The Curious Case of Edward Flanagan

On July 1, 2009, Edward S. Flanagan, a State Senator from Burlington, Vermont, announced his candidacy for Lieutenant Governor. Now, before any real campaigning has even begun, Senator Flanagan is facing accusations of openly masturbating in a public fitness area of a health club.

Normally, one would hear a bell right about now, a long, sorrowful toll signaling the end of a political career. Just for creative exercise, if one were to produce a list of things an ambitious politician could do to ruin a political career, masturbating between a Norditrac and a Stairmaster at the local YMCA would definitely make the front page of the leaderboard.

Bring down the campaign website, call the moving company to come get the desks and chairs. It's over.

But in the curious case of Edward Flanagan perhaps - perhaps - not so fast.

Ed Flanagan has quite a remarkable and memorable history in politics. In 1993, Flanagan was elected State Auditor in Vermont, making him the first openly gay, statewide elected official in the United States. In 2000, he made history again, becoming the first openly gay candidate for the United States Senate, losing to the incumbent (and then-Republican) Senator Jim Jeffords. He also vied for the 2002 Democratic nomination for State Treasurer but was defeated in the primary.

In 2004, Flanagan triumphantly returned to public service, winning a seat in the State Senate representing the Chittenden senate district. Now, his ambition to return to statewide office may have been derailed by the lewdness allegations, a charge he denies.

The problem for Flanagan in this regard is that his friends and colleagues, while probably wanting to believe his denials, seem to feel it is not outside the realm of possibility that he did what he is accused of. If true, his behavior could be lumped in with other eccentric and erratic behavior that Flanagan has displayed in the past four years.

In 2005, Edward Flanagan was involved in a very serious car accident, a crash that left him in a coma for two weeks. He suffered a traumatic brain injury and since the accident, he has been prone to various idiosyncrasies: he walks around the statehouse in his socks; he comes into meetings and throws his shoes on the meeting table; he lies down on the floor in the Senate cloakroom at inappropriate times. He even pours his soft drinks from the farthest distance possible, often causing spills that need to be cleaned up. And while his behavior has seemed to worsen in the past year, nothing demonstrated resembled what he is accused of doing at the Y.

Now his friends are contemplating whether or not they should encourage him to step down from his Senate seat with a 17 months remaining in his term, in addition to calling off his campaign for higher office.

It's put his friends in a tough spot:

Flanagan’s condition has been a topic of discussion among his Senate colleagues, though they found it awkward to talk about publicly.

“This is very hard stuff,” (Sen. Hinda) Miller said during a break at a legislative conference. She said she doesn’t know what the results should be, but the discussion is worth having.

The President pro tempore of the senate, Peter Shumlin, sympathizes:

“If it was another senator it would be a different story. Ed Flanagan is suffering from a brain injury,” he said. “One of the most common symptoms is you lose your filter for behavior that you otherwise would never consider.”

What is unique about Flanagan's situation is that he is an elected official. He's not operating heavy machinery, or working as an air traffic controller. He serves at the will of the people. But should someone with these problems, these behaviors, consider running for Lieutenant Governor of a state? If elected, he will be one heartbeat away from being the state's chief executive.

His friends tend to think he should step down, at least, from running for statewide office.

Miller said the job also involves running the Senate. “In order to be lieutenant governor you have to have stamina and a good memory and ability to stand for very long time and to be meticulous about setting rules for the Senate,” she said. “It’s not really a good match.”

I think the question is likely moot. Personally, I think he will pull out of his race for LG. He certainly is no shoo-in to win -- he lost a primary race for treasurer before the accident. If a decent Democrat runs against him, especially in light of the recent allegations, he will likely lose again.

But the greater question is: what does dropping out say to people with brain injuries, who want to resume a full life? He has eccentric and erratic behaviors, tendencies he did not have before the accident. According to his friends, his problems are social and behavioral, not intellectual.

But social behaviors require making judgments and, if true, his judgement was seriously on hiatus at the Y. And being social and dealing with the public is an important part of a statewide officials job. It does make you question whether he should be doing that job.

But also, does he not have the right to try? The people of Vermont will no doubt be fully aware of his situation come election day. Assuming he can clear up the YMCA issue, it would be fascinating to watch him try.