The Last Word From The Dennis Steele Campaign?

In a long, rambling, "this is not a Lost Cause," the Second Vermont Republic "shall rise again," I'm not throwing in the towel kinda towel snap, Dennis Steele argues that squandering a vote on his swirling in the bowl candidacy won't be some kind of replay of what's happened to Vermonters in the past - sending a third party message and then ending up with the last thing they would have ever wanted to have happened.

Here's his whiny piece:

In It To The End, And Beyond

As the election has drawn near, my campaign has begun receiving numerous communications from voters urging me to withdraw from the race and throw my support behind one of the major party candidates. In their emails, the correspondents usually claim that they approve of what I stand for, but, given the closeness of the race, that I should take into account the consequences of whichever candidate’s election they fear and endorse the lesser evil. Indeed, two of the independent candidates have already succumbed to such pressures and have endorsed Peter Shumlin. I will not follow suit for several reasons.

First of all, even if I wanted to, it’s not within my power to swing the base of support I’ve worked hard to build across the state over the last ten months into one camp or the other. My supporters come from across the political spectrum; I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, in the course of this campaign, conservatives, liberals, socialists, anarchists, and libertarians for whom the message of a Free Vermont has deeply resonated. A Brian Dubie supporter came up to me after a debate and traded in his “co-pilot” t-shirt for a stack of fliers to distribute around his college, and I’ve had the distinct pleasure of dropping by a supporter’s house to replace his Peter Shumlin sign with one of my own. Were I to endorse one candidate or the other, not only would it likely have no discernible effect impact due to the diversity of my supporters, but I would (justifiably) lose their respect.

This is ultimately a reflection of the unique character of my candidacy. While most of the third-party or independent candidates ran for the purpose of bringing awareness to certain issues, my goal is to help build a movement. A great many Vermonters are tired of the endless wars which are squandering the lives of our young people and our nation’s prosperity, the corrupt stranglehold of Wall Street and the Military-Industrial Complex upon our republican institutions, and repressive Federal policies that benefit powerful corporations while robbing the people of their liberties. These abuses have worsened under the watch of both Democrats and Republicans, and a growing number of Vermonters have woken up to the fact that, if we seriously desire to live in a peaceful, prosperous, and free society, a new path is needed.

Thus every Vermonter who votes for me on November 2nd will not be spoiling the election for one side or the other, but will instead be sending a powerful and critical message to the political establishment of our society: that, even in a close election in which the pressure to vote for the lesser of two evils is enormous, a critical mass of Vermonters are willing to stand up for what they believe, not what they fear. We need to show the elites of this country that they’d better begin ending the wars and corruption and start returning power back to the people. If they don’t, and the status quo continues apace, our movement will be back in 2012, better organized and more numerous, to take it.

Imagine… (Tin Foil Hat) Vermont!

Dennis Steele

October 28, 2010

But in case there are any truly undecided voters left out the, the Steele campaign has one more desperate pitch that may just persuade Vermonters to vote their way:





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