Obama Wins in South Park

How did they make this so fast?

Out With the Old, In With the New

Look's like Obama's not the only one shaking up the old order of things. From today's Burlington Free Press:

Champlain College is buying the Ethan Allen Club on College Street in Burlington, the college's second major acquisition in six months.

The home of the 151-year-old club would be redeveloped for student housing, according to a college news release. A purchase price was not disclosed; the closing date is Dec. 15. The property, 1.4 acres and a two-story brick veneer building totaling more than 15,000 square feet, is valued for tax purposes at $1,530,000.

This seems like a big deal to me.

The Ethan Allen Club is basically a symbol of Burlington's old-boy network. Over the past two decades, membership there has been steadily shrinking. The Free Press article notes that membership is down to just 125, from 400 members in the 1980s, though I was under the impression that the 1980s numbers were higher.

I toured the club in the summer of 2003, as part of a story I wrote on private clubs in Burlington. Incidentally, since I wrote that story, one of the clubs has closed — the Athena Club, which is now a private residence. The Eagles Club in Burlington also just saw their building bought by Champlain College. We could start betting now on which of the private clubs Champlain will buy next in its innovation-fueled expansion — the Klifa Club, the Champlain Club or the St. John's Club.

The St. John's Club definitely has the best view...

Here's my impression of the EAC back in 2003:

In many respects, the Ethan Allen Club is the opposite of the St. John's Club. For one thing, there's the dress code in the dining room: no shorts, jeans or sneakers. And the EAC advertises itself as exclusive. I thought they might want to keep me out. But when I call, a club employee hooks me up with treasurer Marcia DeRosia, who invites me to lunch.

A blast of air conditioning greets me in the carpeted foyer as I hurry past a print depicting the Vanderbilt townhouses and country estates. The foyer also houses the EAC's original horse-drawn fire engine, a symbol of its roots as a volunteer fire company established in 1857. The club proudly touts its association with fire fighters, though I can't imagine the blue-collar heroes of 9/11 stopping by after work for a brewski.

A Long Time Ago in an Election Far, Far Away?

Did photos of last night's jubilation remind you of any other familiar celebratory scenes, on, for example, Naboo?

Click here to see more.

Thanks, Bill!

Dewey . . . uh, Ashe Defeats Barnard

The Burlington Free Press  is reporting that Tim Ashe did in fact win a Senate seat yesterday. The Freeps story, all five sentences,  says that an "incorrect number" in one ward's vote count had put Denise Barnard of Richmond ahead of Ashe. But the Burlington City Councilor was notified today that the count had been corrected and that he had won the sixth Senate seat. More to come on this story, no doubt.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Vermont Election Results *UPDATED*

UPDATE: Tim Ashe came in 6th in the Chittenden County Senate race. See below.

UPDATE II: Click here for coverage of the Chittenden 3-4 race on the What's Good college blog.

It was a late night.

Here's an update on some of the races we were following last night but were too close to call when I ended the liveblog:

Chittenden 3-4:
Dave Zuckerman (P) 2316 (winner)
Kesha Ram (D) 2163 (winner)
Chris Pearson (I) 1494
Phillip Ortego (D) 781

Chittenden County Senate results:
Doug Racine (D) 42,938
Ed Flanagan (D) 37,644
Virginia "Ginny" Lyons (D) 34,494
Diane Snelling (R) 31,148
Hinda Miller (D) 30,395
Denise Barnard (D) 25,863

The Burlington Free Press is now reporting that Tim Ashe (P-D) came in 6th in this race, with 28,048 votes. Apparently there was a tabulation error in one of the Burlington wards. The Burlington results were a mess last night.

For more complete results, see the Burlington Free Press site.

Oh yeah, and Barack Obama won.

Watching History

As a journalist, one of your roles is to keep a certain distance from your subject in an effort to maintain an ability to observe and document whatever unfolds.

But, last night standing in front of a giant screen inside the Hilton with a small, but loud, group of Democratic Party onlookers to listen to President-Elect Barack Obama's victory speech was a bit surreal and even, I'll admit, emotional for even a political curmudgeon like me.

And, it's not because I personally wanted Obama to win. The rest of my family were taking care of that.

