Paul Dame: The ‘red wave’ that wasn’t — and what comes next

/ November 16, 2022

This commentary is by Paul Dame, chair of the Vermont GOP.

It’s been a difficult week for Republicans. Expectations were high for many across the country, and they didn’t materialize. I thought that even if we under performed in Vermont, there would be enough success elsewhere. But as it stands even the control of Congress is up in the air, something that even the most liberal news outlets were basically conceding.

So what happened? Well, I will admit that I have a lot more questions than answers. There are certainly a number of things that might be factors.

Paul Dame, chairman of the Vermont GOP

Prior to the election, voters seemed to be telling us that rising prices were their biggest concern, along with public safety as a second. This is something we saw with polling data, which was also confirmed anecdotally by our candidates knocking on doors. But the results of the election seem to indicate that either voters changed their mind, or voted differently than how they indicated they would. I think that two of the biggest factors working against Republicans were the issue of abortion (even for many of our pro-choice candidates) and the shadow of Donald Trump. Trump was not on the ballot for Republicans, but in many ways he was on the ballot for Democrats.

But there are a number of other factors that deserve closer examination than can be afforded in this article.

Some of those things are out of our control. What was in control that we can change? The first most obvious answer is recruitment. We only ran 88 candidates for House this year, and many of them were late-edition write-ins from the primary. As Wayne Gretsky once said “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,” and there were a lot of shots we didn’t take. Some of those included places where we should have done better. We had two seats up in the Northeast Kingdom where a current Republican seat was vacated and we didn’t find a replacement candidate. Reapportionment did complicate this for us being in the minority party, because we had a few Republican incumbents get pitted against other incumbents, which left other districts blank, and we basically had 60 days to recruit after the map was finalized.

When we recruit fewer candidates, it leaves more openings for lower quality candidates to get on the ballot either through the signature process, or by getting 25 write-ins. And current Vermont law does not give the party the ability to control who ends up on our ballot — as we saw in the primary. It’s obvious that one terrible candidate can spoil the races for an entire county, and sometimes beyond.

Perhaps we are a victim of our own success in 2020. If we could pick up seats in an election year with Trump on the ballot, I thought this should be a better opportunity for us. But the Republican caucus, along with a handful of independents and Democrats, was able to stop some of the worst legislation being proposed by the supermajority. So in the end voters felt like they were safe voting Democrat, because nothing too extreme happened. With the end of excess COVID money coming soon, and an expanding list of state programs, Democrats are going to be in a position where they will have to govern by raising taxes or cutting programs that will alienate their most extreme progressive base.

But if Republicans want to get out of our superminority status, we can’t be content to sit back and watch Montpelier collapse. We have to be in the process of proposing attractive alternatives to the tax-and-regulate reflex that Democrats will be implementing this next biennium. And we can’t constrain ourselves just to being the party that are better accountants. It seems like voters — including many Republican voters — want something far more inspirational than a balanced checkbook if they are going to turnout and vote for our candidates. We’ve got two years to rebuild the party on a fundamental level, or else the worst is yet to come.

Image courtesy of Michael Bielawski/TNR

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55 thoughts on “Paul Dame: The ‘red wave’ that wasn’t — and what comes next”

  1. In recent times, how many self-anointed “Real Republicans” have won an election in Vermont?
    I can’t change or enact legislation without being elected.
    And standing on the state house steps shouting, and name-calling gets you nowhere.
    Mr. Sexton has proven so.

  2. This is a great thread.. some of the smartest minds in Vermont are regulars here at TNR.

    There are some people here that should be running the VTGOP.
    Because, the base is here in the comments.. and none of you like or agree with Paul Dame.
    So he should be replaced because there sure is a whole lot of space between how all of you are thinking and how he is thinking.
    You’ve got to find someone that you can all truly unite around- because he’s sure not the one.
    Step one is finding your leader.

  3. There is an ongoing interesting argument about the difference between votes and ballots.

    If you’re dead you can’t vote, but a mail-in ballot in your name may be printed and sent to your last address of record.

    This is why Democrats pursued mail-in ballots, they can be harvested because there is NO chain of custody. It is also why there is such suspicion about the elections.

    It is easy to fix with voter ID (every US Citizen has one already), only in-person voting on Election Day and absentee ballots for those out of the country or infirm.

