The Democratic Primaries for Governor in Vermont is, apparently, a real shit-show. But the nuttiest thing about it is that there is a fourteen-year old kid on the ballot, and, predictably, he’s a statist lefty. Excerpt:
Ethan Sonneborn, 14, of Bristol, met the requirements to be on the primary ballot and is taking his place with the state’s more age-appropriate candidates on the Tuesday primary ballot, to say nothing of numerous candidate forums and debates.
“I think Vermonters should take me seriously because I have practical progressive ideas, and I happen to be 14, not the other way around,” Sonneborn said in a recent televised gubernatorial forum. “I think that my message and my platform transcend age.”
The Vermont Constitution doesn’t have an age requirement for people seeking the state’s highest office beyond having lived in the state for four years before the election. Sonneborn qualifies.
That apparent oversight by the state’s founders more than 225 years ago was enough to encourage the politically precocious teen to collect the signatures needed to place him on the primary ballot.
He said he’s always been fascinated with the concept of building coalitions. Robert F. Kennedy was the politician who most embodies that for him.
Note: There’s no such thing as a “practical progressive idea.” Here’s the best bit, though; his competition:
It might be a stretch, though, to call the other candidates traditional politicians.
Former utility executive Christine Hallquist says her experience and ideas make her the best choice as Vermont’s next governor, but outside Vermont she’s pitching herself as someone who would, if elected, become the nation’s first transgender political candidate. There is also James Ehlers, an environmentalist, Brenda Siegel, a dance festival organizer.
So Vermont Democrats have a choice between a utility executive – someone who has actually done something, but seems to be banking on transgender status as a campaign point, when in fact it’s irrelevant; an “environmentalist,” which isn’t exactly a career field, and a (ha!) dance festival organizer.
Come on, Vermont. You can do better than this.
Sonneborn, on the other hand, appears to be representative of the old political saw attributed to Winston Churchill: “If a man at twenty is not a liberal, then he has no heart. If a man at forty is not a conservative, then he has no brain.” Well, I’m way past forty and remain, as I was at twenty, not really a conservative but rather a minarchist libertarian; but it’s true that most folks’ views moderate with age. Let’s hope this kid gets his shit together as he gets older – and smarter.
