My internship with the Dubie campaign is over. Here is a profile of one of the candidates for governor, Doug Racine.
Racine has been a state senator from 1983-1992, including three years as senate president pro Tempore. From 1997-2003 he was the Lieutenant governor of Vermont under Howard Dean. He ran for governor in 2002 against Jim Douglas and lost 45-42-13. In 2006 he was elected senator from Chittenden County, the most populated County in the state.
Advantages: Leadership, experience, location and name recognition. As president pro Tempore, he was in charge of the democratic caucus, and helped draft and pass tough budgets in the recession of 91. On Racine’s site he boasts his 25 years experience in government. Six years as lieutenant governor, 12 combined years as a senator, 3 as leadership, people know who he is. Since he’s from Chittenden county, he has home field advantage in an area which could have anywhere from ¼ to ½ of the democratic primary electorate. Further, no other candidate is from North Western Vermont, meaning his support won’t be diluted through regional means. He has already announced his issue (to be discusses later) as healthcare calling for a single payer system in Vermont. He has the backing of three major unions, which could help with GOTV. Plus Racine has already faced and defeated his republican opponent, Brian Dubie, before, back in 2000.
Disadvantages: It’s been how long since he was relevant? Racine has long since been yesterday’s news, he just can’t seem to handle that. His primary senatorial experience was in the eighties, his leadership in the last year of the eighties and first year of the nineties, and lieutenant governor experience in the mid nineties. Further, he’s already had his chance to become governor in 2002 and lost a race that should have been his. He is essentially the AL Gore of the race (Circa 2002). His main experience was decades ago, his 2nd in command experience was years ago, he lacked the charisma of his counter part (Howard Dean) and he only re-entered politics in 2006 to set himself up to try again to be governor. He was the first to announce his intent, only to get attention as the only candidate in the race. Also in regards to healthcare, one, Shumlin Co-opted that issue earlier this year and two look at how well that issue worked for Obama and national democrats. His fundraising has been subpar, he’s raised less than anyone but Susan Bartlett putting him fourth of the five candidates, despite being in the race the longest. His only ad is somewhat boring and claims “our way of life is under attack,” without saying what is attacking our way of life. He seemed fear mongering, but doing it very opaquely. His time has passed.
http://www.7dvt.com/2009past-p…
Sorry, but your characterization of Doug Racine is off-base and unfair on multiple levels, as well as factually wrong in some cases. I’d guess your time with Brian Dubie’s campaign has given you the talking points to launch such an attack.
In the 4 years he has been back in the Senate since coming back in 2006, he has been a key legislative player. In his role as committee chair he has played a key role in health and human services legislation, and in protecting the most vulnerable Vermonters from severe and inhumane cuts proposed by the Douglas/ Dubie administration.
Racine has always been a less showy, more substantive politician than many others. He isn’t flashy or self-promoting, but he comes off extremely well in small group settings (something that works in Vermont). Any serious observer of the Vermont legislature will tell you that Doug has been extremely important in forging coalitions and addressing complex legislative issues – without having to be President Pro Tem in order to do so.
Racine was the first candidate to announce for Governor in 2009 — making his announcement well before Jim Douglas surprised many by announcing he wasn’t running for re-election. Contrary to your assertion that he announced first “only to get attention as the only candidate in the race,” in stepping up to take on a popular incumbent, he sent the message that Democrats weren’t going to let Jim Douglas have a free ride in 2010, and probably played a major role in bringing out his retirement.
It is misleading to say that in 2002 Racine “lost a race that should have been his.” The dynamics of the 2002 race were much more complex than that. In many ways, 2002’s result was a repudiation of Howard Dean more than it was of Doug Racine. Vermont was enduring the “Take Back Vermont” backlash – not just from civil unions, but also from education funding and land use legislation. A strong rural backlash feed Republican candidates across the state. The presence of Con Hogan, a former state human services secretary running as an independent, siphoned off many reform minded voters – folks who couldn’t have brought themselves to vote for Jim Douglas. While there is no question that he should have run a better campaign in 2002 (and might have won if he had), the environment of that race was extremely difficult.
But I guess the real refutation of your claim that Doug’s “time has passed” comes from the extensive support he’s received in this campaign. In an field of 5 very qualified and talented Democratic candidates, there is no reason for serious players to put their support behind a candidate who is no longer relevant. But Racine has been endorsed by extremely relevant players — the state AFL-CIO, the Vermont State Employees Association, the Vermont Education Association, the League of Conservation Voters, more than 40 members of the legislature who he serves with, and an impressive collection of grassroots issue activists and community leaders. These folks would not put their credibility and energy behind a candidate who is washed up and irrelevant.
I don’t know if Racine will win today’s primary – it is going to be close and any of the top 4 Democrats could win. But being characterized as “yesterday’s news” by someone who works for a Republican he beat 10 years ago is nothing more than a stale attack and wishful thinking, not serious political analysis.