Krowinski's 'wild ride'

Jill Krowinski: Politicker PhotoBURLINGTON - Since taking the reigns of Gaye Symington's gubernatorial campaign nearly a month ago, former Vermont Democratic Party executive director Jill Krowinski says she's jumped right in after "quite a wild ride," she told PolitickerVT.com last week. "It was basically a change that happened overnight."

For a time, Krowinski said, her new post carried an awkward familiarity that she summed up as "same desk, different job."

But one major shift that Krowinski has quickly adjusted to is "scheduling for a candidate versus scheduling for a chairman."

Having worked as Symington's assistant in the speakers' office and as a field organizer for the congressional campaign of U.S. Rep. Peter Welch (D-Windsor), Krowinski said she knows firsthand that the voters of the Green Mountain State put an emphasis on personal relationships. "Vermonters expect to meet the candidate."

Despite Vermont's small size, Krowinski said she is looking to harness national political trends. She credits the heated presidential nomination contest between U.S. Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) to bringing "a new energy" to the party, saying such enthusiasm was on display at the party's state convention last month. "We had a record turnout," she said. "It was a great opportunity for [Symington] to have personal interaction with both new and old faces."

Kristina Althoff, Krowinski's successor as executive director of the state party, worked for Obama in five different states. Althoff told PolitickerVT.com in late last month that her experience showed her "how you can bring people who haven't been interested in politics before into a campaign."

While a national wave could shore up additional support for state Democrats this fall, Krowinski is aware that certain obstacles won't be washed away. "Jim Douglas has been in politics for 30 years," she said of the Republican governor. "In that time he's gained a lot of name recognition, and as a result a lengthy donor list."

Although the gubernatorial race has a third wheel, Progressive Party candidate Anthony Pollina, Krowinski was quick to keep her objective clear: "Our focus is on Jim Douglas."