During the 1990's, when he held a seat inside the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. as Vermont's congressional representative, 2016 Democratic party presidential candidate Bernie Sanders wrote a book that Verso published, titled Bernie Sanders: Outsider In The House, in which Sanders stated the following:
"In 1976, as the now `perennial candidate' of the Liberty Union, I ran for governor again....I ended up with 6 percent of the vote....
"After that campaign I decided to leave the Liberty Union Party....
"....With politics behind me, I...began building, reasonably successfully, a small business in educational filmstrips. I wrote, produced, and sold filmstrips on New England history for elementary schools and high schools....
"In 1979, after discovering that....college students I spoke to had never heard of....Debs, I produced a 30-minute video on his life and ideas....The Debs video was sold and rented to colleges throughout the country, and we also managed to get it on public television in Vermont. Folkways Records also produced the soundtrack of the video as a record....
"....I now had a business career....The Debs video was a success and I was now beginning to think about a video series on other American radicals--Mother Jones, Emma Goldman, Paul Robeson....My media production career came to an end in 1980....
"....In Congress, I chair the 52-member House Progressive Caucus which has 51 Democrats and me, people with whom I have an excellent relationship....
"....Forward now to 1996....Bill Clinton is a moderate Democrat. I'm a democratic socialist.
"Yet without enthusiasm, I've decided to support Bill Clinton for president....I will vote for him, and make that public....A Clinton victory could give us some time to build a movement, to develop a political infrastructure to protect what needs protecting, and to change the direction of the country....
"The problem with a third-party or independent candidacy, as I had learned back in my Liberty Union days, was that although people will often agree with the candidate's position, they are skeptical of his or her `electability.' So it was of major importance that, shortly before the election, the Burlington Patrolmen's Association endorsed my bid for mayor. They did so because I promised to listen to the concerns of cops on the beat and open serious labor negotiations with their union...
"Vermont is a rural state in which tens of thousands of people enjoy hunting....During hunting season thousands of kids go out with their fathers and mothers to hunt....I am pro-gun, and pro-hunting...."
Showing posts with label Vermont. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vermont. Show all posts
Friday, September 18, 2015
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Revisiting 2016 Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders' Pre-2000 Political Career--Part 9
In his 1997 South End Press book, Democracy Unbound: Progressive Challenges to the Two Party System, David Reynolds described how 2016 Democratic party presidential candidate Bernie Sanders governed in Burlington, Vermont during the 1980's, when Sanders was the mayor of that small city of 38,000 people:
"Bernie Sanders....had clear limitations when he entered the mayor's office [in Burlington, Vermont[ in 1981.
"Although sympathetic to the issues raised by the women's movement, Sanders was not a feminist nor did he understand gender oppression as well as class exploitation. As a result, the Sanders' administration came under increasing criticism for not including more women in positions of authority. Indeed, Sanders' inner circle of advisors was all male....The women's council had to fight for its independence from the mayor's office, and was not one of the administration's top priorities.
"Sanders also ran into conflicts with the environmental and peace communities. Some ecologists have criticized him for focusing too much on economic growth rather than questioning the desirability of growth as an end in and of itself. The well-known intellectual advocate of social ecology, Murray Bookchin....became an outspoken Sanders opponent. A group of his supporters evolved into the Burlington Greens.
"During his first term in office, peace activists were angered at Sanders when he opposed their civil disobedience actions at the local General Electric plant. For these activists, the plant, which is the sole significant manufacturer of the high-speed, multi-barrel guns used against Nicaragua, was the natural local manifestation of the U.S. military machine....Although in negotiating around these issues Sanders agreed to set up a peace conversion task force, little was done. Similarly, anger flared again in 1985 when a newspaper reporter discovered that the local police had infiltrated the peace movement.
"In response, the Sanders' administration pushed the police commission to adopt guidelines for the use of undercover police officers. Yet critics from the peace movement did not see this measure as an adequate protection. The administration did not give their issue priority perhaps due to the role that the police union played in Sanders' electoral success in 1981....
"Sanders also took criticism for his own leadership style. Critics have argued that his administration involved a tight-knit inner circle and top-down decision-making. As such, Sanders had failed to break fully with the well-established politics of the status-quo...."
"Bernie Sanders....had clear limitations when he entered the mayor's office [in Burlington, Vermont[ in 1981.
