Freyne Land

*Update* at 3:20 P.M. Re: "Capitol Domes"

No surprises, eh?

In fact, the latest news the morning after is that the NRCC has started running a TV spot for Marvelous Martha Rainville. This inaugural one is positive and just about Martha. That will no doubt change.

Our Freyne Land Interview this Wednesday morning was with Congressman Bernie Sanders' campaign manager Jeff Weaver. Weaver, a St. Albans, Vermont native, is a former Marine and Georgetown Law School grad. Mr. Weaver, a 41-year-old father of three, first hooked up with Ol' Bernardo on the 1986 governor's race. Then he was with him in the 1988 U.S. House race, both of which he lost. Sanders, the ex-Burlington mayor, first won his House seat in 1990 and has never looked back.

Q. Bernie did pretty well, eh?

A. We did very well. Obviously Bernie appreciates the strong showing he got from rank-and-file Democrats across the state and now that we’re in the General Election we hope that our opponent Rich Tarrant will stop the mudslinging, will stop the despicable negative advertising and we’d like to get onto a discussion of the real issues facing the people of Vermont.

Q. Top 2 Issues?

A. The top issue is the decline of the middle class in America. People working longer hours for longer wages, having a hard time affording health care, college education, you know, the bread-and-butter economic issues that Vermonters are facing.

And I think the other big issue is the war, which Bernie and the whole Vermont delegation opposed from the beginning and we need a new strategy to bring the American troops home.

Q. Isn't this November 7 election really about whether or not the GOP will hold absolute control in Washington for two more years?

A. Look, it’s no secret that Americans and Vermonters in particular are tired of radical right-wing, one-party rule in Washington. We think it’s time to break up their monopoly on power so we can have some real accountability in Washington.

Q. What are your duties today?

A. Today I’ll be delivering Bernie’s petitions down to the secretary of state’s office to put him on the ballot in the General Election as an Independent and to respectfully decline the very generous Democratic nomination that Bernie won yesterday.

Q. What was the final vote total there?

A. It was a five-way primary and at this point it looks like Bernie got 94 percent of the vote.  We’re very pleased with that and we really do appreciate the strong showing Vermont Democrats put forward for Bernie yesterday. We look forward to the General Election where we’ll build a coalition of Democrats, Independents and many ran-an-file Republicans who are tired of George Bush/ Dick Cheney rule.

Q. And the reason Bernie will decline the Democratic nomination he just won with 94 percent of the vote is because why?

A. Bernie is an Independent, he has always been an Independent, and the Democrats put him on their primary ballot as a way to ratify the unanimous endorsement that Bernie received from the Democratic State Committee earlier this spring. That decision has been soundly ratified by the rank-and-file Democrats across this state. But Bernie is an Independent and will be running as an Independent on the ballot in November.

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Monday Afternoon Update: Thanks to ED in Lebannon, New Hampshire for alerting us to this one! It's about hair...on heads.

It comes from "Capitol Domes," an "insightful" article in something we've never seen before called Radar Magazine. Do check it out.

The character to Bernie's left , Rep. Cynthia McKinney of Georgia, recently lost her seat in an August primary. The character to his right, former Rep. James Traficant of Ohio, is in federal prison. Gave some snappy speeches, did he!

Interesting company...hairwise.