Bob Kinzel - Montpelier, Vt.

(Host) Senator Patrick Leahy is getting directly involved in this year’s race for governor.

As VPR’s Bob Kinzel reports, Leahy accuses Brian Dubie of running a “smear campaign” against Peter Shumlin.

(Kinzel) Traditionally, the members of Vermont’s congressional delegation don’t get actively involved in the state’s race for governor.

The delegation supports their Party’s gubernatorial nominee and often helps in fund raising efforts.

But Senator Leahy says this year is different.  He says he’s frustrated and disappointed that Brian Dubie’s campaign would run ads accusing Peter Shumlin of supporting a corrections reform plan that would result in the early release of drug dealers and child pornographers:

(Leahy) “Nobody believes that we ought to just acknowledge no Vermonters Republicans or Democrats are in favor of pornographers or child molesters or anything else. And to run an ad that suggests otherwise is one of these out of state kind of smear campaigns that frankly don’t work.”

(Kinzel) Leahy says Dubie is attacking Shumlin instead of addressing the real issues of the campaign.

(Leahy) “If that’s what you have to run your campaign based on, you don’t have much in the way of ideas. It’s not truthful about anybody and I think we ought to have real debates about how we spend this $40 or $50,000 a year on people who are locked up. Are we getting our money’s worth, are we doing the right kind of thing? But don’t do a Willie Horton type ad – it’s not the Vermont way.”

(Kinzel) Leahy says he feels very strongly that Vermont campaigns should not succumb to the type of negative ads that are used in many other states.

(Leahy) “That’s why I’m speaking out – I don’t want to see negative ads like this done in Vermont.”

(Kinzel) Corey Bliss is Dubie’s campaign manager. He totally rejects Leahy’s premise. Bliss says the Dubie campaign spent five weeks running positive ads highlighting the issue of creating new jobs and that the corrections ad only aired for a week.

Bliss says Leahy should take a closer look at the activities of the Shumlin campaign.

(Bliss) “Peter Shumlin’s first commercial was a negative attack ad that distorted Brian Dubie’s record with a bad frozen image of his face on the screen. The DGA has spent $350,000 attacking and destroying Brian Dubie’s record on Vermont Yankee. So we are not running a negative campaign.”

(Kinzel) Some of the ads in this year’s gubernatorial campaign are paid for by independent groups and not the candidates.

Bliss says a new group of Dubie ads will focus on efforts to strengthen the Vermont economy over the next few years.

For VPR News, I’m Bob Kinzel in Montpelier.

http://www.vpr.net/news_detail/88942/

Campaign Ads: Dubie Goes Personal; Shumlin Focuses On Issues

Bob Kinzel – Montpelier, Vt.

COLCHESTER — Republican Brian Dubie and Democrat Peter Shumlin squared off Wednesday evening in one of their first debates of the general election campaign, which really began at the start of this week.

During the 90-minute debate hosted live by Vermont Public Radio, the two candidates talked about a variety of issues from the future of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant to health care reform.

But money, in one form or another, occupied much of the discussion.

The sometimes heated back-and-forth made it clear that from the upcoming state budget gap, $112 million at least, to tax policy the two candidates shared little in their plans for economic development and state spending.

Shumlin’s approach to both hinges on implementing a single-payer health care program in Vermont, and increasing early childhood education programs in Vermont. Those changes, paid for according to Shumlin by reducing health care administration and overhead and reducing the number of nonviolent offenders held in prison, will help balance the state’s budget and make the state’s business climate more attractive, he said.

Dubie would take a different approach, checking the spending by state government and education, streamlining regulation and lowering taxes, particularly for upper-income earners. That will boost the state’s business economy, the number of jobs in Vermont and ultimately increase state revenue, Dubie said.

Shumlin’s approach would cost more and could be precluded by federal health care reform law, Dubie said.

But “I will only implement them if it will cost us less,” Shumlin said. “My plan will save us money.”

The two men also differed in how they answered the questions, some from VPR hosts, others prerecorded from radio listeners and some of the most pointed posed by one of the candidates for the other.

Dubie, 51, several times rephrased his answers before reaching the wording he wanted, and occasionally seemed to stumble over his responses early on although he became more confident over the course of the debate.

Shumlin, 54, struggled with at least one answer himself, trying several times to find the numbers for the increase in health care costs in Vermont during Dubie’s time in the state’s second-highest office.

It was the tone of the campaign that prompted some of the most aggressive exchanges between the two candidates.

Dubie asked Shumlin to stop using a gaffe he made Monday — the lieutenant governor said he would target the most vulnerable in spending cuts when he meant to say protect — to question his budget plan.