My three young kids — 12, 10, and 4 — were paying witness (and close attention) to an historic presidential election, and they constantly pleaded their case for an Obama victory to anyone who would listen — even a grandmother who was a McCain supporter.

Even at their young ages, these kids understand what it means, historically and culturally, to elect Obama. His candidacy inspired them to start counting down the years to when they'll get to cast their first ballot for president.

I couldn't help think of them, and what it would be like for them this morning to wake up (they couldn't keep their eyes open long enough to listen to the results last night I'm told) and learn the news.

Sure enough, at 6 AM, just a few hours after I had fallen asleep, our 12-year-old son came downstairs whispering, "Who won?" After we told him, he quickly passed on the news to his 10-year-old brother. Even our four-year-old — after waking up and telling me, "I saw you on TV last night" asked, "Did Obama win?" When I told her that he did, she gave a very emphatic, "Yes!"

After a quick breakfast, the trio sat in front of the laptop to watch Obama's victory speech with their mom. Not likely the last time they'll want to watch it.

They'll be in good company.

Enjoy the day, everyone. And for now, I'll pass along a song that came to my inbox this morning from my friend and colleague Christian Avard.

Note: I'll post additional thoughts later this morning on the Vermont races once I get some updates on a couple of key legislative districts. Need to shake out the cobwebs first. Cheers.

Throw the Bums Back In!

Well, it looks like a normal night in Vermont election-land — statewide incumbents appear headed for easy reelections.

Treasurer Jeb Spaulding, Secretary of State Deb Markowitz, Auditor of Accounts Tom Salmon (who is serving in Iraq), Attorney General Bill Sorrell, and US Rep. Peter Welch all appear headed to easy wins.

Was it ever really in question? Not really, but what remained in question was if the Left could get enough votes to keep Douglas below 50%. And, no, they couldn't. Even with two of them in the race they couldn't do it.

Incumbent Gov. Jim Douglas is holding steady and is likely to safely exceed the 50% threshold needed to keep the race from going to the Legislature. In fact, Democratic challenger Gaye Symington has conceded the race as has Independent Anthony Pollina.

With about 73% of the vote tallied, WCAX-TV is reporting that Douglas has 55% of the vote, Symington 21% and  Pollina 20%.

In their concessions, however, both candidates had strong words for Douglas and his leadership, or lack thereof, and Pollina came across as giving the first stump speech of a bid for governor in 2010 than a concession speech in 2008. We'll see how that goes for him in the coming months as there is likely to be plenty of discussion on the Left about how best to unseat a popular incumbent Republican in an ever-left leaning state.

The GOP held its ground, too, in the battle for control of the House and Senate will end up being a wash in the end. The Dems have picked off a couple of key Republican seats in Bennington, Rutland, Caledonia, and Chittenden counties. Meanwhile, the GOP has picked up seats in Franklin and Chittenden counties.

Interesting that the Obama tide that the GOP expected was either better deflected or didn't materialize.

It's still to early to tell if the Progressives will hold their seats. It appears as if they will lose their seat in Orleans-Franklin currently held by Dexter Randall to the Republicans.

Burlington results are not fully in, but it appears that Progressive Chris Pearson has lost his reelection thanks to a spirited challenge from Democrat Kesha Ram. Progressive Dave Zuckerman look like he'll be reelected.

I'm off to Dem Party HQ — I'll tweet from here on in. Cheers, and thanks to Cathy Resmer for all of her excellent live-blogging and all the folks here at Channel 17.

Catch you on the flipside.

'Secession & Meatballs'

Around 7 p.m., I arrived at Montpelier's Langdon Street Cafe and ordered a stout and a tempeh Reuben. But the guy at the counter was pushing the special: spaghetti and meatballs. Seven bucks for spaghetti with real meatballs. Five for vegetarian ones.

The meal coincided with "Secession & Meatballs (A spaghetti dinner)," the official name of an unofficial gathering of Vermont secessionists. Thomas H. Naylor of the Second Vermont Republic was sitting at a nearby table beside a very nice guy who used to live in my Old North End apartment.

Vermont secessionists, by the way, are gearing up for the Vermont Independence Convention, which takes place this Friday at the Montpelier State House. The event features speakers from the Alaskan Independence Party, which Republican veep candidate Sarah Palin supported earlier this year.

