 Welcome, welcome Vermont. Welcome on this gorgeous day. It's US Constitution Day, a day for democracy to shine. Like in 1787, we have a first today. We have a situation where the independent candidates before you, we have four candidates, we're here to endorse the Vermont candidate for governor, Charles Laramie. I've been, I will be passing the microphone to each one to share a few words. My name is Mason Wade. I am running as an independent for a Windsor Senate seat. And I like to endorse Laramie today because he speaks truth to power. He's a veteran and an educator. We, I would like to thank you all for being here and I will pass the microphone on to another endorser. I'm Beverly Stone and I'm running for Wyndham District, Senate for Wyndham District, and I endorse Chuck Laramie for governor. And I feel that it's, in terms of my running for Senate, I feel that it's my time to step up and help with the immense challenges we face. Partisanship isn't working and we need to take a fresh approach. Folks are disenfranchised and feel politically marooned and I want to play a role in trying to met, trying to bridge that gap. Thank you. Hello, I'm Barry Wadley. I'm running for Washington County Senate seat. I'm an independent. I'd like to run to make a difference, to make a change to for the benefit of all Vermonters. We've gotten, we've gotten two lax days ago with our spending. It's out of control, so I hope you'll vote for me so I can make an attempt to change things. Thank you very much. Good afternoon. I'm Michael Stern and I'm an independent candidate for the House seat in Bennington 2-1. I woke up one morning and realized that the people who are running were unacceptable to me and I said to myself like I do when I walk through the woods and see a beer can or a crushed pack of cigarettes. If not me, who? If not now, when? I am always trying to leave Vermont better for the next person to come by who can fall in love with it. And so as an independent, I am endorsing Charles Laramie for governor. I'm happy to be participating in independence for independence. That's independence from the two-party system. And like so many have said time and time again, we wish there was a viable solution to our two-party system that we had a viable third choice. Well, I'm here to say that we have viable choices here, especially in Chuck Laramie. I am very impressed with him probably because he runs right across the lines as I am. So I will definitely endorse Charles on this. The midterm elections are the best chance to get your wishes for a viable third choice. So we need to get people out to the polls. We need to bring 10 friends each to get out there and have them vote. I've had very good success with the young people in my district. That's six in Orleans counties, Ron Horton running for state senate in those counties. And when I speak to these young people, a lot of them don't really know the system that we're doing. They don't know the whole political process. So please get out there and educate people and get them out to the polls because this is our best chance to bring independence into the Vermont House and Senate and Governor's office and make some real reform for the country. Thank you. My name is Charles Laramie and I want to thank you all for coming. We'd like to welcome our family, friends, neighbors. Those of you are stopping by on your lunch hour, fellow candidates in the media. We very much appreciate your support. As you can see, we're a diverse group of candidates. Independence, Libertarian, Liberty Union. We've come here today not for sound and fury, but to let our fellow Vermonters know that you're not alone. That we here understand the frustration of partisan politics and backroom deals. That as independents, we do not answer to a party platform and policies that never create real change. That as independents, the only people and thing we answer to is a Vermont voter in common sense. We will not stand quietly by nor will we stand politely by and be shut out of the political process. You see, we will not go quietly into the night. I have been told this past week by a member of the media that campaigns can be run without money. I'm here to tell you, I know that. What the people of Vermont can do in November is to show the nation that not only can campaigns be run without money, but that the independents running them without money can win. That's what we as a group have come here to tell our fellow Vermonters. In November, if you vote independent, we can start the winds of change blowing. In growing up and growing older, I've learned a few things. There were many occasions when I found out that certain things I learned or had come to believe along the way were not necessarily correct, and I have had to reconfigure my opinions and outlooks on life. People, religion, history, education, government, and a host of other things. I have just recently left a teaching profession after 25 years teaching in Vermont public schools. There is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that education is the foundation of a representative democracy. The purpose of public education has not changed from the day it was founded. Its purpose was and is to educate our children so that they become a caring, productive members of society. Members who are well versed in reading and comprehension. Members who will then be able to elect leaders whose only concern is for them and the betterment of that society. A society that embraces all people for who they are and what they bring to the common good. Education is the bedrock on which a society continues to flourish or it perishes. At present, our public school education system is failing. How do we know that? A fellow teacher whom I respect a great deal said this, achievement doesn't