    Try to change it and watch who screams the loudest…

    • I ran for a House seat (first time), and have a sense I did better than…we’ll probably never know. And, yes, it’s on account of the Dems. Until this/these change, we’re at the mercy of the mob. I am hoping that next time, we will have a better chance via blockchain, etc.

      Article 22 was NOT explained properly/in its entirety via major media conglomerates, schools, medical cartel, etc., so we never had control over the messaging. In fact, while campaigining, I was advised to speak only when spoken to about it. So, damned if we do, damned if we don’t. The same goes for the 2nd Amendment. If we continue to allow the fear-mongering messaging, we’re going to continue losing votes.

  5. Before the election on the tube, I saw Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell say he didn’t think the Republicans would take the Senate because of the quality of the Republican candidates. This was a blatant rebuke of all the Trump endorsed senate candidates.

    A few days after that statement on Newsmax Dick Morris said that what McConnell is trying to do is destroy all of the Trump endorsed America First candidates, the reasoning being he would rather be Senate Minority Leader than Senate Majority Leader because that majority might have the vote to remove him as leader and give it to Rick Scott-R-FL. When the red wave didn’t happen, McConnell trashed the MAGA candidates again. It’s better to reign in hell than serve in heaven, right Mitch?

    How could this be? A republican that didn’t want to take the Senate and put a halt to the Biden agenda, with the biggest reason that being Biden would not be able to get judicial nominees, federal and supreme court thru the Senate. Was there a conspiracy between the Democrats and McConnell? The Democrats funded several MAGA candidates in the primaries with the hope that they could beat them in the general by labeling them extremists. Now all the swamp creatures are coming out to say it was Trump’s fault and that his candidates lost the Senate. Really?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fhkvbocrmk

    McConnell’s Senate Leadership Fund had over 100 million dollars to help Republican senate candidates get elected. So, what did he do with the money? Let’s start with Arizona. McConnell gave zero dollars to Blake Masters. Masters was outspent by 64 million dollars. Kelly 73 million Masters 9 million. In Pennsylvania OZ was outspent by 15 million dollars. Fetterman 52 million OZ 37 million. In Nevada Laxalt was outspent by 34 million dollars. Cortez Masto 46 million Laxalt 12 million. In Georgia Walker was out spent by 43 million dollars. Warnock 75 million Walker 32 million. In New Hampshire Bolduc was out spent by 34 million dollars Hassen 36 million Bolduc 2 million. McConnell stopped sending money to Bolduc after he was endorsed by Trump. Republican governor and rino Chris Sununu won election by a wide margin but didn’t lift a finger to help Bolduc. Now we get to Alaska where the Alaskan Republicans censured Lisa Murkowski. Then Murkowski’s friends put in ranked choice voting to make sure that Sara Palin and Kelly Tshibaca both Trump endorsed candidates would be stopped because Murkowski couldn’t win in a straight up election. McConnell funded Murkowski because she would vote for him as minority leader. This is even after Murkowski said she would be voting for Democrats. Murkowski had six times the funding of Tshibaca. How much money did McConnell give Gerald Malloy Mr. Dame? Obama, the Clintons and all the heavyweight Demoprogs went out to campaign for their candidates. Where was George Bush, Sununu, Hogan and all the other rinos stumping for the Republican candidates?

    https://www.conservapedia.com/List_of_RINOs_in_the_117th_Congress_of_the_United_States

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/11/15/establishment-republicans-consider-working-democrats-pick-house-speaker/

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/11/16/chuck-schumer-mitch-mcconnell-and-i-have-remarkably-similar-vision-for-future-of-republican-party/

    https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2022/11/14/schumer-im-meeting-with-mcconnell-to-push-for-ditching-maga-republicans/

    https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2022/11/13/nh-gov-sununu-on-supporting-trump-in-2024-not-really/

    Now the Trump trashing starts. It was the election deniers. It was abortion. We have to go in a new direction. Trump’s time is passed. His candidates can’t get elected. Why? It’s because they fear Trump. He is a threat to people like Mitch McConnell’s and the Uni-Party’s power. If you recall when he was elected in 2016, he had to rely on the Republican establishment’s recommendations to fill White House and cabinet positions, FBI, CIA, etc. And they made sure they put people around him to weaken his authority. Not so this time. If he should get elected again, he will be able to drain the swamp by coming in with his own staff, cabinet and appointees that will greatly diminish their power. Tucker Carlson’s interview with former congressman Steve King from Iowa King said Paul Ryan did everything he could to thwart funding for the border wall.