Later on, an acoustic-electric Rutland band called The Peace took the stage. The Langdon Street Cafe was still pretty empty. "It's election night, hence this place is packed," joked the lead singer. "People are home watching Al Franken and what's his name, Keith Olberman?" he added. "I don't watch TV anymore."

During a set break, the singer, a preschool teacher named "Bobby K," stopped by my table. He said he was antiwar and "pro-self," in the style of Ticht Naht Hahn. The Peace, as it turns out, performed at an Anthony Pollina fundraiser earlier this year.

"I've met him a bunch of times," Bobby K said of the gubernatorial candidate. "He's just pure Vermont: sensible, logical and grounded."

With that, Bobby K hopped back on stage and picked up his guitar, which has a peace sign and a sticker that reads, "NEW ORLEANS." Now the Langdon is filling up with dancers, and Bobby K is leading them in a song:

. . . Welcome to Vermont,
where the senator's a socialist.
Welcome to Vermont,
where we always make the most of it . . . 

The Locks That Bind

Just before 6 p.m. tonight, I pulled into Richmond, where a crew of supporters was rallying on Route 2 for Taylor Yeates, the 18-year-old vying for a House seat in the Chittenden-4 district. (Unsuccessfully, it turns out: Democratic hopeful Ann O'Brien just won.) Down the road at Bridge Street Hair, cosmetologist Heather Ingham was prepping a client's dew.

Bridge Street Hair is owned by Denise Begins Barnard, a Richmond House Democrat who gave up her seat to run for Senate. Barnard is competing with four Senate incumbents -- Ed Flanagan, Ginny Lyons, Hinda Miller and Doug Racine -- and Burlington City Councilor-turned-Dem/Prog "fusion" candidate Tim Ashe for one of Chittenden County's six Senate seats. Burlington Free Press reporter Nancy Remsen calls it a "simmering" race.

Barnard, I learned, was watching election results in Burlington.

Heather Ingham, the 34-year-old cosmetologist, said she has known Barnard for 29 years. Working in the politico's hair salon "brings me closer to what's going on," she said. "Sometimes you get the inside scoop through shop talk."

Ingham, whose T-shirt read, "DEMOCRATS MAKE BETTER LOVERS," said she is excited to see Barnard making a bid for the Senate. Still, she added, "I think a lot of people are upset she's not going to be their Rep."

After saying goodnight to Ingham, I wandered into the nearby Bridge Street Cafe, which is owned by Marvin Carpenter, a justice of the peace who is also the vice-chair of Richmond's Development Review Board. Carpenter's wife, Tina, works with Ingham at Barnard's Bridge Street Hair.

"Is Marvin around?" I asked a waitress.

"He's not here," she said. "He's counting ballots."

Last Push at the Polls

I just got back from spending a couple of hours down at the Ward 5 polling station in Burlington (Burlington Electric Department down on Pine Street). Independent Anthony Pollina and Democrat Gaye Symington each took time to chat with voters on their way into vote.

Also milling around was Progressive Lt. Gov. candidate Richard Kemp (who lives in the district) and Progressive/Democrat Tim Ashe, who is running for one of six senate slots from Chittenden County.

Pollina was on his way to Barre and then Montpelier to finish up his day. He started in Middlesex and then headed to voter-rich Chittenden County. He'll make one stop before home before ending his day at Positive Pie in Montpelier to watch ballot results.

Symington spent her day in Chittenden County. She voted a week ago in her hometown of Jericho. In fact, 1000 residents out of a checklist of 3800 voted early in her town.

Incumbent Republican Gov. Jim Douglas spent his day entirely outside of Chittenden County, hitting Republican strongholds in Rutland, Manchester and then off to White River Junction, Barre and his expected victory party in Montpelier at the Capitol Plaza.

Both Pollina and Symington feel their campaigns are ending on high notes — positive and energetic, and ones that have successfully challenged a three-term incumbent governor.

"After six years and spending $1 million if the governor can't get 50 percent of the vote, I think that says something," said Pollina.

Symington concurs.

"I think what has been most striking is that you had a three-term incumbent governor spending most of his time and money not talking about his work, but on negative attacks that distort the record and actions of his opponents," said Symington.

We're getting close to air time here at Channel 17, so I need to get ready to roll ... I'll post more on this discussion later.

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