Brattleboro Reformer - Candidate Throws Hat Into Ring

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By Unknown

Peter Diamondstone is not running for Vermont governor -- he is a candidate for Vermont governor.

"I don't use those gladiatorial terms," the Brattleboro resident said on Friday. "It turns it into a game where the voters are bettors and that is not what it is about."

Diamondstone, a member and co-founder of the Liberty Union Party, is seeking the Progressive Party's nomination for governor in the September primary.

He stopped by the Reformer offices Friday to discuss his campaign, his decision to run as a Progressive and his 2004 platform.

Diamondstone moved to Vermont in 1968 from New York City, will celebrate his 47th anniversary with his wife next week and has four kids and 12 grandchildren.

Over the years, he has made his living being a lawyer, short order cook and newspaper deliverer.

His first introduction to politics came when he was 10 years old and got a job handing out campaign literature in 1944 for Franklin Roosevelt, who was running for his fourth term as president.

Diamondstone was a candidate for some local offices before moving to Vermont -- but it is in the Green Mountain State that his name began appearing on the ballot in general elections nearly every two years.

He said he has been a candidate for statewide offices in nearly every election since 1970; among the offices he has put his name forward for include state's attorney general, governor and congressman.

Diamondstone remains a member of the Liberty Union Party -- which he helped start in the late 1960s. It features a platform combining socialist, environmental and individualistic ideals -- although he has been a candidate for public office under the banners of the Democratic and Republican parties as well.

One of the main reasons that Diamondstone is seeking the governor's seat is access to its "bully pulpit," he said.

With the seat elevating his mouthpiece, Diamondstone said he would work to pull all U.S. troops out of Iraq, withdraw all aid to Israel, pay reparations to Iraqis and Palestinians and cease the use of ammunition containing depleted uranium.

These policies are part of his health-care plan, he said, linking war, terrorism and radiation to the basic healthiness of humans.

"There are kids being born with hands growing out of their shoulders and with no arms by the spouses of U.S. troops at a rate of 10 times the occurrence within the rest of the population," said Diamondstone, discussing the effect of depleted uranium on reproduction.

His second goal as governor would be to seize the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon by eminent domain and then "let the citizens decide how long to keep it open, if they want to keep it open at all."

On the future of Vermont's economy, Diamondstone said the state needs to turn to organic farming of fruits, vegetables and meat and set up a plant to process the items.

Workers should also earn one hour of vacation time for every 12-hour shift, he added, amounting to approximately four weeks of paid vacation time each year.

"This is a health issue," Diamondstone said. "Workers need relief from the stress of their jobs and they need to spend some time with their families."

All the issues that Diamondstone talks about link back to his main issue: health care and the well-being of people.

He supports a socialized system of health care -- not a single-payer insurance system -- but health care that is run by the government and hospitals that are owned by the community.

"As long as profit is a goal, the drug companies will ruin health care any way they can," Diamondstone said. "All that matters to them is profit."

This year, Diamondstone chose to be a Progressive in the primaries, a decision that angered many top officials in that party.

"I'm always a Liberty Union candidate," said Diamondstone. "But I sometimes visit another party for the primary."

But members of the Progressive Party say Diamondstone made no attempt to contact them concerning his plans to run and their public disowning of his campaign is not an attack on his character.

"The party and party leaders has a strategy on how to approach the election and he [Diamondstone] does not fit into that," said Chris Pearson, the director of the Vermont Progressive Party.

The Progressives did not put a candidate forward for the governor's seat in this election. When asked about the decision, Pearson touted the work done by Burlington Mayor Peter Clavelle, a former Progressive turned Democrat, who is running for governor.

Pearson said the party does not plan to endorse Clavelle, however, and added that some party members have been discussing launching a write-in campaign to ensure that Diamondstone does not get the Progressive Party nomination for the seat.

Despite the Progressives damning his candidacy and the hundreds of thousands of dollars that Republican Gov. James Douglas and Clavelle are expected to raise -- Diamondstone will carry out his campaign just as he has done in the past.

That means no campaign contributions, no stump speeches and little, if any, media advertising.

Instead, he'll go and meet the Vermont voters, shake their hands, tell them why he is running and give interviews to the print and radio media outlets that want to speak with him.

"I don't raise money, although I occasionally get contributions, but never enough to report," said Diamondstone. "Instead, I'll go to the farmers' markets, the University of Vermont and the malls in Burlington and Rutland.

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