Rutland Herald: ‘Speed dating’ with the candidates

By Peter Mallary

Jettison “Jeopardy.” Forget “Family Feud.” Let’s play “Politicians On Parade” — a live game of skill and timing presenting your political leaders as you have never seen them before.

Ten days ago — in a combination of speed dating and political savvy — the men and women who would be governor strutted their stuff. Even those of you who have thought of your politicians more as game show hosts than contestants would have been amused.

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And the winner was Doug Racine, the only one of the five to complete the lightning round. He was impressive. Racine was almost too soft-spoken but also calm, clear and concise. He was the only one to both support same-day voter registration and oppose local option taxes, doing both without hesitation in front of a crowd that might not warm to either position. He also admitted that he likes a glass of white wine, though only after expressing — like Shumlin — a fondness for good “Vermont water.” He said he has been too busy lately to be reading much and that his favorite TV show was “M.A.S.H.”

This was all great stuff.

“For us it was a chance to push back at the situations where handlers try to control what the candidate says and keep them from saying the wrong thing,” said Steve Jeffrey. “We were looking for a different perspective, a chance to see them in new and different ways.”

He compared it to other forums where the candidates get the questions in advance.

“Life is not like that, and government is not like that,” Jeffrey said. “Sometimes they need to make split-second decisions, even when they have lots of other things on their plate.”

What the process really illustrated was how these people think — rather than what they say they know. Markowitz was careful. Dunne was efficient. Bartlett was experienced. Shumlin was savvy and smart. And Racine was professional and on top of his game. Jeffrey said they were all good sports and that they “gave a good account of themselves.” True enough.

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