“I am very disappointed that my misstatement from a previous debate has been used for the last 48 hours,” he said.

Shumlin asked Dubie to stop his campaign from using charged words in their dispatches about him.

“Nobody should be using words like liar, distrust, dishonorable,” Shumlin said.

The two also differed on the more ephemeral aspects of the job of running the state. In response to a discussion that began with a question from a farmer who has been unable to get capital to build a slaughterhouse the two candidates were asked if they would lean on banks to make them lend money to Vermont businesses.

“It is very important we leverage capital,” Dubie said. “I would never lean on a bank.”

Shumlin disagreed.

“You bet I would lean on them and I think we need to,” he said.

One area they agreed was on how much they want the job.

“I care deeply about the state of Vermont. We will do what I say and I will get tough things done,” Shumlin said.

Dubie said that as a fifth-generation Vermonter he had “a passion to serve” the state as governor.

http://www.timesargus.com/article/20100916/NEWS01/709169913/1027/ELECTIONS

BY TERRI HALLENBECK, FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER – Wednesday, September 15, 2010

COLCHESTER — The two major-party candidates for governor disagreed at a debate Wednesday night about approaches to cutting taxes, about what government can do on health care, about abortion and about clearing the air already clouded in the campaign.

The 90-minute debate, which aired live on Vermont  Public Radio, grew uncomfortable early on, as Republican Brian Dubie called on Democrat Peter Shumlin not to keep harping on a misstatement Dubie made in a debate Monday in which Dubie erroneously said he would target the most vulnerable with budget cuts. 

“I am very disappointed my misstatement from the previous debate has been used for the last 48 hours that really is not consistent with the correction of the misstatement,” Dubie said.

Shumlin wasn’t budging. He said Dubie’s economic development plan, in which he pledged to limit state government growth to 2 percent, would require Dubie to target the most vulnerable with cuts.

Dubie, who’s been criticized for not providing details about what he would cut to reach that 2 percent limit, offered a few possibilities. He would look to state employees to accept reforms in their pension plan as teachers did this year; eliminate the Vermont Interactive Television program, which he called outmoded technology; and cap education spending. 

It was the second debate of the campaign to replace retiring Republican Gov. Jim Douglas after Shumlin won a close primary race. Shumlin, 54, of Putney is leader of the Senate. Dubie, 51, of Essex Junction, is lieutenant governor. Independent candidate Dennis Steele stood outside the VPR studio, angry that he was excluded. 

Given a chance to ask each other questions directly, Shumlin asked Dubie what he would do if a bill that would restrict a woman’s access to reproductive choice reached his desk, noting that such bills have passed in other states. 

Dubie acknowledged he was pro-life on the abortion issue, but he wouldn’t say what he would do with such a bill. “The issues of this campaign are jobs,” Dubie said. 

“I’m not going to answer every hypothetical. It’s a federal issue. The state of Vermont is not going to overturn federal law. What you’re trying to do is divert Vermonters from the issues.” 

“I’m not buying it,” Shumlin responded. “This is an important health and civil rights issue.” 

The two also tussled over who would do realistically cut taxes. 

“The most fair thing we could do is work to lower taxes for all Vermonters,” Dubie said. 

“I want to cut taxes,” Shumlin said. “Brian wants to cut them for the super rich. I want to cut them for the middle class.” 

Dubie argued that Shumlin’s plans to create a government-run health system and expand early childhood education would require raising taxes. 

Shumlin argued that Dubie’s plan to lower income taxes would favor the wealthy. 

Dubie took Shumlin to task for his plan to create a government-run health care plan. Recently passed federal legislation won’t allow Vermont to go it alone, Dubie noted. He said the state should instead focus on cutting existing health care costs. 

“I’m very cautious of having a single-payer health care plan,” Dubie said, noting estimates that it would cost $2 billion and also contending such a plan when he was in the military was inferior.

Shumlin said not trying was not an option. “How can we afford to go another six to eight years?” Shumlin asked. “I’m going to pass a single-payer health care plan that will cost less. My plan will save us money.”

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100915/NEWS03/100915046/Dubie-Shumlin-spar-over-jobs-health-care-taxes-and-gentlemanlinees

Contact Terri Hallenbeck at 651-4887 or thallenbeck@burlingtonfreepress.com.

When Peter Shumlin this week leaped on comments by Brian Dubie about Vermont Yankee, Dubie got a taste of the kind of treatment he is going to get in the General Election.