    When I was a correction officer an old timer told me when an inmate asks you for something or tells you something always ask yourself why. What’s their angle? So, what is the Republican angle? The angle is the Republicans are using conservatives like the Democrats try to use Blacks and Hispanics. They only come around when it’s time to vote. They never give us what we want or care to give us what we want. Is it time for a new Constitutional Party?

    • I’ll be happy to answer how much McConnell gave to Gerald Malloy, ZERO.
      McConnell said before the election that Welch would win.
      Ironically ( ? ) Welch was declared the winner with ZERO % of the election results.

      In fact I worked with Gerald from the very beginning of his campaign.
      Dame and Jay Shepard made it clear to Gerald, Nolan was their candidate.
      Gerald was told there would be no funding or support for him.

      But because of an incredible effort Statewide to reach the voters, and the absolute consistency of his message, Gerald defeated Ms. Nolan.

      But that wasn’t enough. Even though Ms. Nolan stated multiple times during her campaign that she supported abortion thru the 2nd Trimester, ( over 99% of all abortions ) and she vowed to fight to codify Roe V Wade if elected, the VTGOP was all in on her.

      You see, Dame and Koch’s Big Tent agenda meant you really don’t have to be a Republican.
      Screw the Rules, screw the Platform. ( screw the Real Republicans )

      Enough Real VT Republicans voted to ensure another Rino would not get elected, and Ms. Nolan was defeated.
      Pissing off McConnell, Dame, Koch and every other VT transrepublican that has given up on the Real VT Republicans.

      Many have reached out to me from all over VT, they have left the VTGOP and are looking for another way. The Constitutional Party is gaining support.

    • James, you are absolutely correct with your statement “How much money did McConnell give Gerald Malloy Mr. Dame? ” even our King Scott would not endorse Gerald Malloy! Mr.Dame says we need to get better candidates, really! When you have a so called republican govenor that won’t even help support republican candidates tells you whose house Scott is really supporting!

  6. Fun facts: Benjamin Netanyahu is, again, Prime Minister of Isreal. In Brazil, tens of thousands of people take to the streets in protest (the photos are incredible.) In Iran, protests continue against the regime. Across the globe, there is a tsunami of humanity on the rise. The falling of the power structure has begun. Once the real wave hits our shores, game over for those who believe Truth will not prevail.

    • Know what you’re facing.

      Keep in mind, for example, that assuming the Democratic presidential contender bench is weak is an illusion. And no, I don’t think Biden will run again. What I expect we will see is something like what happened in the Los Angeles mayoral race just decided, in which a former republican business mogul switched parties to run as a democrat and lost. Kind of like what Liam Madden attempted, but the other way around. My guess: the democrats will likely field a Liz Cheney or a Jeb Bush ticket, when they switch parties. After all, it is the ‘uniparty’, the ‘administrative state’, with whom we must contend.

      In the final analysis, the VT GOP consists, for the most part, of democrat lite candidates… Phil Scott, Joe Benning, Randy Brock, Jim Douglas, etc. And its so-called VT GOP leadership is as unimaginative as can be. Further, Vermont’s harder core republican conservatives, you know, the people who post here on TNR and VDC, simply can’t articulate a clear message. To them, its all about ‘patriotism’ – whatever that means.

      Watch the Styxhexenhammer666 video referenced above. Trump remains the bull in the uniparty’s china shop.. for now at least. So, let’s break some more dishes and see what happens. It can’t get any worse than it is now.

      • I agree with most everything you write Jay. Thoughtful and accurate comments.
        I consider myself a Real VT Republican. In fact I was the Chittenden Count Platform Delegate. I along with several others wrote the Rules the VTGOP members voted to uphold.
        I resigned from the VTGOP because they don’t represent me.

        Scott violates the Rules with extreme consistency.
        Benning argued against some of the Rules because ” His Constituents ” wouldn’t support them.
        Dame and Koch not only turn a Blind Eye to the Rules, they support those ( madden is the best example ) of those who claim at some point to be a Republican, but then not only prove they aren’t a Republican they are gleeful to point out a Real Republican can’t compete.

