Archive - 2010 - Editorial
August 26th
Tuesday’s Democratic primary race for governor goes into the history books as one of the most competitive and closest with five excellent candidates — four of whom had near-equal support across all sectors of the state. With Senate President Pro Tempore Peter Shumlin leading Sen. Doug Racine by just 182 votes at 25 percent of the vote total, and Sec. of State Deb.
We recently returned from a week in Germany and I am still kicking myself for not bringing back the perfect souvenir — a T-shirt bearing the slogan, “I survived the autobahn.”
People tend to assume I’m mild-mannered just because I drive the speed limit, avoid trans fats and consider it a wild Friday night if I stay up until 10 knitting socks. But I’m a thrill-seeker, all right.
I get my kicks on eBay.
For the uninformed, eBay is a website where people can buy and sell items in an auction format. Find something you like, enter the highest (non-disclosed) amount you’re willing to spend, and click on Place Bid. Your bid will automatically be raised against competing bids until your limit is reached.
August 23rd
Tomorrow is Vermont’s all-important primary. Four of the state’s elected offices have competitive primaries; there are competitive races among Republicans for the right to challenge U.S. Sen. Patrick Leady and U.S. Rep. Peter Welch; and we have a competitive write-in race for one of Addison County’s senate seats among Democrats. (See story, Page 1.)
August 19th
Next Tuesday is one of the most important primary elections in Vermont’s recent history. Of the six state offices, four have competitive races. Five Democrats are vying for the right to confront Republican Brian Dubie in gubernatorial race. Two Democrats and two Republicans are in a party run-off in the lieutenant governor’s race and the secretary of state race; two Democrats are vying for the state auditor of accounts position to confront Republican incumbent Tom Salmon. Add to that a competitive three-way race among Republicans for the congressional seat held by Democrat incumbent Rep.
After spending most of a day driving through Montana and Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, we’d turned east out of Grand Teton National Forest in the late afternoon, still with hundreds of miles to go before we stopped for the night.
Miles after the pine trees had vanished, replaced by sandy buttes and scrub brush, the snow-capped peaks still loomed behind us. Their peaks were etched sharply onto the deep blue sky, just like the mountains a small child would draw.
With only a few days left before the primary, four of the five candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for governor could end up as the winner next Tuesday.
I was a little nervous as I headed to the reunion dinner at the VFW in the tiny western New York State town where I grew up.
My classmates and I were gathering from locations that ranged from an apartment down the street to a house in Thessaloniki, Greece.
I’m sure every one of us heading to the event felt a touch of the silly old fears that come with these gatherings. Then I spotted the big orange sign on the nearby bridge over the Erie Canal:
“WARNING: Emergency Scene Ahead.”
