There's only one thing missing from Thomas Salmon's re-election campaign - Thomas
Salmon, the associated press reported.
Serving in Iraq with the U.S. Naval Reserve, the Vermont state auditor isn't allowed to participate in his campaign because of a Pentagon ban on politicking by active duty members of the military.
And his absence from the three-way race has made for a curious campaign, prompting one rival to pass up the race, two others to wage halfhearted campaigns and Salmon's wife, campaign manager and father to act as his surrogate.
"It is a very bizarre situation," said his wife, Leslie Salmon.
Salmon, a 45-year-old Democrat whose father once served as governor, was elected state auditor in 2006. In military life, he's a builder with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion No. 27, a Navy Seabees unit based in Brunswick, Maine.