Vermont & America's first third party
As usual, Vermont politics are a bit more complicated (and more interesting) than I had originally thought.
I am especially intrigued by the vote for the "Anti-Masonic Party" -- described as "the first third party in American national politics."
From the Wikipedia
Vermont Politics
Vermonters are known for their political independence. Vermont is one of the few states that was an independent republic, and has a long history of contrarian voting in national elections. Notably, Vermont is the only state to have voted for a presidential candidate from the Anti-Masonic Party, and Vermont and Maine were the only states to vote against Franklin D. Roosevelt in his second election.
Today, Vermont is known nationally for its liberal political views, although this is perhaps an oversimplification. The Vermont government maintains a proactive stance with regards to the environment, social services and prevention of urbanization. For example, facing severe pressures from out-of-state real estate developers, the state passed the Land Use and Development Law (Act 250) in 1970. The law, which was the first of its kind in the nation, created nine District Environmental Commissions consisting of private citizens who have the power to approve or disapprove land development and subdivision plans that would have a significant impact on the state's environment and many small communities. Another case involves the recent controversy over the adoption of civil unions, an institution which grants same-sex couples nearly all the rights and privileges of marriage. In Baker v. Vermont (1999), the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that, under the Constitution of Vermont, the state must either allow same-sex marriage or provide a separate but equal status for them. The state legislature chose the second option by creating the institution of civil union; the bill was passed by the legislature and signed into law by Governor Howard Dean. At the same time, Vermont is one of only two states in the Union to allow any adult to carry a concealed firearm without any sort of permit, showing that the state's politics cannot be easily characterized.
Vermont is the home state of the only two current members of the United States Congress who do not associate themselves with a political party: Representative Bernie Sanders and Senator Jim Jeffords.
Attempts by out-of-state candidates (so called "flatlanders") to be elected to office in Vermont have often been thwarted by locals. In 1998, a 79-year-old farmer named Fred Tuttle received national attention by defeating a Massachusetts multimillionaire in the Republican Primary for Senate. With a campaign budget of $201, Tuttle garnered 55% of the primary vote, then promptly announced his support for the Democratic incumbent, Patrick Leahy. This campaign was an example of ostension, as Fred had starred as himself in the Vermont-produced film, "A Man With A Plan", which depicted him winning a shoestring-funded election to Congress.
Republicans dominated Vermont politics from the party's founding in 1854 until the 1980s. In the early 1960s many progressive Vermont Republicans and newcomers to the state helped bolster the state's small Democratic Party. Until 1992, Vermont had supported a Democrat for president only once since the parties founding—in Lyndon Johnson's 1964 landslide victory. In 1992, it supported Democrat Bill Clinton for president and has voted for Democrats in every presidential election since. Vermont gave John Kerry his fourth largest margin of victory in 2004. He won the state's popular vote by 20 percentage points over incumbent George W. Bush, taking almost 59% of the vote. Essex County in the state's northeastern section was the only county to vote for Bush.
The Vermont Progressive Party is a small liberal political party created in the early 1980s. It and has represented a handful of seats in the Vermont legislature for two decades and has run candidates for governor and lieutenant governor. The party has a similar philosophy to Vermont's lone congressman, Bernie Sanders. It has had official recognition as a political party by the state government since 1999.
Vermont's liberal views do not coincide with the general American political stereotype that rural states tend toward conservatism (the red state phenomenon). The contradiction is thrown into great relief when it is observed that Vermont's longtime doppleganger neighbor, New Hampshire, is consistently Republican in its politics (although New Hampshire leans more toward libertarianism than toward standard Republicanism).
Some have attempted to explain away Vermont's contradictory politics by arguing that the state is a haven for affluent vacationers and retirees from strong liberal metropolitan regions such as Boston and New York, and that the financial power of such persons dominate the politics. Vermont average family income though is near the national average. Others argue that Vermont, which borders Canada, is a main thoroughfare of land travel to major Canadian cities such as Montreal and Toronto, and the influence of liberal Canadian thought and Canadian city-dwellers on vacation also affects the political climate.
