WEEKEND HUM ( 11-11-06 )

SNIPPET ELECTION ANALYSIS
Nobody does snippets better than the Hum. We know you're busy and you average 51 seconds per blog, so here we go with our crisp election summary.

• GOVERNOR - Despite Jim's BS ( " I'm very proud of our accomplishments..."), Douglas is seen as a safe selection, sort of like a boyfriend for a woman who desires stability and security over pizazz and sex appeal. People vote for him 'cuz he seems like a nice guy, one you can trust. We don't think he's a great Gov, but he smiles, and he has that great radio voice. The Hum, along with many others, was surprised he won so handily; he wasn't dragged down by the Bush thing.
• LT. GOVERNOR - We told Matt Dunne to take the high road with Dubie. You see, Dubie is generally perceived as a good guy, someone who, although clunky at times, gives a damn. When Dunne slammed him, people either took offense or felt sorry for Dubie, and voted accordingly. If Dunne had run a smarter race and stuck to his wonderfully inventive 'service politics', he could've forced this race to go to the legislature, and then... who knows.
  
• SENATE - If you listened to Tarrant at a gathering where he spoke on the issues, particularly health care, you could see why he was running. His presentation smacked of creativity, boldness and being well-informed. Quickly, all that got swept away, and Tarrant became known for his money, his faulty advertising and his house in Florida. Wonder what would've happened if he had campaigned strictly on issues, left Bernie alone, and spent less on TV and more on charity.
• HOUSE - Rainville left too many people wondering. Was she a moderate Republican or a Moderate Democrat? What did she REALLY think of the Iraq situation? Where the heck was she from, anyway? Or, on a simpler scale, maybe the Bush problems knocked her out. You choose.
  
• AUDITOR - Salmon is a CPA, a bright guy and he looks good. He didn't get all those votes just because he's a Salmon! We ain't seen the last of him.

We end our election coverage on a sad note. An elderly woman, walking to the polling station in Burlington, was knocked to the ground and had her purse stolen. She suffered broken bones and assuredly, future psychological trauma. The Free Press tucked this story neatly on page whatever, and life goes on.
My God, can't we do something? Can we make this a bigger story?
Every time we read about something horrific like this, do we think, God, that's awful, and then move on to the next page? It's so easy to feel terrible about something like this and then be swept back to our own busy lives. We feel bad for the old lady but, gosh, we got a bus to catch. Or a plane to catch. Or life to catch.
We all care but what do we do? We have to do something. We will do something.
Vermont Hum is not through with this.
Ed. note: I'd link this important story, but couldn't find it online. Dammit.

FIVE CORNERS UPDATE
Got to the Essex Junction Five Corners Light today and started wondering how I could help decrease the chance that another senior would be knocked down, robbed and injured. We can't have a cop on every corner. We can't get rid of all bad people. So what? what, what what?

If I have to idle here forever, I'm going to think of something.