On the March 7 WCAX evening news, Lt. Gov. Phil Scott was interviewed live about the March Blizzard by WCAX evening anchor Darren Parron. LG Scott was acting governor while Gov. Peter Shumlin was on vacation, and Parren wanted to know how the State had responded to the day's record blizzard. After announcing he would interview acting governor and lieutenant governor Phil Scott, Parren addressed him directly as "Mr. Scott."
Now, Lieutenant Gov. Scott, a racecar driver and professional contractor, is certainly handier with tools than the average pol, but he's no Montgomery Scott, chief engineer of the Starship Enterprise and the only other Public Figure (real or fictitious) I know of with the honorific of "Mr. Scott." What, exactly, SHOULD a reporter call a lieutenant governor who is acting governor?
According to the Washington School of Protocol website, here is the proper form: "Don’t directly address an Acting Governor as "Governor (name)". The rule is "address by rank, identify by office" -- so address as "Senator (name)" and identify as the Acting Governor.
So according WSP, Parren should have addressed Acting Governor Scott as Lieutenant Governor Scott. And now back to the real world - if the search engines have to do much of this, they'll blow apart.
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