geographically.

For Brock's Health Care Plan, It's Take Out the Trash Day

by Paul Heintz Posted on September 7, 2012 at 1:13PM

Ready for a Sorkin-style walk-n-talk? Okay, here goes: Donna: What's take out the trash day?

Did Michigan Gov Channel 'Dean Scream' in Convention Speech? Actually, She Kinda Did

by Andy Bromage Posted on September 7, 2012 at 12:09PM

My inbox this morning was full of "Howard Dean" Google Alerts notifying me that news outlets were comparing former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm's convention speech last night to Howard Dean infamous" target="_blank"> 'I Have a Scream' speech from 2004. I've seen such comparisons before, and usually I don't pay 'em much attention.

The Scoreboard: This Week's Winners and Losers

by Paul Heintz Posted on September 7, 2012 at 4:00AM

Last Friday we introduced The Scoreboard, our weekly reckoning of winners and losers in Vermont politics and news. Displaying remarkable consistency for a blog, we're doing it again today.This time, we surveyed a number of our colleagues in politics, government and the media to seek their nominations.

7 Observations from the VBSR Candidates' Forum

by Paul Heintz Posted on September 6, 2012 at 5:04PM

Candidates for statewide office showed their stuff Wednesday afternoon during the first cattle call of the general election season. At a policy forum hosted by Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility at Burlington's Main Street Landing, all but a handful of candidates set to appear on November's ballot showed up to deliver three-minute elevator pitches and answer a few questions each.