        The destruction of the Republican Party in VT, brought to you by those pretending to represent it.

        Clear enough ?

      • Jay, I might remind you that Jim Jeffries after over 10 years in the Senate, switched from Republican to “independent” in 2001 where he actually caucused and voted with the Dems.
        Goes both ways…

        • No reminder necessary… I remember the Jeffords ‘switch’ well. Just another example of the ‘good cop – bad cop’ simulated uniparty infighting… all designed to give the impression of constituent care… when, in fact, it was more self-serving political advantage.

  9. Paul Dame: The ‘red wave’ that wasn’t — and what comes next, hopefully, some
    leadership with a backbone, the losers want to blame Trump, more idiots !!

    If the Republican Party really wanted to win then they would have supported all the
    candidates, not just the ones being promoted by establishment RINO’s that McCarthy’s
    money supported, blaming Trump is pure BS, blame the spineless Republican leadership
    and their cronies !!

    Yes, we could have done better, but as long as we ” Control ” the house, we can stop
    the out of control Biden spending orgy and its liberal nonsense !!

  10. “The shadow of Donald Trump is working against Republicans,” says arguably the most failed GOP chair in the entire country.

    Paul Dame’s sniveling sabotage of President Trump and utter shamelessness in his own abject failure of leadership are truly repellent.

  11. There are a lot of pieces to this puzzle. I can tell you a few of the things I encountered while running for office.

    The News and Citizen, and more so Front Porch Forum allowed lies to be continually published about me. They trashed me horribly for weeks on end. I was, for a time, even fearful to have my magnetic campaign signs on my car.

    My opponent teamed up with Emoji Nightmare, our local drag queen. They got on the LGBTQ+ and homophonic band wagon and painted me as a hater, just like they did Molly Gray. All, total our right lies.

    My opponent was a 22 year old, fresh out of college. The LGBTQ+ platform and climate change were two things to in her favor. I don’t believe the LGBTQ+ community should have expanded protection under the law. My opponent did. I think the VT GWSA is unnecessary and disastrous for VT and climate mitigation is mostly hogwash. My opponent takes it all, hook line and sinker.

    During my campaign we spoke with many people who saw an abrupt change in college age children. They came home hating their parents, capitalism, America and deathly afraid of climate change. These children are now voting, and running for office and winning. It seems very much like religious occult type behavior.

    These are just a few of my thoughts.

    • This is the game they play, it is also their Achilles heal…..it’s not fun is it? You bring real experience to the table, this is going on everywhere in Vermont. This is the only game they can play, which makes it entirely their weakness. It’s the inherent play book if you are in a socialist, marxist state.

      If we would have thrown some chum in the water for you, we could have exposed dirtbags for who they truly are. We could have drawn fire away from you and exposed them, because they are predictable like a shark. They are programmed, they can’t think for themselves, they only know hate and pride, which makes them entirely predictable. If the VtGOP had a brain, they could have helped you and made the whole process fun.

      How much money, support and love did you get from the leadership, scott, Benning and dame?

    • Not knowing your campaign, but the reaction you garnered, you must have been doing a good job and were considered a real threat. You can wear this as a badge of honor. The next highest badge is a total block out of press, that means you are directly over the target and lethal. These are true signs of working in a socialist state, which proves itself everyday in Vermont.

  12. There are a lot of pieces to this puzzle. I can tell you a few of the things I encountered while running for office.

    The News and Citizen and FPF allowed lies to be continually published about me. They trashed me horribly for weeks on end. I was, for a time, even fearful to have my magnetic campaign signs on my car.

    My opponent teamed up with Emoji Nightmare, our local drag queen. They got on the LGBTQ+ and homophonic band wagon and painted me as a hater, just like they did Molly Gray. All, total our right lies.

    My opponent was a 22 year old, fresh out of college. The LGBTQ+ platform and climate change were two things to in her favor. I don’t believe the LGBTQ+ community should have expanded protection under the law. My opponent did. I think the VT GWSA is unnecessary and disastrous for VT and climate mitigation is mostly hogwash. My opponent takes it all, hook line and sinker.

    During my campaign we spoke with many people who saw an abrupt change in college age children. They came home hating their parents, capitalism, America and deathly afraid of climate change. These children are now voting, and running for office and winning. It seems very much like religious occult type behavior.

