Five people who’ve served as governor of Vermont are offering some advice to today’s political leaders.
Gathering at a conference of state auditors and comptrollers, Democrats Howard Dean, Madeleine Kunin, Thomas Salmon, current Gov. Peter Shumlin and Republican Jim Douglas decried the political climate in Washington as polarized and dysfunctional.
Salmon is a conservative Democrat who served in the 1970s, and said bi-partisanship helped him steer the state’s ship at a time of high inflation, unemployment and an energy crisis.
Douglas served eight years on the job, and said Congress these days has no middle ground and that its members don’t cooperate with one another.
The comments came during a panel discussion at the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers annual meeting in Burlington.