This Just In! From your friends at Vermont Daily Chronicle: State Sen. Russ Ingalls, a very conservative fellow from the Kingdom, is launching a… well, he calls it a party, but he insists it’s not a party at all. It’s just called a “party” to, you know, keep us all on our toes or summat.

This apparent contradiction forced the Republican-friendly Chronicle to post this quadruple backflip of clarification:

[Editor’s note: Previous VDC coverage, including an earlier edition of this new story, has included references to “a new party,” words Ingalls said he has not made in public or in private. He confirmed to VDC today that he is starting a platform, and that he never said he was starting a party. He did not say, when asked, if he plans for The Vermont Party to become a political party. As a result, for clarity’s sake, VDC has edited wording in this news story from ‘a new party’ to ‘The Vermont Party.’]

Gee, I dunno how the Chronicle learned of something called The Vermont Party and jumped to the conclusion that the venture was… a party. How presumptuous. How rude. How unfair to the good Senator.

There’s also this quote from Ingalls published by The Newport Daily Express: “There are a lot of people who don’t feel represented by either party. We’re looking at creating something people can get behind that focuses on Vermont.” 

Well, that sure as hell sounds like he’s starting a new party — catering to those “who don’t feel represented by either party,” a pointed slap at the VTGOP (and a backhanded dismissal of the Progressive Party.)

Ingalls’ announcement caused consternation in Republican circles. Was he planning to abandon the Republican party? Could this a new movement nominate its own candidates and potentially split the conservative vote? The Chronicle quotes multiple concerned Republicans including Senate Minority Leader Scott Beck (Republicans “are already focused on” those who feel excluded from the corridors of power) and VTGOP Chair Paul Dame, who said the party is “a tent big enough to address all of the things that rural Vermont has been ignored on during the previous supermajority session,” a tangled bit of phraseology that would send a middle school English teacher scrambling for a red pen.

The Chronicle also reports that Dame has reached out to Ingalls to ask if he intends to abandon the Republican label, but “has yet to receive a response.” Which seems a bit off, although otherwise Ingalls seems intent on stamping out this line of speculation.

But if The Vermont Party isn’t a party, what the hell is it?

Well, its Facebook page, adorned with an obviously AI image featuring the silhouettes of a bunch of rural-lookin’ folks against the backdrop of a scenic landscape, defines The Vermont Party as “a grassroots platform dedicated to bringing Vermonters together around the issues that matter most in our state.” Platform, eh? Not a party, just a set of ideas and principles?

There’s also this unfortunate, and probably deliberate, callback to the bad old days of civil unions backlash: “Our mission is simple: Keep Vermont, Vermont.” The rest of the relatively new Facebook page (first post was from June 5) is festooned with green-heavy AI images and catchy slogans like “Make Vermont Vermont Again,” which again has unfortunate and certainly deliberate overtones for an allegedly “non partisan” organization.

It also refers to Vermont as “the Purest State in the Country,” which I’m sure is not at all a coded reference to our overwhelmingly white population. I’d also like to see a source for that designation.

The Vermont Party’s Facebook page boasts a whole 92 followers as of this writing, so it’s off to a red-hot start. It faces a lot of competition in the conservative ideosphere, including the Chronicle, a very active state chapter of Americans for Prosperity, a glossy newcomer called Rural Vermont Rising, and the VTGOP itself, which is largely captive of the rural and conservative people Ingalls claims are unrepresented.

He needs to figure out exactly what The Vermont Party is and is not, the sooner the better. Otherwise, this effort is likely headed straight for the dustbin of history.