    These are just a few of my thoughts.

    • A corroboration: I tried to publish a commentary about Article 22’s vague language on FPF. It was censored. All while the League of Women Voters published ad after ad mis-stating what Article 22 actually said.

      And when I tried to publish the same comment on VT Digger about two weeks before the election, Digger never printed it. Instead, they sent me the following explanation:

      Hi, Mr. Eshelman.
      We aren’t printing your letter because we cut off election opinions as of Nov. 1. The reason: If a commentary or letter contained an error, we would have a mighty tight window for correcting it. Sorry about that, and thanks for writing.
      Tom Kearney, Senior Editor, VTDigger

      Never mind that the comment was submitted before November 1st.

    • Forget it, Richard. We’re outnumbered. Two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Give Us Barabbas! When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Otherwise, they’ll try to crucify you too.

  14. What Happened Paul?
    The corrupt system and machines Happened!
    Stuffed down our throats.
    My town clerk told me the machines are safe and effective.
    Where have I heard that BS before.
    She also said she didn’t have to stay up till 2am counting votes.
    I think that might be in her job description.
    Lazy people getting paid to not work.
    Welcome to communist Vermont.
    May GOD bless you all .

  15. Polling, why would anyone use national polling for Vermont? Of all states. We are a completely different playground.

    What was the clear message for the VTGOP? We’re not Trumpers? We’re not typical GOP candidates? How has this worked for the past 2.5 decades?

    What was our platform? Does anybody know? What were the three items we had on the agenda? Oh I know, we don’t agree with what the Dems are saying. So this once again is letting THEM dictate what the entire discussion is about. Once again we let them LEAD and we play DEFENSE…you can’t win a game without offence, and we had zero.

    One thing, our opponent is entirely predictable, and they know the traditionalists on outside will give them an entirely predictable response.

    Let’s take the hottest potato in the oven, abortion. They knew perfectly well our response would be “baby killer”, while accurate and true, it wins zero heart and minds. People cannot come into the party from the other side. This was the major topic on the VTGOP list. This was where THEY wanted us to fight knowing we’d lose, which we did.

    We could have taken a different approach; we could have not made it the central argument. Abortion is already legal in Vermont. Of course, the Dems had positioned these battle lines 4 years ago. Instead, we take the bait, play defense against a monster machine, we can’t possibly win on.

    What are Vermonters most pressing concerns? Locally?

    Can you find a reasonably priced home?
    How is our educational system and it’s funding?
    What about cancel culture? Should that principal have been fired?
    How’s the healthcare system working out? lol……you’d get a huge response on that one!
    How is free speech doing in Vermont?
    How is the drug problem doing in Vermont?

    They have already clearly defined the battle lines in which they want to control the topics and bait the patriots once again in fighting with the expected response.

    This is not conventional warfare. If we think it is, we will lose every election. There is a very fun path, that relies on truth, nobody need give up their values, but we cannot as everyone knows run a national campaign. Vermont is a hard nut to crack, but it holds the answer for bringing peace and a change of direction for this country. It is a puzzle worth consideration, time, effort and resources.

    We must clearly go a different path losing for decades is getting old, so are the excuses.

    • If we are in a socialist state, what are the inherent weaknesses of said state?

      It will always be unaffordable
      It will always be corrupt and against the people
      It will have massive control of the media
      It will be crony capitalism, corruption.
      It will be run by people who have never done anything by merit.
      It will have massive lies.
      It will be entirely inefficient and unable to change.
      It will not serve the people, but those in power and connected.

      It will have massive funneling of money through corrupt channels….Ukraine is a perfect example, we send money to them, they buy FTX, FTX funds the Dem party…perfect money laundering scheme that is collapsing before our eyes.

      They will be puppet of the New World Order, so they cannot make decisions on their own. This includes 50+%of those withing the GOP, it’s also know as the uniparty and they don’t want things to change, Vermont is actually perfect in their eyes.

      Know they enemy and know they self, live to fight another day.

  16. Republican leadership failed in multiple areas. They allowed left of moderate conservatives to run as Republicans (along with Madden who stated he was not a republican), and they didn’t effectively counter the rhetoric of the democrats.

