Vermont's Rashomon Republicans

OR:
Parts of the same elephant?
The room Vermont’s top Republicans recently met in might not have been filled with smoke but it invites that image. A “handful” of Vermont Republicans gathered in a closed door meeting to chart strategy for the 2012 state elections. The handful of eight included chairwoman Pat McDonald ,executive director Tayt Brooks , State Sen. Randy Brock , Auditor Tom Salmon, Barre Mayor Thom Lauzon, Lt. Gov. Phil Scott , Mark Snelling and by phone former Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie.
There seemed according to different reports to be two tracks of interpretations coming from the meeting. One shared by Chairwoman McDonald who said afterward

“No one claimed a particular race. McDonald said the goal was to get these high-profile candidates to discuss their own plans, and use their star power to recruit additional candidates” and “A primary in some cases is a good thing,” and similarly Sen. Randy Brock felt “…it was essentially a meeting to talk about 2012, but no decisions were reached”

Do they realize Tom penciled in his dance card?
Auditor Tom Salmon has a unique view. According to Fair Game,Salmon felt the meeting was what he expected and this included what he called “Filling the dance card in light pencil.” This sounds suspiciously like he has claimed a particular dance eh, race, if only in “light pencil” or maybe it’s some kind of personal style instant runoff voting for all the offices in his mind.

Regarding a primary, Salmon wrote assuredly on his Facebook page recently

Prediction: There will not be 5 ambitious politicians tripping over each other to "be Governor." This state is way out of balance and restoring it is our first priority.

Recently on VPR retired professor Eric Davis offered the view that Salmon was the one to watch because. Once Salmon makes up his mind then other Republicans who have statewide ambitions they can decide if they're going to run for any statewide offices themselves. Waiting for Salmon; an interesting twist for the post Douglas / Dubie Vermont Republican party.