My husband and I retired to Vermont in July ’06. We first met Mike Fisher and Dave Sharpe the following March at the Starksboro Town Meeting. Since then we’ve gotten to know both men better. We find them to be thoughtful, fair and honest men, who care about their constituents. Dave is now the ranking member of the House Ways & Means Committee, and Mike is the Chairman of the House Health Care Committee. Both jobs bring extra work and greater responsibility.
However, should either one or both of the Republican/Tea Party candidates running against Mike and Dave be elected, those candidates will not automatically take over those positions. As new members of the Legislature, they most likely will not get their choice of committee assignments. In other words, since they are from the opposing party they will be at the bottom of the pecking order.
It must be difficult to have an “R” after your name if you are running for political office in Vermont this year when the National Republican Party is veering so far to the right. If you were running in many states you would be considered too liberal to be taken seriously as a candidate. I find it interesting that here in Vermont, that the Republican candidates are veering to the left.
After reading their comments from the debates, I don’t find their positions much different than the positions Mike and Dave have on various issues. Neither Republican has offered any kind of a plan of their own as to how they would cut taxes if elected. Mr. Baser comes across as a Republican wearing a Democratic hat and Ms. Mullin goes so far as to twice quote Democratic President Barack Obama in the Oct. 16 Addison Independent in the “Meet your 2014 Candidates” section of the paper. For these reasons, among others, my husband and I will continue to support and vote for Mike Fisher and Dave Sharpe.
Marcia Liotard
Starksboro