    Abortion was a hot topic used against the Republicans. I believe that the majority of Vermonters don’t want an outright ban and that the decision should be left to the individual and their doctors. Republicans should have called out the democrats lies about Article 22, which doesn’t mention abortion. Republicans should have addressed what it said and how it could be interpreted, not just responding to the democrats claim it’s about abortion.

    Republicans should have gone all out over fiscal responsibility, law and order and a plan to stop the drug trade.

  17. Two reasons that shows the bulk of Americans are not stupid.
    1. Over 330 Republicans across the country running for office were elections deniers and Trump sycophants. The vast majority of the electorate knows the 2020 elections were not stolen in any way.
    2. People are beginning to be sick of the hate engendered by Trump and supported and promoted by his radical right/white supremacists followers. Most Republicans are smart, with middle American values, and are not haters, or prejudiced and do not want their party run by leaders that want to win by throwing a grenade into their neighbors foxhole if they disagree with them.
    3. Most Republicans did not run on issues. Using the Trump model, they ran on killing their Democratic opponent. People are sick of the vitriol, I am sick of the vitriol. People voted for the less offensive candidate (and yes, some Dems are noxious but are not associating themselves with someone as noxious as Trump).
    Our Democracy is built on and must have compromise between opposing/ different ideas. “My way or the Highway” will continue shoving this country down the rabbit hole and if we don’t begin to respect each other and move off the wacko politicians on both sides of the aisle that care little for each other and our country, we are going to really be in trouble.

    • I submit that the hatred is coming form people like Cassedy. He has been on this kick about Trump being evil forever, and that is what is not setting well.

      Arguing or debating people like Cassedy is an exercise in futility.
      I agree with Laura.

      • Oh James, you are so right, I do hate Trump. He highjacked my Republican Party. He has no morality. He has no integrity. He has no ability to work with anyone that doesn’t kowtow to him and accept any of his dysfunctional behaviors. And worse, he has plowed a political path that has encouraged the worst behavior of his followers to surface.
        And he lies.. tens of thousands of false or misleading claims. The Washington Post’s fact-checker had tallied the number as 30,573 by January 2021, an average of about 21 per day by the end of his presidency. The Toronto Star had tallied the number of false claims as 5,276 by June 2019, an average of 6.1 per day. Characterized as a use of the “firehose of falsehood” propaganda technique, commentators and fact-checkers have described the scale of his mendacity as “unprecedented” in American politics, and the consistency of these falsehoods became a distinctive part of both his business and political identity.
        Any of you that are intelligent know he lies and know it is his identity and yet, you choose to ignore it, ignore his lack of integrity, instead of trying to move on to another Republican that engenders the kind of values this country needs.
        So am I a Trump hater, you bet.

        • “During Donald Trump’s presidency, The Washington Post kept a running tally of his alleged lies and/or misleading statements. But, when Joe Biden became president, the Post fact-checker, Glenn Kessler, announced an end to the database operation, ….. How’s that working out?”

          One of the ‘Trump Lies’ on Kessler’s list was Trump’s claim that he filled the Strategic Oil Reserves. It never happened. But what Kessler and other so-called fact-checkers don’t tell you is that when oil was cheap during the pandemic, Trump ordered the reserves filled in a bill submitted to Congress. But, in a story reported by Roll Call on March 25, 2020 – one month after Trump left office – Democrats removed the funding for the oil purchase from the proposed bill.

          So, I hope everyone, including you Mr. Cassady, understands how ‘fact-checkers’ operate. No one is perfect when it comes to mis-stating certain facts. But this isn’t, of course, the only instance of manipulated fact-checking. The list includes such claims, for example, as Trump telling people to drink bleach. That never happened either.

          And why, do you think, the lie database was discontinued when Biden became president? According to Kessler, it was because Biden was prone to making ‘gaffes’, but not lying.

          A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

        • Mr Cassady,
          There is no such thing as an election denier. There is however voter disparity in critical districts of swing state races and it has been going on for over a century or more. We can point to Tamanny Hall, Mayor Daley’s machine, NYC in the last two decades, Philadelphia’s 39th district. Re. Mark Squillia Voter Fraud indictment. For both 2016 and 2020. The redefining of fraud to election deniers is in itself fraud. What people like Gary Cassady really want is a playing field where anyone is allowed to defraud registered voters. Gary Cassady will never endorse an honest voting system. Ask him, he won’t, because it would require the restoration of chain of custody ballot control and he will tell you that is a destruction of democracy. He himself is a fraud, a denier, a schill of the communist Left. He is to be disgraced, run out of town on a rail. We can no longer allow anyone to decide the security of our voting system with criticism, redefinition and denial. The entire country must return to chain of custody balloting and let’s start with Gary Cassady.

