Category Archives: Bruce Lisman

Scott and Lisman go for the low-hanging fruit

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Predictable but disappointing. As VPR’s Steve Zind reports:

Bruce Lisman and Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, Vermont’s two Republican gubernatorial candidates, say the state should hold off on allowing refugees from Syria to settle in Vermont.

Oh, hooray, yippee, huzzah. What leadership, pandering to our fears instead of our values.

The two candidates are also showing their ignorance. Well, either that or their willingness to lie through their teeth.

“I think it’s incumbent upon us to [bar Syrian refugees] until such time as the federal government can prove it’s meeting its national security obligations,” said Scott. “Making sure that there is a rigorous process to be sure that it’s just peace-loving Syrians and others that want to come into our states.”

Hey, Phil. The federal government is meeting its national security obligations. It has an extremely rigorous process for vetting refugees. So much so, that it forces us to basically default on our humanitarian obligations.

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Postscript: Bruce’s booties

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A couple days ago, I noted the interesting footwear Bruce Lisman chose for this week’s Gov Pitch event:

Bruce Lisman, apparently desperate to come across as a true-blue Vermonter, sported a pair of beige shitkickers — the kind of boots you’d normally wear in a barnyard.

Well, turns out I was misled by the available images of the event. An attendee sent me a note setting the record straight:

They weren’t your traditional shitkickers. They were suede booties the likes of which I haven’t seen since 1977.

Hahahaha. That’s even worse than deliberately dressing like a farmer. My apologies to Bruce Lisman, Bootiemaster.

Evidence of Bruce Lisman’s appeal (hint: microscopic)

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This week’s “Fair Game” column by Paul Heintz had some notable tidings near the end: Campaign for Vermont, the public policy nonprofit founded — and almost exclusively funded — by Bruce Lisman, appears to be on its last legs.

Now that Lisman is fully ensconced in his campaign — and has turned off the $1.35 million spigot that funded CFV — the organization appears to have fallen on tough times. Earlier this month, policy and operations manager Ben Kinsley decamped to the Lisman campaign. And now executive director Cyrus Patten says he’s on his way out the door.

According to Patten, who apparently isn’t averse to spilling bad news now that he’s out the door, CFV has a mere $40,000 left in the bank.

Lisman and Patten were constantly bragging about CFV’s alleged influence in the Statehouse and its progress in building an independent political movement, but there was precious little objective evidence to support their claims. After Lisman stopped writing the big checks, Patten claimed that an aggressive fundraising/membership campaign was starting to pay dividends.

Guess that was just a steamin’ pile of bullshit.

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All boot, no cattle

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So the five major-party candidates for governor got together earlier this week for Gov Pitch, a forum on boosting Vermont’s economy hosted by the fine folks at Fresh Tracks Capital. A couple of items caught my attention: Bruce Lisman’s curious choice of footwear, and the impenetrable vagueness of the Phil Scott campaign.

First, Bruce’s Boots.

Four of the five were dressed for business, including well-polished footwear in black or brown. Bruce Lisman, apparently desperate to come across as a true-blue Vermonter, sported a pair of beige shitkickers — the kind of boots you’d normally wear in a barnyard. Here’s a piece of a Seven Days photo:

Matt Dunne, Bruce "Boots" Lisman, Shap Smith

Matt Dunne, Bruce “Boots” Lisman, Shap Smith

I seriously doubt he ever wore those to his digs in the dark heart of Wall Street. Then again, we’re kinda-sorta supposed to forget about his decades-long immersion in the culture of high finance and accept him as a born-and-bred Vermont boy. Just like, mmm, Rich Tarrant.

Anyway, nice try, Bruce. But in the future, you might just stick with the Guccis and try to prove your bona fides with the substance of your remarks.

On to Phil Scott, whose campaign has trumpeted his LEADERSHIP but said little to indicate where, exactly, he wants to LEAD us.

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Bruce Lisman has some stuff to sort out

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Well, our very own Wall Street panjandrum has formally launched his gubernatorial bid with a bold, perhaps unprecedented, first move:

He okayed a campaign logo without a speck of green in it.

Instead, he bravely opted for a sky-blue field, backing what appears to be the label from a long-lost brewery: Lisman Lager, the beer that claims to be different from all the others but tastes oddly familiar.

That’s the bold move. The rest of his launch was a pastiche of mixed messages and same-old same-old.

Let’s start with his Jeb! problem. As a presidential candidate, Jeb Bush had to decide how to address the legacy of George W. Bush. And he hasn’t. He’s tried to present himself as his own man, but that effort is undercut every time he rushes to W’s defense. He winds up talking much more than he should about 9/11, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Lisman’s “George W. Bush” is his Wall Street career.

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A wild Saturday night with the Windsor County GOP

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Sing it with me, boys and girls: “One of these things is not like the others…”

Feliciano, Tate, Dame, Lisman

That, my friends, is the star-studded lineup for Saturday night’s “gala dinner” hosted by the Windsor County Republicans. Well, that plus a “Soap Box” for any Republican candidate who shows up and wants to charm the crowd with some campaign bumpf.

Constant Readers will recall that Windsor County GOP Chair John MacGovern had touted the event with a list of “invited speakers” featuring a whole bunch of Republican notables: at least three presidential candidates, any and all Vermont Republican hopefuls, plus VTGOP godfather Jim Douglas.

Well, apparently most of those folks declined the invitation. Instead, we get the odd quartet pictured above: three of the most conservative politicos in the VTGOP, plus wealthy gubernatorial candidate Bruce Lisman.

And don’t forget the Soap Box!

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Bruce Lisman needs to work on his poker face

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After his disastrous attempt to answer a simple question, our favorite Wall Street panjandrum made a strategic retreat and worked out a new story. With rather hilarious results.

For those just joining us, VPR’s Peter Hirschfeld discovered that someone was doing opposition research on Lt. Gov. Phil Scott. Hirschfeld asked the obvious suspect, Bruce Lisman, the only declared Republican in the race.

And Lisman basically soiled his britches. He said “it’s possible,” then denied contracting with anyone, then admitted “it could be,” and closed with “A note to self: I’m going to go find out.”

Apparently, even Lisman realized how much of a disaster that was. Because shortly after Hirschfeld’s story went up online, Lisman called him back with Version 2.0.

Which was a little more coherent, but barely credible.

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Bruce Lisman: unclear on the difference between transparency and opacity

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Hoo boy. VPR’s Peter Hirschfeld got himself some red-hot sound bites from our newest gubernatorial candidate, Bruce Lisman.

Hirschfeld discovered that an out-of-state right-wing “opposition research firm” named Jackson Alvarez “was fishing for information on Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, including transportation contracts on which his company, Dubois Construction, had bid.”

Hmm. Who could possibly be searching for skeletons in Phil Scott’s closets? His potential Republican opponent, Bruce Lisman?

Well, Hirschfeld put the question to the retired Wall Street wizard. And the reply was an amazing display of political fumblemouth.

“Yes, it’s possible. We haven’t contracted for anything,” Lisman said Tuesday.

Whuh?

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