Last weekend, Vermont was host to the most important political happening since then Attorney General Pat Leahy wrote in support of skinny-dipping…
Yes, you guessed it folks: The First Annual Vermont Daily Briefing/Green Mountain Daily Political Barbeque and Hamburger Summit!
Organized by two of the leading Vermont bloggers, VDB’s Philip Baruth and GMD’s John Odum, the event brought together Vermont bloggers (yes, even the great Carpetbagger), activists and politicians, including most of the current Democratic contenders for statewide office: Scudder Parker, Peter Welch, Matt Dunne, and John Tracy.
Even Charity Tensel, Grande Dame of Vermont’s conservative blogosphere, and Brendan McKenna, the communications director for Martha Rainville, one of the Republican candidates seeking Bernie Sanders’ House seat, showed up to chat.
All these people together in one place, just months before the primaries and the election, and nary a reporter in sight. (Save, Shay Totten, Vermont’s independent media guru.)
Gotta love Vermont.
Read on for many links to photos and commentary...
Philip has a full multimedia presentation:
POLITICAL BARBEQUE ERUPTS ON NORTH BEACH; Officials Unable to Count the Injured and Disoriented; Welch Communications Director Hospitalized for “Percussive Gastric Event”; Odum Also Lost; Ah, The Humanity, the Humanity!
Brattlerouser has some great first person reportage.
Seven Days political reporter Peter Freyne explains his absence.
Odum adds his first thoughts; more in the comments.
And then cracks us up with severed heads.
Haik’s got some great “distorted” photos up on Burlington Pol.
Cathy Resmer of 802 Online writes a non-attending lament; some conversation in the comments.
Bill Simmon offers this.
Charity has a great post-BBQ write-up.
And I’ve got some cheap digital photos here.
The group photo...
(standing, left to right) Steve "Carpetbagger" Benen, Evening, Bill Simmon, Me, Brattlerouser, John Odum, Charity Tensel; (kneeling, left to right) Haik Bedrosian, Koko, and Philip Baruth.