    • One question for you Mr. Cassady, What part of the Trump Presidency made you hate him ?
      I’ll give you some options ;
      The greatest opportunity for Women, Blacks and Hispanics to work in American History.
      Not only energy independence, but exporting fossil fuels to boost the economy.
      Peace in the Middle East and agreements never achieved before.
      Telling Putin and Kim Jong un to stuff it.
      Gas and Home heating fuel you could afford.
      Groceries you could afford.
      Clothes you could afford.
      The annihilation of isis.
      The Greatest Military in American History.
      Calling out the dems, probs, socialists, marxists, and rinos for who they really are.
      Succeeding despite 4+ years of Clinton, Pelosi, Schiff and all the other domestic terrorists screaming Russia Russia Russia.
      Calling out ” The Squad ” for who they really are.
      Getting out of the Iran accord.
      Killing terrorists that threatened Americans wherever the hole was they were hiding in.
      A SAFE AND SECURE BORDER.

      Want more ?

      You responded to an article written by VTGOP Chair Dame.
      Dame feels just like you, he hates Trump too. In fact when Trump was nominated for President, Dame and two others who were supposed to represent Vermont Republicans walked out of the Hall.
      And in typical fashion, Dame talks about what Vermont Republicans have to do in the next two years.
      Because both he and Rules Committee Chair Koch made it possible for Madden to run as a Republican, the next two years are a deflection of how their Big Tent agenda is responsible for the incredibly poor effort this year. Numerous seats not challenged, supporting candidates that have left/far left agendas. ( Scott is a marxist complicit in the attempt to destroy Babies, gender our 2A Rights and our Constitution with illegal and unconstitutional mandates. )
      In fact Dame’s Bromance with Scott was made public when Scott was declared the most popular Governor.
      Scott and Benning voted for and supported Article 22, and Dame never called them out for it.

      Keep hating Trump though Mr. Cassady. Enjoy the erosion of everything you ever expected to achieve. Tell your children that Build Back Better will save them.
      And wear your Biden hat proudly.

      • I just love reading the commentators on this site. There is so much heart, knowledge, passion for the truth and our country. What a great team we have, sadly lead by uniparty marionettes.

    • Our Democracy? Only a communist or someone too stupid to know that their a communist talks like this. The United Staes is a Constitutional Republic. Democracy is code for mob rule.

    • I do not remember ANY Vermont candidate using the “Trump model” you allege in 2022.
      Many Republican candidates ran on balance in the legislature. All ran on issues and with the exception of the VT Republican Committee, there was little if any negative campaigning-
      Yet- the result was a D/P super-majority in the legislature, D/P wins in every other state-wide race. Trump’s name was used by the D/P candidates as fodder for their supporters. Not by GOP candidates. Your opinion of Trump is yours to freely voice, kind of. The 2022 legislature made it a crime (S.265) to threaten politicians. There’s a victory for the 1st amendment.

  18. Anyone that is blaming Donald Trump -was never a Trump supporter in the first place- we completely get this narrative push.
    And seeing how he’s still easily filling arenas, an attitude like that sure is not going to sit well with the Trump supporters of the party.. it’s Trump bringing in the money need I remind you- and that money comes from us!

    What I see here is a whole lot of explanations for what amounts to incredible disorganization.
    And there is team Blue, excellent at organization, like Communists are.
    Their organization is one of their best assets..
    Not only do the Republicans need to get better, they need to get better than the Democrats!
    So knowing this, seems to me that something that you should be looking for in new people is top notch organizational skills.. seems like a no brainer.

  19. The major problem you had was that too many of your top candidates were running on Trumps’
    coattails. You should recognize by now that most of Vermont Republicans are NOT married to Trump!

  20. And not one constructive, tangible, recommendation…

    “Who’s the more foolish? The fool or the fool who follows him?” – Obi-Wan Kenobi

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