PUTNEY — During any campaign, candidates can - and do - say about anything.
A more polite way to phrase that would be with Mario Cuomo's words, “We campaign in poetry but govern in prose.”
With that in mind, my vote goes to Sue Minter for governor, for her track record of accomplishment (as well as her ideas for the future).
While other candidates can make it all sound so easy and overpromise, Sue has already helped make things work. And, she did so during Tropical Storm Irene, turning a crisis into an opportunity that repaired the damage and brought out the best in Vermonters.
She worked in the House of Representatives, under the the backdrop of the Great Recession, to make the best out of the difficult situation that the greed of Wall Street dumped on Main Streets all over the U.S.A.
In the lieutenant governor's race, Shap Smith has proven that he is the most experienced and prepared to assume the governorship - the most important aspect of that position.
His effective and productive leadership of the large and diverse 150-member House of Representatives shows he's ready to assume the broad-based expectations as the state's chief executive, as well as provide leadership into the future on a wide array of issues.
It makes sense to me to go with experience.
I wouldn't trust my car, my computer, or my home's electric system to someone who has no experience working on those things, but instead insists they “have a few good ideas on how it should be done.” Legislation is the art of the possible through listening, compromise, and common sense for the common good.
Sue Minter and Shap Smith have that experience and the track records that have already produced results for Vermonters. They'll have my vote on Aug. 9 (and Nov. 8).