VTGOP Chair “Super Dave” Sunderland continues to push his hokey “challenge” to meet his Dem counterpart, Dottie Deans, for a debate on the Vermont economy. He first threw down the gauntlet in a letter dated July 10, and has occasionally refreshed it via Twitter ever since. Last night, for instance:
Funny, it hasn’t drawn a reply from Deans, nor has it attracted the slightest interest from the Vermont media. Pretty sure I’m the only person who’s reported it (outside of GOP circles), and that’s only been to make fun of it.
Because it’s a publicity stunt, and Super Dave knows it. He knew from the start that Deans wouldn’t respond. He was just hoping for a little free publicity, or simply for the chance to call Deans a coward.
Which she isn’t, not at all. She’s kinda busy these days, having a strong party apparatus and a robust staff to manage. I realize that Super Dave is just kinda rattling around in his largely empty VTGOP headquarters (paid staff: TWO, and both probably part time*) and thus has time to issue bogus challenges. And I realize that he’s grasping at straws for free media. But he knows that it’s not the party chair’s job to engage in public debates.
*Considering that “Victory Coordinator” Jeff Bartley is still on staff at the Tarrant family firm MyWebGrocer and, per his Twitter feed, recently took a trip to Disney World, I doubt that he’s got his shoulder to the campaign wheel 24/7.
The party chair is responsible for the organization, administration, and growth of a party’s infrastructure. It’s a big job, and it’s primarily done behind the scenes. Dottie Deans knows what her job is, and what it isn’t. You’ll note that, as reflected in the above Tweet, she doesn’t even have a Twitter account of her own. If Super Dave hasn’t achieved a similar level of clarity about his own responsibilities, well, that’s his lookout.
Besides, there’d be little public interest in a debate between two party chairs. The vast majority of voters see high-profile candidates as a party’s public face, not some internal functionary. Voters will pay attention to the Shumlin/Milne debates this fall. They would have no reason to watch a debate between two people who are not running for any office where they might actually affect public policy.
So it’s a publicity stunt, then, now, and forever.
The Vermont Political Observer. 
Voters will pay attention to the Shumlin/Milne debates this fall. They would have no reason to watch a debate between two people who are not running for any office where they might actually affect public policy.
IF, of course, Scott Milne decides to show up for any such debates. He has declined to participate in a channel 17 debate among Republican candidates in the gubernatorial primary, plus the Libertarian. Skipping any debate or other event just now, given the unexpected death of Scott Milne’s mother Marion, would be totally understandable, but the article I saw did not offer that as a reason, suggesting that Mr. Milne had declined before his mother died.
R.I.P. Marion Milne. Sincerest condolences to her family.
NanuqFC
There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. ~ Edith Wharton
At his formal campaign launch, Milne made it very clear that he wasn’t taking his primary opponents seriously. I’m sure he feels there’s no value in sharing a stage with them.
It is, of course, just a bit ironic when he’s slamming Shumlin for not campaigning until Labor day and Dave Sunderland is trying to goad Dottie Deans into a pointless debate.