In the wake of primary defeats suffered by business-backed “Democrats” challenging incumbents, Gov. Phil Scott and VTGOP Chair Paul Dame have taken to blaming everyone but themselves. The primary electorate, said Scott, includes “the extremes” among voters, resulting in “more polarization.” Dame put it less politely, saying the VDP “is no place for moderates any more.”

Yeah, well, bullshit.

Here’s what happened. A few people with no history of involvement in Democratic politics decided to run as Democrats. They were allowed to do so. Their campaigns were generously bankrolled by well-known conservative donors, including prominent Republican figures like former gubernatorial candidate Bruce Lisman. They were openly endorsed on primary day by the sitting Republican governor. And the voters opted for incumbent Democrats instead.

That doesn’t make ’em intolerant. It just means they’re not gullible enough to fall for the okey doke.

Dame has a funny idea of the VDP’s mission, as he complained that “Democrats are electing adversaries, not allies for Governor Scott.” Oh my God, how dare they? How dare they have principles and issues and an agenda of their own?

Need I say it’s not a political party’s job to elect “allies” for the other side? Honestly, I don’t know how Dame says some of this stuff without his face splitting right in two from the sheer pressure of his mendacity.

The reason that some centrists sought the Democratic imprimatur, and the reason that conservative donors coalesced behind them, is that the Vermont Republican Party is a functionally useless organization. It has no resources, it can offer no tangible support, and its ranks are so filled with nutjobs and cranks that any sane politician wouldn’t be caught dead in a party meeting. I mean, if Stewart Ledbetter had any hope of winning office in a very progressive Senate district, do you think it would have helped to get all buddy-buddy with the likes of Christopher-Aaron Felker, the anti-trans activist who chairs the Burlington Republican Committee?

The Vermont Democratic Party is a functioning organization with principles and purpose. Dame touts the VTGOP as a more open, inclusive place. True, like the abandoned house trailer pictured above. They’ll take anyone willing to walk through the — well, I was going to say “door,” but that amenity is long gone. They let H. Brooke Paige festoon their statewide ballot on the regular. They happily nominate anyone willing to collect petition signatures. The Republicans’ tickets are full of unelectable extremists.

And apparently we can look forward to the governor lending his tangible support to a bunch of those people, as he did in 2022. ““We’re going to be reaching out to candidates and offering whatever support we can provide,” Scott campaign manager Jason Maulucci told VTDigger. Well, with the primary in the rear view and those centrist “Dems” off the ballot, that means Scott will be endorsing and actively supporting Republicans.

Republicans like “Farmer” John Klar, Jarrod Sammis, and Rob North, who not only gained Scott’s active support in 2022 (and lost badly anyway), but was subsequently appointed by Scott to the District 3 Environmental Commission.

Um, North is an extremely conservative Christian who belongs to a church that forbids divorce, bars women from the ministry, and believes that the theory of evolution is heresy. Because we need Young Earthers making environmental decisions. In a “moderate” administration.

And now Maulucci is promising more, much more, of this. “We’re going to pound the pavement” from now until November, he said. That means actively supporting Republicans like North and Sammis and Klar. Because Rodgers notwithstanding, the Republican ticket is largely occupied by extremists. The primary gambit having blown up in the governor’s face, he will have no choice but to lie down with the dogs and hope he doesn’t wake up with fleas.