Shumlin is one of the five Democrats running in the Aug. 24 primary for governor, and it is far from certain that he will be the one to take on Dubie in the General Election. But he took the opportunity to blast comments by Dubie that seemed to cast a positive light on a report about the prospects for Vermont Yankee’s future.

Dubie’s comments came in an interview on Vermont Public Radio. He was discussing a report from the Public Oversight Panel last week about the continued operation of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant beyond the expiration of its license in 2012. Dubie said that if the owners of Yankee, Entergy Vermont, were to embrace a culture of safety and make necessary investments then the Public Oversight Panel saw no reason that Vermont Yankee couldn’t operate beyond 2012.

Shumlin saw his chance, and he turned what could have been passing comments on the radio into an issue about Dubie’s attitude toward Vermont Yankee.

In fact, Dubie’s characterization of the panel’s report on Vermont Yankee put a positive spin on a highly negative report. The panel, which was created by the Legislature, found serious problems at Yankee, raising doubts about the plant’s continued operation.

These problems include a corporate culture that does not encourage scrupulous attention to the truth, as well as the failure to devote adequate resources to the physical systems. These problems are “systemic,” according to the panel’s report. Vermont Yankee cannot operate reliably for another 20 years unless Entergy corrects this corporate culture and spends enough money on the plant, the report said.

The main thrust of the panel’s report was a warning: Things cannot go on like this. The report called what had happened at Yankee an “organization-wide breakdown” in attention to detail and in attention to the truth.

Dubie did not deny these findings. His spokesman said that Dubie believes safety is paramount and that the company’s actions were indefensible. Rather, Dubie was saying that if reality were different, there would be no reason why Yankee could not continue to operate. If the corporate culture could be corrected and we could receive adequate assurances of safety, then there would be no reason not to extend the plant’s license.

An election campaign is when statements such as Dubie’s inevitably come under minute parsing, with all shadings analyzed and all possible meanings teased out. In one sense, Dubie was merely stating the obvious: If everything were fine at Yankee, then everything would be fine.

But Dubie’s words suggested an eagerness to look on the bright side when it comes to Yankee. He claimed the report suggested that if a long list of mistakes were corrected, then perhaps the plant could carry on. But the emphasis of the report was on the list of mistakes and the fact that they hadn’t been corrected and doubt that the plant could carry on.

Dubie can expect more close parsing of his words as the election season continues. He is not as politically shrewd and verbally agile as Gov. James Douglas, and his Democratic opponent can be expected to pick up on any effort to spin a story to his liking.

Vermont Yankee may be a difficult issue for Dubie. Those who believe Vermont Yankee has been an important source of electric power and of well-paying jobs have been undercut by Yankee’s record of misstatements and mistakes. All five Democratic candidates believe the plant should be closed in 2012, and Dubie may lose credibility if he continues to look beyond the warning signs about Yankee to an unjustified rosy scenario.

Shumlin has made Yankee an important issue in his political career. But his Democratic primary opponents — Matt Dunne, Douglas Racine, Deborah Markowitz and Susan Bartlett — are also ready to see Vermont Yankee shut down in 2012. They, too, could be expected to take Dubie to task for looking past warnings about Entergy’s failures.

“Brian (Dubie) made comments on VPR last week that I am really concerned about… and I don’t think… they don’t reflect what we need from the next governor,” said Peter Shumlin, Democrat running for governor of Vermont.

Shumlin disagrees with Republican candidate Brian Dubie’s assessment of a new report about Vermont Yankee. The Public Oversight panel found last week the nuclear plant has a corporate culture problem and does not consistently spend enough on safety.

“What Brian indicated was that he trusts Entergy Louisiana, that he thinks they can change and that he thinks the report indicates that the problems are minor and can be overcome. That isn’t what the report says,” Shumlin said.

“I stand by what I said,” Dubie said. “I quoted the report.”

Republican Brian Dubie has stayed out of the spotlight. He does not have a primary race. Dubie supports Yankee and says if it’s proven safe it should keep operating and he thinks the report supports that.

“I’m not here to defend Entergy,” Dubie said. “What I’m here to say is we need to look at safety and we need to look at the importance of jobs, and when I give a pink slip to a fellow Vermonter I’m going to make sure all the questions are answered.”

All five Democrats for governor want Yankee to close in 2012. But Shumlin is the first to attack Dubie, trying to set the tone that he’s a frontrunner… already looking to the November election. But Shumlin needs to win the Democratic primary first on August 24. He admits it’s a tossup.

“It’s a wide open race,” he said.

Shumlin also said Tuesday that if Yankee closes in 2012, he would tax the plant to store its nuclear waste in Vernon. Brian Dubie’s campaign says it will have to study the issue but that Dubie supports having Entergy pay for clean up and maintenance of the site.

