For those unfamiliar, this was The New Day, an uber-popular tag team in the WWE who began their entrance routine with the slogan “It’s a new day, yes it is.” I’m not suggesting that newly minted gubernatorial nominee Amanda Janoo adopt it as a campaign slogan because WWE has squadrons of copyright lawyers on speed dial. But the sentiment is appropriate after Janoo, a candidate of progressive ideas, won out over the well-funded but sketchily defined Aly Richards.

Richards began her campaign with a pitch amounting to “A lot like Phil Scott, but nicer and maybe more competent” and ended with the generous backing of an independent PAC operating under the blandest possible name “Time for a Change.” Turns out that wasn’t a compelling message. Who could have guessed.

It was a big missed opportunity for Richards. Her stewardship of Let’s Grow Kids is an authentic political success story. She shepherded a major child care reform plan through the Legislature and got Gov. Phil Scott to sign it*. Since then, he’s been constantly whingeing about one Democratic initiative or another — but never ever utters a word about the child care plan. To me, that’s proof of its popularity.

*Correction: Scott vetoed the bill. Which makes his subsequent reticence all the more noticeable.

Richards could have used child care as a banner of progressive reform. Or if you prefer, solid Democratic reform. She could have presented plans to address other major issues instead of vague gestures. Instead, she used LGK as proof of her backstage maneuvering success. It was a process argument, and those rarely resonate with voters.

Richards’ campaign outspent Janoo’s by a margin of $347,000 to $255,000. On top of that, Time for a Change spent a cool $230,000 on Richards’ behalf. She didn’t control TFAC’s actions but they should have given her a solid advantage in pure name recognition, which neither candidate had in any quantity. Did it close the gap? Probably, but not enough.

I doubt that TFAC spent its money in the smartest possible way; all but $8,500 of its expenditures were reported between July 31 and August 10 — a mere 12 days. That’s not much time to make an impression. And when you spend that much that quickly, tactics and strategy often take a back seat to simply shoveling the cash out the door as fast as you can.

Janoo held a slight but persistent lead throughout primary night. It stretched out to around three percentage points by the time the Associated Press called the race, shortly before 11:00 p.m. Right now, with 99% of the vote in, Janoo’s lead is at 2.6 percentage points. Not a runaway, but decisive.

And now for Janoo, the hard part begins. Less than three months remain before Election Day, and she exits the primary with less than $50,000 in the bank. Gov. Phil Scott has more than $300,000 on hand, thanks mainly to a large surplus left over from 2024. And he’s barely tried to raise money this year. If he thinks he’s in any danger, that will change.

I’ll get to what Janoo needs to do in a moment. But first, a word about what Democrats need to do. Janoo has proven her worth as a vote-getter, and there are signs that the electorate is getting tired of Scott’s act. The Democrats need to get their shoulders behind Janoo’s candidacy. Treat her like the party’s standard-bearer instead of that embarrassing relative you hope stays away at Thanksgiving.

First thing, big endorsement party for Janoo. Press conference with as many officeholders and party officials as possible. Attendance as mandatory as you can make it. Those officeholders who hold substantial campaign reserves need to show up with big fat Publishers’ Clearinghouse novelty checks to the Janoo campaign. Talkin’ to you, Mike Pieciak, Charity Clark, Sarah Copeland Hanzas, Molly Gray, Tim Ashe, Nikhil Goyal, Ben Brickner, Bram Kranichfeld, etc., etc., etc. There are a bunch of prominent pols who could afford maximum $5,180 donations to Janoo, and they should write those checks pronto. It’d jumpstart Janoo’s fundraising and send a signal to Democratic donors that she is a worthy investment.

Janoo remains a longshot, but she’s already beaten the odds in the primary and there are definite warning signs for Scott. One thing that became clear on primary night was that the University of New Hampshire Survey Center polls were RIGHT. They showed Gray holding a huge lead over Ryan McLaren and Esther Charlestin. They showed Janoo consistently but not overwhelmingly ahead of Richards. They showed Gerald Malloy wiping the floor with Mark Coester.

They also showed increasing public dissatisfaction with Phil Scott. His approval rating, which used to hover comfortably in the 60s, dipped below 50% in the most recent UNH poll. Given the results on primary night, maybe we should start taking that finding seriously.

As for Janoo, she should feel a sense of vindication from the primary, both personally and politically. She should step into the general campaign boldly and without fear. She should not temper her message or “tack to the center,” the thing all lefty candidates are told to do but that makes them look inauthentic, calculated. Janoo didn’t win the primary because of James Carville-style maneuvering. She won it by being herself.

She should not be afraid to attack Scott on his obvious managerial weaknesses. Just about every big challenge Vermont faces has gotten worse during Scott’s tenure. He’s spent far more time battling with Democrats than advancing his own ideas or working toward consensus instead of vetoing bills by the dozen. She can contrast her own experience working with political leaders on progressive reforms with Scott’s word salad of dithering and naysaying.

Janoo has a ton of work to do and not much time to do it. She’ll need luck in addition to hard work. She’ll also need the real, tangible, sold support of the Democratic donor base and party establishment. Here’s hoping she gets it, unlike Christine Hallquist, Brenda Siegel, David Zuckerman, and Esther Charlestin.