Democrats Question Gibbs On Car Crash

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(Host) Democrats have seized on a car crash by Republican secretary of state candidate Jason Gibbs late last week.

Gibbs says he was exhausted early Friday morning when he was returning home from a long day of campaigning.

He says he went off Vermont Route 100 near his home in Duxbury at about 12:45 Friday morning.

Gibbs says his car was not obstructing traffic and no one was injured. So he walked home and waited some six hours before reporting the crash. 

(Gibbs) It was a simple matter of being off the road, in the ditch and I thought that I would just call the tow truck first thing in the morning when they opened, and the insurance company and law enforcement.

(Host) Gibbs says he dozed off briefly. He says the accident was both "scary" and "embarrassing." He says alcohol was not a factor in the crash.

(Gibbs) But it’s a very important lesson that no matter how hard I work for every vote from now til election day, I have an obligation to get enough rest to drive carefully and certainly to prevent this kind of thing from happening again.

(Host) That wasn’t enough for some opponents. The Democratic Party has raised questions about Gibbs’ statements that alcohol was not a factor.

The Democrats have demanded that Gibbs release his itinerary for Thursday evening, before the crash. And they have demanded an explanation for why he waited until the next morning to report it.

Gibbs says he campaigned Thursday at the Tunbridge fair. He says he attended a Washington County Republican meeting afterward and then consulted with another candidate’s campaign.

He says after those events he stopped in a few 24 hour convenience stores to campaign.

And Gibbs says his last stop was a personal visit at the house of a friend – but that no alcohol was consumed there. He refused to elaborate about his other stops.

(Gibbs) I don’t want to get into every single stop I made. I said everything that I think is necessary to explain the fact that I just was exhausted. I’ve been campaigning 16, 17, 18 hours a day for the last four months and there’s nothing more to it than that.

(Host) Gibbs says the Democrats are playing "gotcha politics’ and says he’s not willing to play that game.

 

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