"Although sympathetic to the issues raised by the women's movement, Sanders was not a feminist nor did he understand gender oppression as well as class exploitation. As a result, the Sanders' administration came under increasing criticism for not including more women in positions of authority. Indeed, Sanders' inner circle of advisors was all male....The women's council had to fight for its independence from the mayor's office, and was not one of the administration's top priorities.
"Sanders also ran into conflicts with the environmental and peace communities. Some ecologists have criticized him for focusing too much on economic growth rather than questioning the desirability of growth as an end in and of itself. The well-known intellectual advocate of social ecology, Murray Bookchin....became an outspoken Sanders opponent. A group of his supporters evolved into the Burlington Greens.
"During his first term in office, peace activists were angered at Sanders when he opposed their civil disobedience actions at the local General Electric plant. For these activists, the plant, which is the sole significant manufacturer of the high-speed, multi-barrel guns used against Nicaragua, was the natural local manifestation of the U.S. military machine....Although in negotiating around these issues Sanders agreed to set up a peace conversion task force, little was done. Similarly, anger flared again in 1985 when a newspaper reporter discovered that the local police had infiltrated the peace movement.
"In response, the Sanders' administration pushed the police commission to adopt guidelines for the use of undercover police officers. Yet critics from the peace movement did not see this measure as an adequate protection. The administration did not give their issue priority perhaps due to the role that the police union played in Sanders' electoral success in 1981....
"Sanders also took criticism for his own leadership style. Critics have argued that his administration involved a tight-knit inner circle and top-down decision-making. As such, Sanders had failed to break fully with the well-established politics of the status-quo...."
Friday, September 11, 2015
Revisiting 2016 Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders' Pre-2000 Political Career--Part 8
In his 1991 book, The Socialist Mayor: Bernard Sanders in Burlington, Vermont, Steven Soifer indicated how 2016 Democratic Party presidential candidate Bernie Sanders apparently related to local anti-war movement and peace movement activists in Vermont when he was the mayor of the small city of Burlington, Vermont during the 1980's, by writing the following:
"....In August 1982, a group of activists targeted the General Electric [GE] plant in Burlington because it `is the only significant producer anywhere of the high speed, multi-barrel machine guns that are a basic component of virtually all the fighter aircraft in the Western world'--the Gatling gun, which is used extensively in Central America....
"In summer 1983, the Burlington peace community....planned to engage in civil disobedience [CD] action at the plant, which drew criticism from....Sanders....
"The tension that existed between the peace community and Sanders early in his administration came to a head over the GE demonstrations. One of Sanders's progressive critics offered this perspective on the differences between the peace movement and the mayor:
"`It goes back to '83, when we decided to sit in at GE and Bernie opposed that....'
"The tensions between Mayor Sanders and the peace movement were confirmed by many both inside and outside the administration...."
"....In August 1982, a group of activists targeted the General Electric [GE] plant in Burlington because it `is the only significant producer anywhere of the high speed, multi-barrel machine guns that are a basic component of virtually all the fighter aircraft in the Western world'--the Gatling gun, which is used extensively in Central America....
"In summer 1983, the Burlington peace community....planned to engage in civil disobedience [CD] action at the plant, which drew criticism from....Sanders....
"The tension that existed between the peace community and Sanders early in his administration came to a head over the GE demonstrations. One of Sanders's progressive critics offered this perspective on the differences between the peace movement and the mayor:
"`It goes back to '83, when we decided to sit in at GE and Bernie opposed that....'
"The tensions between Mayor Sanders and the peace movement were confirmed by many both inside and outside the administration...."
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Revisiting 2016 Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders' Pre-2000 Political Career--Part 7
In his 1991 book, The Socialist Mayor: Bernard Sanders in Burlington, Vermont, Steven Soifer indicated how 2016 Democratic party presidential candidate Bernie Sanders governed in Burlington, Vermont during the 1980's, when Sanders was the mayor of Burlington, Vermont:
"....One administration insider noted that Bonnie Vander Tain, Personnel Department director after Jim Dunn, was the only woman appointed by Sanders to head a department, and she didn't stay long....In another administration insider's estimation, `the tension comes with the women's groups because they don't see Bernie as a feminist--and he's not--and partly that's his age, and he tries hard. I think he relies on men primarily.'....