Kristin Carlson – WCAX News

http://www.wcax.com/global/video.asp?clipId=4979452&topVideoCatNo=63459&autoStart=true

BURLINGTON – Senate President Peter Shumlin opened up an attack on Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie Tuesday, accusing the Republican candidate for governor of going too easy on Vermont Yankee executives and misrepresenting a state report on the plant’s future.

Shumlin, a Windham County Democrat running for governor, said Dubie places too much trust in executives with Entergy Nuclear Vermont, the company that owns the nuclear power plant, after accusations this year that they misled regulators.

He also accused the Republican candidate of misrepresenting a report on Vermont Yankee by the Public Oversight Panel to paint a rosier picture of the plant’s chances to continue operation after 2012, when its current license expires.

“I’ve lost faith in Entergy Louisiana’s ability to tell us the truth,” said Shumlin, who led a vote in the Vermont Senate in February to reject the plant’s relicensing. “I don’t trust their word anymore. But it seems that Brian Dubie does.”

Corry Bliss, Dubie’s campaign manager, responded that Shumlin “has his facts wrong” and the lieutenant governor has always believed that “safety must come first at Vermont Yankee.”

“He has never wavered in this belief or in the belief that Entergy’s actions are indefensible,” Bliss said. “The evidence clearly shows Entergy misled the public and lost the public’s trust. Rebuilding that trust, if at all possible, will be a slow and carefully scrutinized process.”

Vermont Yankee’s future in the state is expected to become a political issue in the fall after the primaries, when Democrats have selected a nominee who will face Dubie in the November general election.

The company, which employs hundreds of Vermonters, saw its credibility whacked this year when it was revealed that executives misled regulators and lawmakers about the existence of underground pipes — infrastructure that was leaking tritium and other radioactive materials into the ground.

Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell is now investigating whether the company intentionally misled the state. He said last week that his office has received more than 2 million pages of documents and will soon begin interviewing Entergy executives.

“I wouldn’t say we are drowning in paperwork, but we are swamped,” Sorrell said last week. “This may take some time.”

Shumlin’s criticism of Dubie centers on an interview that the Republican gave to Vermont Public Radio last week, shortly after the release of a report by the state’s nuclear consultants that painted a dire picture of Entergy and its chances to operate beyond 2012.

When asked about the report on VPR last week, Dubie said its conclusion was that “if there is a culture of safety that management would embrace — absolutely I totally agree with that — and if investments are made that, if investments continue to be made in Vermont Yankee, the legislative-appointed Public Oversight committee saw no reason that Vermont Yankee couldn’t operate past 2012.”

Shumlin said Dubie’s statement on the radio show appears to come more from Entergy’s press release about the report rather than the report itself.

“The report stated that there were serious problems with Entergy Louisiana’s corporate culture,” Shumlin said. “These are problems that can’t be fix in one week or one month or even one year. They are systemic problems.”

Arnie Gundersen, one of the nuclear consultants on the Public Oversight Panel who worked on the report, agreed Tuesday that Dubie gave the wrong impression of the report’s conclusions. He said the report expressed strong doubts that the company could make the necessary corporate and infrastructure changes necessary to operate after 2012.

“The lieutenant governor’s quotes are based not on the history of Vermont Yankee, but his wishes for improvement,” Gundersen said. “You don’t make decisions based on wishes, you make them based on history.”

He also took issue with another statement from Dubie: That the report was the product of the Legislature and that Gov. James Douglas’ administration had no input.

Douglas’ first appointee to the panel died before the process was complete, but another member, Fred Sears, was appointed to the panel by the other members — with the blessing of Douglas, he said.

When asked about Gundersen’s comments, the Dubie campaign stood by their original statement issued after Shumlin’s press conference, held at his campaign’s offices in Burlington early Tuesday afternoon.

“I don’t see the difference between the report and LG Dubie’s comments,” Bliss wrote in an e-mail.

Vermont Yankee, which began operating in 1972, is scheduled to close in March 2012 unless it wins approval for a 20-year license extension. The Vermont Senate voted against continued operation in a 26-4 vote in February.

Dubie, in his role as lieutenant governor, presided over the Senate debate. Shumlin, as Senate president, led the charge against the bill, which would have allowed the Vermont Public Service Board to issue a decision on the plant’s continued operation.

http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100728/NEWS02/707289945/0/NEWS&template=printart

Former Senator Cheryl Rivers (D-Windsor)

Senator John Campbell (D-Windsor County)