I am especially intrigued by the vote for the "Anti-Masonic Party" -- described as "the first third party in American national politics."
From the Wikipedia
Vermont Politics
Vermonters are known for their political independence. Vermont is one of the few states that was an independent republic, and has a long history of contrarian voting in national elections. Notably, Vermont is the only state to have voted for a presidential candidate from the Anti-Masonic Party, and Vermont and Maine were the only states to vote against Franklin D. Roosevelt in his second election.
Today, Vermont is known nationally for its liberal political views, although this is perhaps an oversimplification. The Vermont government maintains a proactive stance with regards to the environment, social services and prevention of urbanization. For example, facing severe pressures from out-of-state real estate developers, the state passed the Land Use and Development Law (Act 250) in 1970. The law, which was the first of its kind in the nation, created nine District Environmental Commissions consisting of private citizens who have the power to approve or disapprove land development and subdivision plans that would have a significant impact on the state's environment and many small communities. Another case involves the recent controversy over the adoption of civil unions, an institution which grants same-sex couples nearly all the rights and privileges of marriage. In Baker v. Vermont (1999), the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that, under the Constitution of Vermont, the state must either allow same-sex marriage or provide a separate but equal status for them. The state legislature chose the second option by creating the institution of civil union; the bill was passed by the legislature and signed into law by Governor Howard Dean. At the same time, Vermont is one of only two states in the Union to allow any adult to carry a concealed firearm without any sort of permit, showing that the state's politics cannot be easily characterized.
Vermont is the home state of the only two current members of the United States Congress who do not associate themselves with a political party: Representative Bernie Sanders and Senator Jim Jeffords.
Attempts by out-of-state candidates (so called "flatlanders") to be elected to office in Vermont have often been thwarted by locals. In 1998, a 79-year-old farmer named Fred Tuttle received national attention by defeating a Massachusetts multimillionaire in the Republican Primary for Senate. With a campaign budget of $201, Tuttle garnered 55% of the primary vote, then promptly announced his support for the Democratic incumbent, Patrick Leahy. This campaign was an example of ostension, as Fred had starred as himself in the Vermont-produced film, "A Man With A Plan", which depicted him winning a shoestring-funded election to Congress.
Republicans dominated Vermont politics from the party's founding in 1854 until the 1980s. In the early 1960s many progressive Vermont Republicans and newcomers to the state helped bolster the state's small Democratic Party. Until 1992, Vermont had supported a Democrat for president only once since the parties founding—in Lyndon Johnson's 1964 landslide victory. In 1992, it supported Democrat Bill Clinton for president and has voted for Democrats in every presidential election since. Vermont gave John Kerry his fourth largest margin of victory in 2004. He won the state's popular vote by 20 percentage points over incumbent George W. Bush, taking almost 59% of the vote. Essex County in the state's northeastern section was the only county to vote for Bush.
The Vermont Progressive Party is a small liberal political party created in the early 1980s. It and has represented a handful of seats in the Vermont legislature for two decades and has run candidates for governor and lieutenant governor. The party has a similar philosophy to Vermont's lone congressman, Bernie Sanders. It has had official recognition as a political party by the state government since 1999.
Vermont's liberal views do not coincide with the general American political stereotype that rural states tend toward conservatism (the red state phenomenon). The contradiction is thrown into great relief when it is observed that Vermont's longtime doppleganger neighbor, New Hampshire, is consistently Republican in its politics (although New Hampshire leans more toward libertarianism than toward standard Republicanism).
Some have attempted to explain away Vermont's contradictory politics by arguing that the state is a haven for affluent vacationers and retirees from strong liberal metropolitan regions such as Boston and New York, and that the financial power of such persons dominate the politics. Vermont average family income though is near the national average. Others argue that Vermont, which borders Canada, is a main thoroughfare of land travel to major Canadian cities such as Montreal and Toronto, and the influence of liberal Canadian thought and Canadian city-dwellers on vacation also affects the political climate.
posted by TLCGroup at 2:24 PM
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