PUTNEY — I am writing to endorse Peter Galbraith's bid to become one of Windham County's two Democratic candidates for the Vermont Senate.
I first met Peter when he worked as a teenage volunteer on Phil Hoff's successful 1966 gubernatorial campaign, and I was struck then by his formidable organizational and political abilities. Several years later, I had the pleasure of teaching political science and international relations with him at Windham College and was again impressed by his “people skills.”
Over the years, I have followed his distinguished career in public service, as he rose from a staff position on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (where he was instrumental in exposing Saddam Hussein's gassing of the Kurds) through a number of extremely important diplomatic troubleshooting roles in Croatia, Bosnia, Kurdistan, and East Timor, to become, most recently, Deputy U.N. Representative in Afghanistan. He was “relieved” from that job because of his efforts to expose the massive fraud in the Afghan national elections earlier this year.
At first glance, one might wonder why Galbraith, who has negotiated in so many hot spots around the world, is interested in becoming a Senator from Windham County in the tiny state of Vermont.
To me, that's really the wrong question.
The real question is, why should we not jump at the chance to have a person of such broad experience and stature, both as a negotiator and statesman, representing us in Montpelier?
Vermont may be small, but in this day and age we are all connected to the global community, and Peter is just the person to help us make the most of those connections, as well as bring together the competing groups within the Vermont Legislature to forge the bold new initiatives in health, education, and technology that are so necessary today.