Vermont Megathread

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

I know zuckerman has weird views on vaccines but I defineitly think that I would vote for him over scott who vetoed a minimum wage increase and marijuana legalization his views on vaccines are not even that bad hes not a flat out anti vaxxer read this from wikipedia

Zuckerman is critical of the philosophy of mandatory vaccinations.[25][26] He has said that he is skeptical about the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's position on vaccines due to its purported connections to the pharmaceutical industry, but believes the science of vaccination is sound.[25] He said that he believed that most people should vaccinate their children, but believes in exemptions for medical or religious reasons.[27] He said that some of his constituents had said that vaccines gave their children allergic reactions.[27] He has said that his own daughter is vaccinated.[25]

his opposition to vaccines is more of a personal freedom thing the only thing that suses me out about it is him saying that it gave some of constituents children allergic reactions  but besides that his position isn't that bad and the issue of Marijuana legalization and the minimum wage is like 10 times more important to me

Zuckerman has made improvements and being against mandatory vaccination is arguably not the same thing as being anti-vaxx, but back in 2015 he was harping on about the science not being proven. Promoting these views and thereby indirectly encouraging people to avoid vaccination was at least irresponsible, and this sort of past transgression is harder to overlook in the time of COVID-19.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

Also, I would actually like to discuss this

I'm not sarcastic when I say, if you think Phil Scott is right wing (or a right wing Republican), please tell me how.

He vetoed a minimum wage increase, paid family leave, and legal marijuana.

1. The minimum wage goes up every year in Vermont, he vetoed a measure to increase that rate, and it makes sense. The wage is high, but he's tempering it to adjust for the cost and growth rate. It's sound economics. He supports higher wages, and wages have gone up.

2. He has an alternative plan for family leave, and you can debate the merits of it, but it's hardly right wing.

3. He vetoed one bill, and signed another one that he and the legislature agreed on. It's compromise and progress.


To suggest that he's right wing, much less a right wing Republican is patently false

This is really all irrelevant. Whether or not you think Scott is a good governor, a Democrat would have been a better one. There is no reason to ever vote for a Republican, unless the Democrat is George Wallace or something.

Tbf I can think of plenty of Democrats with a record worse than Phil Scott's, including current Democratic Governors. They're a minority for sure, but even amongst those ideologically closer to my preferences, there are several corrupt Govs. and others that are downright incompetent. In that respect, Scott has served better as a centre-right shepherd of the liberal legislature's policies than e.g. Gina Raimondo or JB Pritzker.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

Do any of y'all see Scott switching parties in a Biden admin, like Justice did under Trump? I could kinda see that happening, honestly.

Hmmmm. Not out of the question, especially considering that the state GOP is run by rabid Trumpists. But with Justice, he had a record of party switching in a state where he would have had to switch to stay competitive. Phil has been a Republican all his life in a state still willing to elect moderate Rs.

Although it would be funny if he did and all the red Avs suddenly became fans.

I guess I'd be one of the galaxy brain red AVIs who'd appreciate him less if he did that.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

If Phil is beating LEAHY then he definitely has a strong chance against anyone else.]Nationalization of the race would hurt him and he would have to constantly bring up that he wouldn't vote with the Republican senators most of the time.

This is why he wouldn't actually beat Leahy and would still be an underdog (albeit with a realistic hope) against a generic D. here.

It's like the poll showing Charlie Baker beating Markey last year or LASEN with JBE - the fundamentals pretty clearly indicate Markey would not lose a general election in 2020 and Cassidy is unbeatable in a general election, but these local politicians can get higher approval ratings unless and until they enter the federal fray.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

Scott 2028 for president? Time for a moderate republican hero?

If Hogan is doomed - and he almost certainly is - Scott isn't going to have a hope. This is like JBE for President in that both Scott and JBE know their presidential candidates would be dead in the water before they'd even exited the exploratory committee stage.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

I was skeptical of that "Sanders wants to be Labour Sec.," talk to begin with, but if Biden's first compromise with Republicans is to keep Sanders "away from the power of the Cabinet" and in a position where he has more influence, I've no problem with that.