The Conservative Fool Of The Day is...Tom Salmon!

Now is not the time to be switching to the Republican Party - especially in Vermont, of all places. But don't tell that to Tom Salmon.

Thomas M. Salmon is the Auditor of the state of Vermont. Now Salmon - formerly a Democrat - has announced that he's switching parties to become a Republican.

He says the Democrats have moved too far to the left and have mismanaged Vermont's budget. He complains that when he became Auditor in 2007, he inherited a budget rife with Democratic boogies wiped all over it.

Uh, Tom? The previous Auditor was a Republican. Vermont also had a Republican Governor for 4 years prior: Jim Douglas.

And how have the Democrats moved too far left? There's more Democrats in the U.S. Senate who support the Patriot Act than the Employee Free Choice Act, so how are the Democrats a leftist party? They're not. To hear Tom Salmon tell it, you'd think Gus Hall was head of the DNC.

Some have speculated that Salmon might run for Governor next year, but his party switch has likely dashed his chances of winning.

Meanwhile, Douglas is declining to seek another term, because of his own spiraling unpopularity. In April, Douglas's policies were the target of a Save Our State rally to protest against cuts in state services. (The media barely covered that rally, even while promoting the Tea Parties outright.)

While the Douglas administration slashed vital state programs - likely in the name of "less government" - this protest came at a time when Douglas's "more government" views on social issues came to the fore. "Big government for thee, not for me" of course is the essence of the modern Republican Party - which is why it's so baffling that the GOP doesn't have even less support than it does.

(Source: http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20090908/THISJUSTIN/909089995;
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2009059089_apraisemytaxes.html)