Martha Abbott, the chair of the Vermont Progressive Party, addresses considerations in running a candidate for governor in a recent blog post. Read the full thing here.
What will it take to keep a Progressive out of the race for Governor in 2010? That is a question that I am often asked. And, of course, I say it will take a candidate who will stand up and fight hard on the following issues:
- Enacting a Single Payer Health Insurance System
- Closing (or not extending the license of) Entergy Nuclear (formerly known as VT Yankee)
- Fixing the insolvency of Vermont’s Unemployment Insurance fund without doing it on the backs of the workers who are unemployed.
- Fixing the state employees retirement fund (where retired teachers currently receive an average of slightly more than $10,000 per year and retired state employees currently receive an average of slightly more than $14,000 per year) without gouging current and future retirees.
He’s considering running as a Democrat this time. Pollina, that is. He’d probably try to get the Dems’ and the Progs’ support.
And, as I had ‘phoned in’ to Montpelier time and time again, had he run for Lieutenant Governor again he might have won ………
tiradefaction ,
Pollina is VPP but turned independent in 2008 for strategic reasons.
Anthony Pollina is a founding member of the progressive party in Vermont as well as the head of the party for a couple of years.
In 2008 he started his campaign for governor as a progressive party candidate, but switched to Independent for strategic reasons.
Previously Pollinia ran for Lieutenant Governor in 2002 (25%) and Governor in 2000 (9.5%) as a progressive.
In 2008 his Progressive turned independent campaign finished second with 21.8% of the vote
I think Anthony Polina is running again? While an independent, I hear he’s VPP in all but name only.
It’d be cool if the VPP could push forward Single Payer healthcare. I may move to Vermont then…
I think they’re more strategic than that.
If I were a member of that party, I would protest the fact that a willingness not to run the top candidate for office was in contravention to our purpose. Just toss it in and be a perpetual part of the puralistic fight for office space to influence peddle in Montpelior.
There is nothing progressive about this lady. Obviously this lady is in love with the idea of spending, and more spending, taxing, and more taxing and borrowing , and more borrowingf of other peoples money.
I would have said “run” rather than “candidate” in the headline.