Well, okay then. VTDigger has confirmed what was originally reported eleven days ago by Guy Page of the Vermont Daily Chronicle: Miro Weinberger, the outgoing mayor of Burlington, is thinking about a run for an unspecified (but almost certainly gubernatorial) statewide office.

Digger might have had the decency to credit Page for being first, but the standards for crediting rival news outlets around here are, shall we say, highly elastic. The first and last rule seems to be, “Avoid giving credit at all times if at all possible.”

Anyway, so what about a Miro run for governor? You won’t be surprised, given my view of his tenure as mayor, that I’m not doing any cartwheels, metaphorical or otherwise.

But sure, what the hell, why not? Assuming Gov. Phil Scott seeks a fifth term, and why wouldn’t he, then the Democratic nomination will be about as valuable as an expired pet food coupon. Might as well be Miro as anybody else. Any Democrat with serious statewide aspirations is going to sit this one out, just as they did in 2018, 2020, and 2022. But in Miro’s political condition, taking that coupon to the checkout could be a gamble worth taking. He’s got nothing else going on.

I will offer a word of warning, though.

I’m sure his due diligence will include making the Democratic rounds and trying to secure promises of support. My advice to him: Don’t believe anything you hear. Mainstream Democrats would love to have a recognizable member of their tribe make the run. God knows, they don’t want to get stuck with a Brenda Siegel or Dave Zuckerman again.

But that’s as far as it goes. They want a name brand on the ballot, but they’re not going to get in the trenches. They’re not going to give any amount of money that hurts. Besides, a lot of ’em are going to vote for Phil Scott. Again.

And just in case the sun falls from the sky, the earth is rent asunder and Scott decides to retire, Miro might well get elbowed aside by more promising Democrats who’d stampede their way onto stage if given the opportunity. The name “Pieciak” comes to mind, as does “Copeland Hanzas.”

Any Democrat with common sense would look on Miro as (1) untested outside the Queen City and (b) damaged goods. After all, this is a guy who hasn’t won a majority in his own city since 2014. He doesn’t have a base. And you’re asking a guy who’s never appeared on a ballot in non-0540 zip codes to introduce himself to voters across Vermont, many of whom harbor negative feelings toward his city. And while he’s more or less managed the trick of avoiding responsibility for the public safety concerns so keenly felt by many Burlingtonians, he is wholly identified elsewhere as the leader of a community whose leading export is images of crime, vandalism, and trash as seen so frequently on Vermonters’ TV screens.

Also, for a politician who’s been on the scene continuously for a decade-plus, there’s precious little evidence that he knows how to run an effective campaign. See 2021, when he barely beat a guy who probably gets carded every time he goes to a bar, and 2018, when he won because the left failed to unify behind a single candidate.

In sum, Weinberger would be a bigger name than any recent Phil Scott challenger and he’d make a race appear competitive — on the surface if you squint real hard. But is his dalliance with a run for governor a potential game-changer? I don’t see it.