Inside Track on VT Senate Race

Peter Freyne, one of the longest-serving reporters in the Vermont press corps, has the inside scoop on the upcoming open-seat Senate race in 2006. The key points:

- "The only one who could possibly derail the Senator Sanders train is Republican Gov. Jim Douglas.The only question is, does he have the guts to go head-to-head with Bernie?"

- "In the 2002 election, both won handily. But Sanders polled 25,000 more votes statewide in his Congressional race than Douglas got for governor."

- "Every time we try to raise the issue [of whether Douglas will run] with [VT GOP chair] Jim Barnett, Douglas' number one hit-man, he changes the subject. This week, GOP Chair Barnett would much rather smear Sen. Patrick Leahy for opposing Bush's most extreme right-wing judicial nominees than discuss Douglas' chances in a head-to-head with Sanders. Mad Dog must know something."

- "The Douglas-Barnett 'good cop-bad cop routine gets a little trickier in a race for the United States Senate,' said Luke Albee, former longtime Chief of Staff to VT Sen. Patrick Leahy (D). 'It will be harder for the governor when Jim Barnett is trumpeting the benefits of privatizing Social Security, ending all checks and balances on judicial nominees and defending the president's budget priorities. All these issues are in Congressman Sanders' wheelhouse, and I'm sure he'd be delighted to debate them for the next 18 months in Vermont.'"

Read the whole article here.