Although his official gubernatorial campaign kick-off isn't until February 7 in Winooski, Burlington Mayor Peter Clavelle is clearly out there running. Last month OITM caught up with him at a "meet and greet" house party at the home of Caledonia County Democratic Justice of the Peace Linda Markin and artist and teacher Marie Lapre Grabon.
      Clavelle told the gathering of at least 50 people, including lesbians, gay men, and straight folks, that to date he had visited 11 of Vermont's 14 counties and 30 towns, and that his campaign had enrolled 300 volunteers. By way of introduction, he went through the familiar tale of his working class background, the grandchild of French-Canadians who came to work in the Winooski woolen mills. "I want you know," he said, "where I'm coming from and who I represent."
       On the political front, no one was surprised when he announced, "I am repulsed by the Republicans at both the national level and in the state. The Republicans represent the wealthy and the powerful." Clavelle combined criticism of the Bush administration's policies with potshots at those of the Douglas administration. "But I'm not running against Bush," he said.
      In a brief review of his past accomplishments, Clavelle joked about the "voter-inspired sabbatical" he was "granted" from 1993 to 1995. The mayor was defeated at the polls in what was widely viewed as a backlash against Clavelle's institution of domestic partnership benefits for same-sex couples.
      Among his issues, he said, is "sustainable development, and by that I mean thinking about the future, about how our decisions affect our kids and grandkids. I want to take an integrated approach to development, including education, jobs, equity, and the environment."
      He expects, he said, to have a spirited campaign, because "Jim Douglas is no slouch" at campaigning. But, he added, he intends to take the "high road" and criticize the policies and not the person.
      "The Republicans are on the wrong road on health care," Clavelle declared, citing the elimination of community ratings as providing too much profit for insurance companies. Likewise Clavelle critiqued the Douglas administration's "poor excuse for an energy policy" as "an embarrassment," lacking any mention of renewable sources of energy.
      Clavelle added the traditional Democratic issues of education equity - including opposition to extending school choice through vouchers ("It is important that we build strong communities through our schools."), and the promotion of sustainable economic development ("Walmart is not sustainable economic development. We need jobs that pay livable wages.")
      The candidate-to-be invited questions from the assembled voters. The questions covered a range of issues, beginning with elder care. Clavelle suggested that reimportation of drugs from Canada could not wait for permission from the FDA: "The FDA is not part of the solution, they're the problem," he said.
      Other questions touched on mental health care, the exorbitant cost of tuition at state colleges, global warming's impact on Vermont's ski resort economy, opposition to the impact of wind farms on the landscape and birds, safe schools, and how Clavelle would get to 50 percent at the polls.
      Asked about "the elephant in the room," potential primary opponent Peter Shumlin, Clavelle said he and Shumlin had both appeared earlier that day at an AFL-CIO meeting in Barre. "He's gotta decide. My gut says he wants to [run]." Clavelle denied any knowledge of whether Progressive Anthony Pollina would run again for statewide office.
      "The media have given Governor Jim Douglas a free ride," Clavelle charged. "The only credible poll, done by WCAX, shows that if we were in a head-to-head contest right now, 44 percent would vote for Douglas and 33 percent for me. I am an underdog, it's a position I relish."

To learn more about Peter Clavelle's campaign, click on his website ClavelleforGovernor.com