Buckley went his own way

T Garry Buckley, who died last week at the age of 89, could be listed as a Republican in politics but he was not your run of the mill party member.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20120530/OPINION03/705309965/1018/OPINION

Article published May 30, 2012 Buckley went his own way T Garry Buckley, who died last week at the age of 89, could be listed as a Republican in politics but he was not your run of the mill party member. The word �maverick� might be too strong an adjective to be applied to him, but he was certainly an unorthodox political operative. When he and A. Luke Crispe of Brattleboro proposed a pari-mutuel racing scheme they had both been active for a long time in Vermont Republican politics, and in that racing proposal they were joined by Gerald E. McLaughlin of Springfield. McLaughlin was a stalwart Republican supporter. He had run the newsroom of the Herald for a number of years during World War II and shortly after. But as a Proctor native he sympathized with the Proctor side of the Republican party in Vermont, while the paper�s editorial policy favored the Aiken-Gibson wing of the party that was opposed to the Proctors. Eventually, McLaughlin went to Springfield to take over operation of the weekly Springfield Reporter. A number of prominent Springfield people were active mainline Republicans, and McLaughlin built the weekly into a strong organ for that line of thinking, in addition to turning it into one of the most articulate weekly newspapers in Vermont. One of the Springfield people he supported was Joseph B. Johnson, who became governor. When a Rutland County sheriff position became vacant, McLaughlin got Johnson to appoint a person who had been McLaughlin�s sports editor at the Herald � J. Fred Carbine. So it came as something of a surprise to Buckley and Crispe when a Rhode Island group was chosen for the pari-mutuel franchise. I never found out the official reason why the administration of Gov. F. Ray Keyser chose that particular outfit, but I have a strong feeling that it could have been due to the persuasion of Keyser�s lieutenant governor, Ralph Foote of Middlebury. Even when the Legislature was not in session Foote was often in Montpelier and had access to the governor�s office. Also, in subsequent years Foote handled the racetrack�s Vermont legal affairs. He even showed up as spokesman when the track property in Pownal was sold. Miffed at being turned down, in 1962 Buckley and Crispe founded the Vermont Independent Party ( it was surely not coincidence that its initials were �VIP�). Philip Hoff was the Democratic candidate for governor and was also on the Independent ballot. It seems odd these days to think that there was a time when many Vermont Republicans could not bring themselves to vote Democratic, but were willing to vote for the same candidate if he were listed as Independent. The movement was very obvious. U.S. Sen. George D. Aiken, commenting on the state�s political picture, once concluded: �And then there�s the Vermont Independent Party. I know both of them very well.� The Independent line gave Hoff the victory that year, so the influence of people like Buckley has had a profound effect on the nature of this state. Kendall Wild is a retired editor of the Herald.