Apparently he wanted to run in 2002 or thereabouts, but the good people of Vermont were too sensible to have him on the ballot.
If you want an insight to the psychology of your man, you should have a look at this one ...
Retired Service | The University of Vermont
I felt I shold cut-and-paste so you could read it here, but in truth, you get a fuller flavour from the full context. There is a certain bathos to lines like
Here is another example of the power of the Burlington Free Press.