Morning Read: Dudes Gettin' Heated on the Campaign Trail
Oh snap! Dudes got all heated on the campaign trail Tuesday (and by "on the campaign trail" I mean "in my email inbox").
The attack press releases from politicians just kept coming yesterday and, busy putting out today's paper, we here at Off Message headquarters just couldn't keep up! Don't worry, though. We outsourced our coverage to other media outlets.
Here's a recap, in case you missed it:
Lindley v. Shumlin, re: Sorrell: Okay, so this actually started Monday. In a letter he sent to Gov. Peter Shumlin, Vermont GOP chairman Jack Lindley was all like: Hey dude, why don't you appoint an independent counsel to investigate illegal super PAC coordination between Attorney General Bill Sorrell and former governor Howard Dean? But on Tuesday, Shumlin's legal counsel, Sarah London, wrote Lindley back saying: Um, nah, dude. Go talk to Sorrell. Or that TJ Donovan guy. In response to which Lindley sent out another press release Tuesday afternoon calling Shumlin's decision, "an abdication of his duty to protect the rights and interests of Vermonters," allowing Sorrell "to conduct his campaign with impunity and in defiance of the law."
More after the jump...
Hoffer v. Salmon: Next up? Democratic and Progressive candidate for state auditor Doug Hoffer. Creatively, Hoffer went after retiring GOP Auditor Tom Salmon in a Tuesday morning press release — not his actual opponent, Republican Vince Illuzzi. Hoffer's beef? The cost of an audit under Salmon's watch has increased to $158,000 a pop. "The skyrocketing average cost of a performance audit is another reason that the Auditor's office itself should be audited," Hoffer wrote in the release. BAM! Alas, nobody picked up the story.
Wilton v. Pearce: So a little later Tuesday morning, Republican state treasurer candidate Wendy Wilton sent out a press release about Democratic Treasurer Beth Pearce, saying: WTF?! Why you payin' 1000 hours in overtime to the same employee for three years? Pearce was ready with her comeback, though. She was like: Oh no you didn't! As a rejoinder press release from Pearce's campaign said, "What Wilton negated to mention, or would have found if she researched the incident, was that the employee in question was performing a full time job while also covering for previously cut positions, thereby saving taxpayer dollars."
Vermont Dems v. Wilton: Feeling a little left out, the Vermont Democratic Party then sent out its own release talkin' smack about robo calls placed on Wilton's behalf by the conservative super PAC Vermonters First. "To claim that Treasurer Pearce's tenure has been anything but positive for our state is misleading and irresponsible," Dem Party Chairman Jake Perkinson said (well, wrote).
Romney v. Condos: So then Mitt Romney's presidential campaign sent a letter to Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos saying: Yo, why you keepin' military personnel from voting? To which, Condos was like: Nah, dude. I'm not.
Oh man, after all that journalism-ing, I'm spent. Glad I cleaned out that inbox. Now, for another day of reporting!
