Former Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas shared his political sense of humor at Castleton University right off the bat last week when he was asked a simple question, “how’s it going?”

Jimmy Britt

Former Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas spoked at Castleton last week.

“I never know, I’ve got to check the polls first,” said Douglas laughing.

The Castleton student Grand Ole Party Club invited Douglas to campus on Nov. 11. The 1787 room had an estimated 20 people turn out for the event,  primarily club members and older area residents.

“I don’t get invited to much anymore,” said Douglas as he jokingly pouted.

Douglas was asked a wide variety of questions from his thoughts on how Republicans can win this year on a national level, his insight on credit,  thoughts on carbon taxes and even his solution to the current heroin epidemic.

“It’s causing an economic problem … I don’t know what more to do to be honest, I wish I had an answer,” he said.

Douglas was also was posed a question about the legalization of marijuana.  

“I’m not for it frankly,” said Douglas plainly.

He explained how people should not just ‘jump on the band wagon’ and really think about legalization. He also shared a story about a young man he talked to who expressed how marijuana was a gateway drug for him, and Douglas suggested it probably is for everyone.  

Senior Jimmy Britt was assigned to photograph the event and felt Douglas’ answers weren’t particularly deep.

“I think that Douglas was just giving general ideas from his political party. It didn’t seem that there were answers,” said Britt.

Douglas spoke a lot about presidency at the national level and how typically the American people like to ‘swing back and forth’ between Republicans and Democrats for president. He expressed that if the trend stays consistent, “it’s our year.  

He admitted, however, that Republicans are facing a challenge because most Republican voters are, “pre-dead,” implying that as young people get older and older people get older, more voters may be Democrats and the Republicans will “die off,” so to speak.

“Ultimately voters will make up their own minds though,” he said.

President of the GOP club Zachary Holzworth was pleased with former governor’s visit.

“I think former Governor Douglas had a lot of good insight on how the Republicans can win in 2016 on all governance levels.  It’s always nice bringing him back to campus because he was a well respected governor among not only the people of Vermont, but governors from across the country, namely Republican presidential candidate, Chris Christie of New Jersey,” said Holzworth.

Junior Zach Hample asked Douglas about his “ideal vision for the future?” His response consisted of everybody being safe, getting an education, having a decent job, having a home, having a solid retirement plan, addressing the high cost of living in Vermont, and bringing more jobs to the state.

“We will look forward to having him come back next year for another great presentation,” said Holzworth.