To the Editor:

I suggest that currently undecided voters would keep the selection of Vermont’s next Governor out of the Legislature if they were to engage in the following mental exercise:

On one hand, gather all America’s current lieutenant governors. Try to find anyone in the group of them other than Doug Racine who admits to supporting tax, spending, and regulatory policies such as the policies that have pushed growing companies out of Vermont, driven over a thousand good jobs out of Vermont, made a national joke of Vermont’s education funding system, protected Vermont’s bloated bureaucracy, and pushed the State of Vermont into a deepening financial hole.

On the other hand, gather all of America’s current state treasurers. Jim Douglas will be among the honest ones who admit that unforeseeable corporate scandals and war fears have indeed hammered the public investment funds that the state treasurers oversee. Only Jim Douglas, however, will also have spent 30 years concentrating on serving the people of his state, beginning with several terms as a district representative in the Legislature, then as a former governor’s chosen executive assistant, then as the choice of the majority of his state’s voters to be Secretary of State for 12 years and then State Treasurer.

Now, consider what Doug Racine has done to Vermont, and consider what Jim Douglas has done for Vermont. There is simply no comparison.

Vermonters can have a Governor with a goal of better times for every Vermonter, who has therefore made a career of dedicated service to the public. Vermonters can have a Governor who will bring to the job practical wisdom of experience, problem-solving competence, fiscal discipline, and unimpeached character.

Vermonters can choose Jim Douglas as Governor and be thankful that such a good person is willing to lead us out of the current darkness into brighter days.

David A. LewisManchester, Vermont