It's amazing how much more efficient the Vermont Legislature can be when the governor and the lawmakers are both on the same page.
Advocates of divided government maintain that having political power split between Democrats and Republicans means that bills don't get rushed into law, and that there is more time for discussion and deliberation.
But the previous eight years of the Douglas administration took that idea to extremes. Republican Gov. Jim Douglas' veto pen scuttled many worthwhile initiatives, and the result was eight years of little progress on important issues.
Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin changed this equation with his election last November. With a solid Democratic majority in both chambers, he could push his agenda with little resistance from Republicans.
But there has been grumbling among progressives that Shumlin has focused on the issues that will ensure his re-election in 2012 at the expense of everything else.
John Odum, the blogger-in-chief at Green Mountain Daily, made an interesting observation just before the Legislature adjourned for the year. He pointed out that Shumlin was pretty much focused this year on universal early childhood education, Vermont Yankee, health care reform, and refusing to raise taxes on the wealthiest Vermonters, and that this focus has all but neutralized the left.
“Here's the idea: Vermont Yankee demonstrates that he is a man of conviction who fights for what he thinks is right and can stand up to bullies. Health care shows him as a forward looking visionary. Pre-K shows that he is compassionate, family-focused, and engaged with issues traditionally considered in the 'women's' sphere. Tax policy shows the rich Republican set that they have nothing to fear from him, and that he's part of the club. Add to that marriage equality, where he shows he's a social live-and-let-live-er, and you've got the whole picture,” wrote Odum.
Shumlin's political calculus sounds crass and cynical, but it's the kind of thinking that wins elections.
By avoiding a three-way race in 2010, Shumlin was able to squeak out a win against Republican Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie.
Quite simply, Shumlin's support of universal health care and the closure of Vermont Yankee ensured that the Progressive Party would not mount a serious challenge in the 2010 election, and that the Progressives will likely stay on the sidelines in 2012.
And with Shumlin's success on health care reform, as Odum sees it, “so long as the left feels Shumlin is genuinely working towards it - which he clearly is - there will be no challenge from the left. There may be talk based on tax policy, or other issues, but it will not gel into an actual challenge.”
But what raises this political calculus from crass cynicism is this fact: Shumlin does believe in health care reform, universal pre-kindergarten, and closing Vermont Yankee as issues that are critical to the state's well-being. That these positions bolster his chances for re-election in 2012 doesn't hurt, but it's not his sole motivation for taking them on.
Also, Shumlin has made a concerted effort to, as he told Congress last month, show “what states can do when we put aside partisan differences, tone down heated rhetoric between labor and management, and work together for the best interests of our citizens. What made the difference was the ability for both sides to give and take, not just take.”
The state budget was balanced without rancor. Public employees worked with the administration to make sacrifices to improve the state's financial standing without the belligerence we've seen in states led by Republican governors, such as Wisconsin, Ohio, Maine, and New Jersey. All parties made tough decisions on many issues.
As Shumlin told Congress, “I have often said that in Vermont, we find that we get a lot more with maple syrup than we do with vinegar. Maybe it's because we are a small state where we focus more on our similarities than our differences, but my sense is that if we can make these tough choices in Vermont, we can make them in other states as well.”
We often write in this space about Vermont and its leadership position on so many fronts. Maybe the ultimate irony of Gov. Shumlin's term so far is that the man who is frequently portrayed as a slick and calculating politician is also the man who is showing the rest of the nation how to work with leadership from both parties to get things done in a civil manner that honors the best traditions of democracy.