Vermonters, tell us about your campaign for representative right now.

[Skidmore]

I didn't realize there was a Dem candidate and was surprised to hear that this morning. Really hadn't tracked on it at all. Anyway, since Sanders is often more progressive than many Dems, it made me curious as to what the objection to Sanders is from the left.

[ShortnFiery]

1. Worst yet, is the vote going to split between the Democrat and

Independent, leaving the Posturing Republican Retired General to scamper to D.C. with an unearned victory? :(

[Skidmore]

2. Why did Dems field a candidate then?

What does the Dem offer that Sanders hasn't been doing all these years? Party loyalty aside, it was my understanding that Sanders was fairly popular up there. Was I wrong?

[ShortnFiery]

3. Somebody should have compromised D or I, for the good of the Country

We KNOW ahead of time, despite her campaign ads, The Republican Candidate will rubber stamp anything Dear Leader proposes to the Senate. :grr: :eyes:

[wicket]

8. Sanders isn't running for Rep., he's running for Senate against...

...the Repuke Tarrant :puke:

The Democrats are not fielding a candidate against Bernie, in fact, the VT Dems have endorsed him.

http://www.bernie.org/

[ShortnFiery]

13. Oh, thanks for clearing that up - setting me straight. :-)

:hi:

[cali]

4. Peter Welch is a good guy

He's been around forever, and he's very liberal. He served in the Vermont Senate in the eighties, and has run for Congress before, and lost the primary. I think he also ran for guv. He's been serving in the Senate again for the past 5 years. He's running against a pretty formidable candidate, Marths Raineville, who's running as hard as she can against the repukes even though she is one. She's staunchly pro-choice and has called for Rumsfeld to resign. Virtually all of her ads stress how she's fought the repukes. Passing strange, but this is Vermont. She resigned as Adjutant General of the Vermont National Guard in order to run. In a small state like Vermont during a war, that's a very high profile poisition. Nevertheless, I think Peter will win. He's not the most exciting guy, that's for sure, and his ads are pretty tepid, but Vermonters are wary of sending any repuke to Washington. He's slightly ahead in the polls, and I expecy him to increase his margin over the next few weeks. It's been my experience, passing out campaign literature in the most conservative part of the state, that even here, Peter's not far behind Rainville.

This is really a straight head to head race. None of the other candidates are worth mentioning. Fortunately, the putative Progressive party candidate, David Zuckerman, an organic farmer serving in the legislature, decided not to run. He's quite young and he'll have plenty of time to run for statewide office. He would havew siphoned off votes from Welch, so that was a relief.

Welch isn't Bernie, but he'll be a solid liberal vote in the House, on every issue.

[Skidmore]

6. I notice you don't address Sanders, who is the

incumbent.

[wicket]

7. Sanders is running for Senate, not Rep.

http://www.bernie.org/

[Skidmore]

9. Duh. Thanks for the correction.

I haven't had enough caffeine yet. Explains the disconnect to me. I stand corrected.

I do wish Welch well, but I'm very fond of Sanders and love to listen to him speak on the floor.

[wicket]

10. Don't worry about it!

:hi: I like Welch and he will do great in the House of Rep. We need Bernie in the Senate! :) His opponent, Rich Tarrant, is running one of the nastiest, negative campaigns in Vermont history. He's blanketing the airwaves with his negative shit, hoping something sticks. It's really all he's got.

[cali]

11. Love Bernie

as my rep, and I'll love him even more in the Senate where his voice will be amplified.

[democrank]

5. Sanders has a lot of support here and is ahead in the polls.

He appeals to Democrats, Independents and some Libertarians. Voters regularly cross over to vote for Bernie. It is not at all unusual to see Bernie signs on lawns along with signs for candidates from other political parties. I just spent a couple days here and there around the state and saw Bernie signs are everywhere. I don`t hear any objections to Bernie "from the left." The objections are from the right and they`re in the form of zillions of misleading negative ads, several times a day, every day. Vermonters don`t take kindly to these tactics. Never have.

I hope Bernie`s consistent support of workers, veterans, affordable health care and "the little guy" lands him in the Senate.

[peaches2003]

12. All Bernie

We just got back from 2 weeks in Vt and totally agree. We drove all over the state and saw nothing but Bernie signs everywhere. Not unusual to drive down a road and every house had a Bernie sign on the lawn. We are even thinking seriously of moving to Vt. Just can't stand GA anymore and we know Vt. well and are so at home there. We can talk politics there!

[Armstead]

14. Southern Climate with Vermont Politics would be an ideal state

I live next tio Vermont. I hate the northeast climate, and sometimes am tempted to move further south.

But then I remember the difference in politics and culture, and decide I'll put up with our nasty winters.

[peaches2003]

15. Our dilemma exactly!

We want to move to Vt. so badly (relatives live there) and even found a brand new condo in Middlebury that we love! The big 'but' of course are the winters. Tell me, please, that a 66 yr old who gets chilly at 50 degrees and hates snow can find happiness in Middlebury. I think so, hubby is worried, and everyone we know just laughs.

I need some encouragement that 7 good months and a lot of liberal friends/activities will more than make up for hibernating inside from Nov-March.

[Armstead]

16. I find it's worth it.

Depends partly on your lifestyle. Most places arfde a trade-off in terms of the weather. I look on New England as trading a great half the year for a quarter of the year that sucks and anotehr quarter that is so-so.

May through September into October are great. Summer in the north is easier to take than the south. November is kind of grey and depressing, but the holidays are coming which cheers things up somewhat.

January and February suck (for those of us who hate winter). December might suck too, depending on the patterns of a particular year. But you can stay warm in winter, especially if you own a condo. And as long as you don't mind a few minutes of chill when you have to go outside, you don't have to hibernate. And in a condo, you don;t have to deal with a lot of snow-related hassles.Plus, Vermont towns are fairly compact and self-contained, so things are close at hand.

March and April can suck a bit less, but usually the snow is going awasy and spring is coming, which makes it an upbeat time.

[peaches2003]

17. Exactly our thoughts and plan

Thanks for your thoughts. We've spent a lot of time in summer and fall in Vt. and are well aware of stick season and mud season in the late fall and spring, too. Nov and Dec will be fine with the holiday festivities- a NEng Thanksgiving/Christmas, what's not to like. We think we could mooch a few weeks each with 2 of our kids in NC and GA during Jan and Feb and then head to FL for 2 weeks or so.

Middlebury College is right there in town for cultural activities and sports events and the downtown shopping area is directly across the street. They just had a March for Global Warming- won't find that in GA!

Parking in this condo complex will be underground and heated and of course no maintanence.

Apologies to other posters for being OT, but this is a big decision and I need input from this nice poster who has knowledge of what we might be getting into. Everyone here thinks we're nuts!

[Armstead]

18. Hey, if you can get away for several weeks in the winter....

then it's a no-brainer.

Well, maybe not completely, if you have friends and otehr attachments in Georgia.

But all things being equal, if you can get out for a little while during cabin-fever season, then the weather aspect of it isn;t so big a deal.