GOP Candidate: "Vote for me and I will pursue Bush impeachment"

[Matty]

http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pb...22/1002/NEWS01


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Dennis Morrisseau, 62, of West Pawlet, plans to seek the Republican nomination to run for U.S. House of Representatives. The seat is being vacated by Rep. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., who plans a run for the U.S. Senate.

A central part of his platform, Morrisseau said, will be bringing articles of impeachment against Bush.

Morrisseau said he considers himself more of a Republican than the president, and he thinks a lot of Vermont Republicans agree with him.

"This leadership isn't very Republican and I don't think it's very popular with Vermont Republicans," he said. "Republicans in this state tend to be mind-your-own-business people, keep taxes low and government small."

Morrisseau held up former Gov. Deane Davis as an example of a Vermont Republican.

"Davis was the best environmentalist we had in this state," he said. "That's Republicanism in Vermont. We like small businesses. We're afraid of outsiders and large businesses. That's what I'm about."

"I think I've got a great shot," he said. "There's been movement since the election, if you track the polls. That's not just Democrats, that's Republicans, too. Down in southern Vermont, the man (Bush) is reviled among Republicans."

Morrisseau said he imagines there is a lot of soul-searching going on among the Republicans who continue to support Bush.

"If you're an old and decent Republican and politics takes a 180 (turn) in your country, it sometimes takes a while to tell what you ought to do. It took me a while. I've been at this for years."

Morrisseau said he spends six or seven hours a day studying current affairs, reading newspapers, magazines and Web sites from varying places on the political spectrum.

"I voted for Reagan, way back there," he said. "I liked Jerry Ford, but I think I voted for Carter. I voted for Bush in 2000. In 2004, I held my nose and voted for Kerry."

With the close study he has made of current events since his retirement, Morrisseau said he felt it was time to step up to the plate once again.

"The only time I got seriously active was LBJ, Nixon and that war," he said. "Now, we have that situation again with a government running amok."

Morrisseau said he sees an administration flagrantly abusing the powers of the executive branch and a national party leadership gaining dominance over the entire government.

"I'm a Republican," he said. "I'm not a Brown Shirt. I've never, in any contemplation of U.S. history, seen anything like that asserted at any time. I don't think we're going to get much done in the way of standard politics until we clean this neo-con nest out."

While he expects many people will join his crusade, Morrisseau said he does not yet have an organization. In terms of fund-raising, he said he is taking his cue from Howard Dean's presidential campaign.

"I'm not going to try to keep up with the flows of money that'll be coming into this state, but I'm not going to get left far behind," he said. "We're not going out to fat cats, hat in hand, no way. Grassroots is the way to go."

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