Vermont's gubernatorial debate provides fodder for humorists from coast to coast

[cali]

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin has a double-digit lead in the polls, so not many people have been paying attention to the state's gubernatorial race. That is until people realized how magical the second stringers in a Vermont election tend to be when C-SPAN broadcast the latest debate last week.

Not that anyone can remember what Shumlin or his Republican challenger Scott Milne -- both of whom sort of look like the small-town fathers of a network drama that got canceled after five episodes -- had to say. Anyone who tuned in was instantly blinded by the beards and sequins dominating the screen.

The captivating Independent and third-party candidates who also took part in the debate -- they include a guy who has run in every election in Vermont for the past 44 years, a woman who founded "a consulting group for hempcrete construction and other hemp-related products" and a woman who is also running for Congress (this happens more than you'd think in Vermont) -- were far more interesting.

You can't really understand the true beauty of it until you watch it, so click here.

<snip>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/10/14/the-six-best-sentences-written-about-vermonts-beard-filled-gubernatorial-debate/

Vermont's gubernatorial debate was a sure cure for the nation's political blues

Most televised political debate in the United States is a lifeless, platitude-laden sideshow with virtually no value except as a grim form of entertainment, like watching democracy itself fed to the lions at the Coliseum. That is why Vermont’s recent gubernatorial debate, in which every candidate on the ballot was invited to participate, was such a breath of fresh air.

Vermont’s Democratic incumbent governor Peter Shumlin has a virtual lock on the election, with a double-digit lead over Republican challenger Scott Milne. Fortunately, the five other candidates on the ballot made for a lively discussion October 9.

In a world where political campaigning has been largely reduced to platitudes and soundbites, Vermonter and revolutionary socialist Pete Diamondstone called for the overthrow of the entire capitalist system and the outlawing of private enterprise. His solution for the problem of illegal drug use is to legalize everything and make the government the national drug dealer. One need not pass judgement on the quality of his program, but if suggesting that Uncle Sam start slinging smack isn’t thinking outside the box, pretty much nothing is. Plus the whole time, he appeared to be wearing jorts with suspenders and tall white socks, which counts for something as long as we’re going to fight about whether or not the president is allowed to wear a tan suit.

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http://time.com/3507936/vermont-governor-debate/

(VT political debates are always like this- everyone in.)

[Warren Stupidity]

1. Our debates are stilted sterile affairs because they are managed by the duopoly

to eliminate all third parties and to guarantee that nothing of substance occurs. Once upon a time the national debates were run by the League of Women Voters, but the LWV withdraw because of the demands by the Duopoly.

[cali]

2. so much better when debates were conducted by the LWV

but I gotta say I really love our nutty VT debates where if your name is on the ballot you're invited to debate.