brag. It doesn't need to. Leaders don't bully. They don't need to. Vulgarity is an honesty. Course talk isn't straight talk. Alternative facts are not facts. Lies are not truth. Reality television isn't reality. Here in the country of my birth, reality is barely reality anymore. We are at a crossroads in time. In our time, we've reached the end of the industrial revolution and have entered the technological revolution. The jobs of the industrial revolution will not be coming back and many of the new jobs of the technological revolution have yet to be invented. But regardless of the period of history, we have entered one thing remains certain. We need young people who are educated, articulate, understanding and respectful of others and who have a strong work ethic. Again, as a nation and as a people, we are currently failing this test. Are we going to enable this new generation? Are we going to teach them resiliency? Teach them that there are still levels of behavior that we must follow if we are to retain our humanness and our decency. As adults, we must be their role models. I ask each of you to accept that responsibility, to be aware of how you talk, listen and treat others. You must be the yardstick by which our children measure themselves. It was never my goal to seek public office, but I feel called upon to do so. I have spoken to Governor Scott, the secretary of education, superintendents, administrators in the media. I have written numerous articles and yet nothing is done. Nothing changes and worse yet, these people will not even acknowledge there is a problem. And therefore, I feel that in order to create change, I must take part in the process. And so I announce that I will seek the office of the governor of the state of Vermont. I hope you will join me. It will not be easy. But as has been said many times, nothing worth having or doing is easy. But we must seek real change or given to mediocrity and debasement. This I refuse to do. I hope you will join me in refusing it also. We have much to accomplish. First, we'll turn around education. In my administration, we'll eliminate cell phones in the public school. They interfere with cognitive learning and they interfere and they create a toxic environment throughout the building. Teachers are afraid to speak out. I'm not. Then your children and my children need jobs, jobs that will afford them a decent living. A $15 an hour livable wage is the first step. Many don't agree with that. Let me tell you, making a living on $15 an hour in Vermont takes a magician. We all know this, but it's a beginning. In the 1980s, I was making $10 to $11 an hour. That was good money. $15 an hour was unheard of. It was good money because the gap between wages earned and consumer prices were reasonable. Fast forward to 2018 and a majority of Vermonters are still making under $15 an hour with a price of consumer goods have skyrocketed. They tell us there's no inflation. They're lying. The profits of many companies are outlandish. These companies have the privilege of having businesses in America. Here they have opportunity, but with that opportunity comes responsibility. And that responsibility is to see that all Americans share in the profits because Americans are the ones doing the jobs that give those companies those huge profits. Yet at the present time, these companies are not sharing their profits. These companies were just given a huge tax break. And what have they done with all that money given to them by those who are supposed to represent us in Congress? They have invested more in the stock market, given it to their shareholders, not their employees. This is why it's so hard to make it in Vermont or in any of the other 49 states in this country. This is why the income inequality gap is growing faster by the day. They would have us believe that we want something for nothing. That has never been true. The vast majority of Americans are hard workers, but the playing field is not level. We, you and I together, are going to work to level that field. If it is not the people working for these companies who are being subsidized, when these workers are forced to turn to their state government for assistance, they are not the ones being subsidized. We, you and me, and other working Vermonters, are instead subsidizing these companies who just add those subsidies to their profit margin. This is why they are listening and shaking their heads. They're saying this man's wrong because they do not want the truth exposed and their message revealed. But we're going to expose them and we're going to expose the message and we're going to ensure a much better future for our children and for their posterity. Now, on Friday, Thursday, I asked Dave Graham of WDEV and Barry to allow me to join the debate. He told me I was not welcome. That only majority party candidates were welcome. That only they, they needed more time to share their message. Meaning our message is not worth sharing. There's a debate coming up October 10th. Again, it's just at the Paramount in Rutland and again, it's only between the major party candidates. Nobody else is welcome. I'm asking the Hall-Quist campaign and the Scott campaign to show some integrity that they should state that they will not sit down for any more debates. Unless everybody is included. Jim Jeffords, a son of Vermont, always said, I won't sit down for a debate unless everybody is included. The Hall-Quist campaign and Scott campaign can do no less. That's not democracy and thousands of Vermonters are being disenfranchised because they're not getting the chance to hear what other independent candidates have to say. This needs to stop. I thank you all for coming. I appreciate you being here. And I hope I can count on your vote on November 6th. Thank you.