When you already hold nearly two thirds of the seats in a legislative body, defending them is typically the name of the game. But this year it appears Vermont Democrats actually increased their ranks — from 94 to 96 of 150.
Peter Hirschfeld over at the Vermont Press Bureau has a good story today about the guy who helped make that happen: 26-year-old Nick Charyk, director of the Vermont Democratic House Campaign. Here’s a little snippet:
Effective recruitment is the kind of labor-intensive undertaking for which professional staff is usually needed. Charyk spent much of 2011 embedding in Republican districts he believed Democrats could win, or in Democratic districts where outgoing officeholders would leave open seats.
“I sat down with as many people as I could, had coffee, developed a list of people, five or 10 people in town that might make great candidates and worked hard to recruit them,” Charyk said. “The metaphor we use is find out who built the Little League field, and go talk to them first.”
We’ve made this point before — a couple of times — but it’s worth repeating: You just can’t win if you’re not putting up good candidates. I mean, duh. But really.
Anyway, check out Hirschfeld’s story. Two-thirds of it is posted on the Press Bureau’s blog. But you should really go buy a copy of the Barre-Montpelier Times-Argus or the Rutland Herald. Because, hey, newspapers are totes dying, right? And someone’s gotta pay Hirschfeld’s salary.




“You just can’t win if you’re not putting up good candidates”
Did you not pay attention to the election results? Zuckerman, Shumlin, Sorrel all won. Even Hoffer won for crying out loud. You statement is utterly absurd. In this state you just can’t win if you are a republican. If there was no party designation and all candidates were pooled on the same ballot with no indication of party support I guarantee there would be different results.
This state has sadly become so extremely partisan that any numbnuts that wants to run as a democrat stands a chance. Heck, if I run for office I’m certainly not running as a republican…. independent maybe but not as a republican…. that’s just political suicide.
Note to Lenore Broughton: find yourself a person who can work like this and you might just accomplish something.
I don’t think Vermont voters are capable of distinguishing between Vermont Republicans and National Republicans, which are, admittedly, a despicable lot.