(Host) Around the country, voters have voiced their anger with the state of politics by signing up for the Tea Party and threatening those in power.
Vermont is not totally immune to the national political mood. Incumbents aren’t in the same kind of danger here as they are elsewhere around the country.
But voters aren’t happy with the status quo, either. So we’ve been talking to people about how they’re making up their minds in this election season.
Today, VPR’s Nina Keck gives us a sense of the mood in Rutland County.
(Rotary meeting) Clanking of cups and laughter – Good morning Roy.
(Keck) Members of the Rutland South Rotary Club meet for breakfast, laughs and camaraderie every Thursday morning. Last week several took time out after the gathering to share their thoughts on the upcoming elections.
(Ellen Forrest) "I’m Ellen Forrest and I’m from Shrewsbury Vermont. My biggest issue is you hear all the candidates say, ‘I’m going to create jobs, I’m going to create jobs.’ But I haven’t heard one say how they’re going to create these jobs. We don’t have the businesses. We’re chasing our young people away. Let’s hear something concrete, not the, ‘We’re going to.’"
(Keck) Roger Louiselle of Rutland nods but says something bothers him even more.
(Louiselle) "What I really don’t like is the negative ads. And once they get into the office it seems like they turn into politicians no matter who they are. They get elected, they get into the position and now they’re main goal is how are they going to get re-elected again. That bothers me a lot."
(Nina) "Is there something that you would tell the new governor?"
(Louiselle) "I would like them to make it easier for businesses in Vermont."
(Forrest) "I agree. Our process to start a new business or build a business, is so complicated and so involved that businesses don’t even want to come to Vermont."
(Keck) Ellen Forrest says she’d also like candidates to talk more about what the state can do for its senior citizens.
(Forrest) "Seniors are not going to get a raise in their Social Security. But in Rutland, in particular, the water rates have been going up, our taxes are going up, the cost of food has risen, the gas has risen, the fuel oil. And yet we’re not making any more money."
(Keck) Across town on Tuesday afternoons, Rutland hosts a scaled down version of its weekly farmers’ market.
A handful of vendors and customers mix and mingle on a crisp October day.
(Will Laughlin) "My name’s Will Laughlin. I live in Brandon. I’m originally from the Isle of Wight in England."
(Keck) Laughlin, who served in the British military years ago, is now a U.S. citizen and says he’s following one issue in particular.
(Laughlin) "I’m very interested in veterans issues. There are veterans coming back that are not being looked after. I think veterans need to be treated far better than they are."
(Keck) Cris Phelps-Brown, who bakes and sells all natural dog treats, is one of the vendors at the farmers’ market.
She started her company, Good Dog Cookies, after her husband got laid off from his job two years ago. Like many, she says the economy is near the top of her list of campaign issues.
(Phelps-Brown) "It’s tough and I don’t care what they say that the economy is changing. Not around here it’s not. We have the highest unemployment rate in the state in this area and the little jobs that come up at Killington and service jobs – they’re a help but they’re not going to feed your family."
(Keck) Carol Tashie sells fresh produce at the market. She, too, is worried about the economy.
(Tashie) "But I think there’s lots of different things that complement that particular issue. So I’m looking very strongly at health care. I’d really like to see universal health care, single payer health care. So I’m looking at candidates who support it. I’m looking at candidates looking at the green economy and really truly helping to create a Green Mountain State that puts its money where its mouth is. And to be perfectly honest I’m looking for candidates who can bring some civility back."
(Keck) Tashie says she’s been disappointed by negative ads from both political parties.
(Tashie) "I just don’t think that’s the way to inform voters. I don’t think that’s the way in which to instill confidence. But to add to that at the end of one of these fairly hateful ads – it said this ad was sponsored by Green Mountain something-something PAC. And then they gave an address in Washington, D.C. So I really resent that out-of-state negative influences are impacting our elections here in Vermont."
(Keck) Tashie and others at the market said they’d prefer to see the candidates explaining issues rather than throwing mud.
But in the remaining days before the election, ads like the ones Tashie disliked will probably dominate the airwaves.
For VPR News, I’m Nina Keck in Rutland.
(Host outro) The VPR Vermont Poll, by the way, of 625 likely voters found that 44 percent believed the tenor of the governor’s campaign has been "mostly negative." Only seven percent thought it was "mostly positive."