 The lede in the resulting story was that Vermont's senior Republican was of the view that McMullen hadn’t lived in the state long enough to represent it in the senate, and Stafford's dismissal of McMullen as "Mulholland or whatever his name is" became a running joke among reporters and political operatives.In the Republican primary, McMullen faced Fred Tuttle, a retired dairy farmer who had starred in a mock documentary film called "Man with a Plan", a comedy about a retired farmer who decides to run for Vermont's seat in the United States House of Representatives.Tuttle and filmmaker John O'Brien considered using a Tuttle candidacy to promote the film, and accepted a suggestion from political columnist Peter Freyne to challenge McMullen rather than incumbent Congressman Bernie Sanders.