ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT MARKETING EARNED MEDIA RESULTS January 5, 2018 One National Life Dr, Davis Bldg, 6th Floor Montpelier, VT 05620 (802) 272-2399 |
[email protected] When Phil Scott barrels his No. 14 stock car around Thunder Road outside his hometown of Barre, Vermont, it’s easy to assume the 59-year-old has a need for speed. After all, he’s raced motorcycles and snowmobiles everywhere from America’s Midwest to Ontario, Canada, amassing dozens of wins across a three-decade career. Ask Scott, though, and he’ll dig into the psychology, not the adrenaline rush: “There are some good drivers, and some not so good; some who are very emotional, some who are more patient than others. And then there are some who are driving over their head.” Soft- spoken and silver-haired, Scott couldn’t be more at home speaking from his crew’s garage: “It’s all about strategy. And trying to not over-drive the car.” Good advice for the racetrack, and a fitting allegory for Scott. In November, the driver won another race — this one to become the Republican governor of Vermont, in the backyard of Bernie, no less. Having served as lieutenant governor and a state senator, Scott advertised himself as a cautious driver, replacing Pete Shumlin, the Democrat governor who promised the moon with the nation’s first single-payer health care system and then failed to deliver. Scott’s campaign message was simple: Elect me, and I will make Vermont more affordable. Facing a revenue downgrade and a deficit upon taking office in January, his priorities have remained similarly mild-mannered while trying to reverse what he called the state’s “6-3-1” problem: six fewer workers, three fewer students and nearly one baby born into opioid- related addiction each day.