Copyright 2000 Globe Newspaper Company
The Boston
Globe
October 1, 2000, Sunday ,THIRD EDITION
SECTION: METRO/REGION; Pg. C11
LENGTH: 1205 words
HEADLINE:
TRACING THE CIVIL UNIONS FALLOUT ON VERMONT RACE
BYLINE: By Bryan K. Marquard, Globe Staff
BODY:
BURLINGTON, Vt. - In the suddenly dog-eat-dog
world of Vermont politics, it wasn't surprising that Attorney General William H.
Sorrell opted for a canine metaphor at a candidates' rally to introduce his
longtime nemesis, State Auditor Edward S. Flanagan.
"I don't know
whether this fellow is a bulldog," he said, alluding to the campaign mascot
Flanagan is featuring in his US Senate bid, "but I have been bitten by him a few
times."
The attorney general is too modest, Flanagan
countered, adding that "for every bite he got from me, I got four bites back -
and he drew more blood."
Though lighthearted, the exchange a few days
after Flanagan won the Democratic primary summed up the bad blood between the
executive branch and the auditor, who has vexed Governor Howard Dean's
administration with scathing reports on some of its practices. In an ordinary
election year, Flanagan's penchant for stepping on the toes of fellow Democrats
might prompt many in the party to give him the boot - or at least to publicly
support US Senator James M. Jeffords, a moderate Republican who is popular with
many Democrats.
This, however, is no ordinary time in Vermont politics,
and the US Senate race is a case in point.
In the September primary,
voters turned out five incumbent Republicans, apparently as a penalty for their
votes in favor of civil unions for same-sex partners. But Flanagan, who is gay,
won his primary. And in this campaign season in which the civil unions issue has
loomed large in nearly every race, it will not be a factor in the
Flanagan-Jeffords race; both support them. But most other incumbents who
supported civil unions, like Dean, are feeling more vulnerable than usual.
Flanagan, 49, who reportedly is the nation's only openly gay or lesbian
official elected to a statewide office, as well as the first to run for the US
Senate, acknowledged his sexual orientation five years ago. He was midway
through his second term as auditor.
Flanagan is "a candidate who could
make history for the gay and lesbian community. That is an enormous
opportunity," said Winnie Stachelberg, political director of the
Washington-based Human Rights Campaign, which bills itself as the nation's
largest gay and lesbian political organization.
The organization
endorsed Flanagan's Senate bid, but in an unusual move, it is also backing
Jeffords, 66, whom Stachelberg praised for the way he "navigated the often
turbulent waters of antigay politics" fostered by Senators Jesse Helms of North
Carolina and Bob Smith of New Hampshire. The group endorsed Jeffords for
authoring the Ryan White Care Act, which provides services to
people with AIDS, and sponsoring a bill that would outlaw job bias based on
sexual orientation.
This race represents "the clearest case where a dual
endorsement ought to be employed," Stachelberg said.
If the candidates'
records provide little guidance for backers of the unions, worse is the dilemma
faced by opponents who used the primary to punish Republicans who back the new
law.
One of Vermont's most prominent opponents of civil unions said
through an aide that he had no comment on the Jeffords-Flanagan race.
Polls have shown that a majority of Vermonters oppose the civil unions
law, and results from the primary suggest that the backlash can affect the
outcome of a race: Four Republican House members and one GOP senator who voted
for the law were ousted. Many civil unions supporters in the Legislature did not
face primary opponents, so they won't learn if they will be penalized until next
month's election.
Patrick Garahan, the state Republican chairman, said
the anticivil unions sentiment could work against Flanagan. "If the polling is
accurate, I don't see how they elect him," he said.
Flanagan survived
the Democratic primary with a victory margin of about 1,000 votes.
The
civil unions law granting same-sex couples most of the legal rights of marriage
was passed after Flanagan decided to enter the Senate race. He had expected his
sexual orientation to be "almost irrelevant to the contest," given that he was
reelected as auditor twice after coming out, but the new law changed things.
Flanagan was sought out for interviews.
"While I knew it was not what
the political doctor ordered, that was not a difficult political decision,"
Flanagan said. "It's the whole point of what I'm in public service about - these
very basic fundamental issues of right and wrong." And so he was very clear
about what he thought "in terms of firmly believing that all Vermonters should
have equal marriage rights."
Ultimately, many political observers say,
the impact of the civil unions issue will be felt most strongly in legislative
races and the gubernatorial contest, rather than in the US Senate election. And
Flanagan urged voters in the primary to focus on his record, rather than "waste"
a vote on him, one way or the other, based on his sexual orientation.
But even absent the civil unions debate, Flanagan faces a daunting task
in his bid to unseat Jeffords, who has been winning statewide races for the US
House and Senate since the mid-1970s. Through his career, Jeffords has cemented
his appeal to Vermont's independent-minded voters by swimming against the
Republican tide on issues such as the impeachment vote last year, when he voted
to acquit President Clinton.
"He's a Republican, but by any measure he's
a moderate to liberal Republican," said Garahan.
Not the least of
Flanagan's troubles is his testy relationship with Democrats who support the
governor. Like Dean, Flanagan is a Democrat and a four-term incumbent.
As auditor, Flanagan turned a quiet office few had noticed into an
operation that generated headlines with a series of reports often critical of
Dean administration practices, such as no-bid contracts.
"Sometimes he
said people were doing a good job," said Michael J. Obuchowski, a Democrat who
is speaker of the Vermont House and a Flanagan ally. But when the auditor's
reports "weren't flattering, usually the tip of the ice pick was pointed at the
administration."
Sorrell, the attorney general and a Dean ally, said the
disputes were often about Flanagan's approach, rather than the substance of his
work. The administration felt there was a degree of grandstanding involved,
Sorrell said. Flanagan and Obuchowski, however, say that administration
stonewalling prompted the public disputes.
Of his differences with Dean
and other Democrats, Flanagan said after the primary, "It's all mended now."
The candidacies of Texas Governor George W. Bush and Ruth Dwyer, Dean's
Republican opponent, are "a powerful force to bring Democrats together,"
Flanagan said. "And it has successfully done so. I'm very strongly supporting
Howard Dean's reelection."
Dean was a little less effusive. Asked if he
had any reservations about endorsing Flanagan, the governor replied: "When the
party nominates a candidate, if you're a Democrat, you support him."
Still, some Democrats - Flanagan supporters and opponents alike - say
the backlash against civil unions will force the party to rally behind all of
its candidates.
"Civil unions is going to be some of the glue that holds
us together," said Obuchowski, the House speaker.
GRAPHIC: PHOTO, 1. James Jeffords / AP PHOTO 2. Edward
Flanagan / AP PHOTO
LOAD-DATE: October 24, 2000
