I guess there’s no end to the tragic comedy known as Vermont liberals. I mean, even in what should be a moment of shining opportunity for them, they still keep trying to lose. Take, for example, all the talk recently over yet another run for statewide office by the poster-boy for the losing left, Anthony Pollina. And if it feels like you’ve already lived this nightmare…well….you have. Several times over.
As we all should know by now, Pollina-the-placeholder is being called upon once again to step up and lose for a coalition of Progressives and Democrats who apparently can’t find the energy, creativity or vision to find anyone with a real chance of taking on Republican Governor Jim Douglas. Cue the laugh track. Or, if you’re in the Governor’s office, cue the “Hail to the Chief” music for another two years.
While Pollina is certainly loving all the attention he’s getting of late, I’d recommend he not get too used to it. Because the real Democratic Party players aren’t going to let this story go on for much longer. Why? They still despise Pollina for his clumsy romp upon the political landscape for the past twenty-plus years, a romp that has him either snuggling or bashing the Dems depending on what’s best for one person: Himself. Principles? Forgetaboutit.
You’ve got to hand it to Pollina, though, because he’s certainly made a nice political career out of losing. I mean, think about it, the guy has lost every political campaign he’s run since 1984 and he’s still considered a viable candidate in 2008. But I think that says as much about Pollina’s acceptance of losing as it does about the political culture in Vermont – especially the way the mainstream media – and now the blogosphere — covers it.
Take, for example, this most recent round of Pollina babble. It is truly being fueled by a media in Vermont that is dying for an easy political story. And if Pollina knows how to win anything it’s media attention. So, in he stepped into a void that guaranteed lots and lots of ink and airtime that prattled on and on about – you guessed it – himself. Hey, losers need to feel like they’re loved once in awhile and, sadly, for Pollina that’s always a good year or so BEFORE an election.
Pollina, however, is only a tiny part of the problem here. The bigger problem is the timidity and near-complete lack of compassion by Vermont’s liberals to find and rally behind a real opponent for Jim Douglas. As I said at the beginning, this should be a mighty heady time for liberals – both in Vermont and nationally. But instead of seizing the opportunity, they’re wringing their hands and making themselves dizzy with every kind of political calculation and re-calculation until they’ve all but lost sight of the main ingredients: passion and principles. And then they call Pollina-the-placeholder.
Yep, they deserve to lose.
P.S. I went over to the increasingly entertaining political blog over at the Burlington Free Press – Vermont Buzz – and read some of the comments regarding Terri Hallenbeck’s piece on the governor’s race. My favorite was this anonymous missive about Pollina:
Pollina’s campaign headquarters will be at Capital Grounds in Montpeculiar, where Anthony sits most every day and waxes poetic about his strong work ethic. What a sham this guy is.
Now that’s funny.
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