"Progressive critics of the Sanders administration were generally harsh on Sander's record with women. For example, one said:
"`I guess he's finally agreed to set up a women's committee (that is, Women's Council) that has some teeth to it, but for years women were trying to get to take their concerns seriously....and it was the same thing--he just wasn't listening....'
"Another progressive critic explained her view of the situation of women at city hall: The `lack of women around him and his seeming inability to have women in any leadership position in city hall [is a problem[....I think his inner circle's...all men.'
"Still another progressive critic had this to say about Sanders's relation to women:
"`If you look at all....the big jobs, very few [go] to women. Only through great pushing was there finally a Women's Council....in the city....after four years in office....He hasn't done anything affirmative, he hasn't done anything necessarily too bad, but he's done nothing that would make any great changes for women at all.'....
"....Women's issues were not one of Sanders's top priorities. Many women interviewed, both inside and outside the administration, raised concerns around the mayor's style and process....Women generally spoke of his `male style' of doing things and his not being a feminist....
"Sanders's leftist critics were harsh in their assessment of the mayor's interactions with women....People from various groups raised the issue of Sanders's inner circle of all male advisors. The mayor's inner circle, while changing somewhat over the years, included David Clavelle, Peter Clavelle, Jonathan Leopold, Jr., John Franco, Jim Schumacher, and George Thabault. Some women expressed feelings of having been `overlooked' or `cut out of the decision-making process' at various points...."
"....One administration insider noted that Bonnie Vander Tain, Personnel Department director after Jim Dunn, was the only woman appointed by Sanders to head a department, and she didn't stay long....In another administration insider's estimation, `the tension comes with the women's groups because they don't see Bernie as a feminist--and he's not--and partly that's his age, and he tries hard. I think he relies on men primarily.'....
"Progressive critics of the Sanders administration were generally harsh on Sander's record with women. For example, one said:
"`I guess he's finally agreed to set up a women's committee (that is, Women's Council) that has some teeth to it, but for years women were trying to get to take their concerns seriously....and it was the same thing--he just wasn't listening....'
"Another progressive critic explained her view of the situation of women at city hall: The `lack of women around him and his seeming inability to have women in any leadership position in city hall [is a problem[....I think his inner circle's...all men.'
"Still another progressive critic had this to say about Sanders's relation to women:
"`If you look at all....the big jobs, very few [go] to women. Only through great pushing was there finally a Women's Council....in the city....after four years in office....He hasn't done anything affirmative, he hasn't done anything necessarily too bad, but he's done nothing that would make any great changes for women at all.'....
"....Women's issues were not one of Sanders's top priorities. Many women interviewed, both inside and outside the administration, raised concerns around the mayor's style and process....Women generally spoke of his `male style' of doing things and his not being a feminist....
"Sanders's leftist critics were harsh in their assessment of the mayor's interactions with women....People from various groups raised the issue of Sanders's inner circle of all male advisors. The mayor's inner circle, while changing somewhat over the years, included David Clavelle, Peter Clavelle, Jonathan Leopold, Jr., John Franco, Jim Schumacher, and George Thabault. Some women expressed feelings of having been `overlooked' or `cut out of the decision-making process' at various points...."
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Revisiting 2016 Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders' Pre-2000 Political Career--Part 6
In his 1991 book, The Socialist Mayor: Bernard Sanders in Burlington, Vermont, Steven Soifer indicated how 2016 Democratic party presidential candidate Bernie Sanders apparently governed Burlington, Vermont during the 1980's, when Sanders was the mayor of that small city of around 39,000 people:
"....There appears to be little difference between Sanders, a socialist mayor, and any non-socialist mayor regarding the issues of who has access to the mayor's office, decision-making processes within the administration, and the centralization of power....
"....Many women inside the Sanders administration raised concern about the mayor's style and his decision-making process. One administration insider, speaking from personal experience, said that women sometimes were `overlooked' or `cut out of the decision-making process'....
"One progressive activist criticized Sanders's style on other grounds....He....spoke of what he labeled `authoritarian' tendencies: `I don't think he has a real commitment to internal democracy....'
"Progressive critics of the administration leveled similar criticisms. One said: `He just meets with two or three people and that's who decides what's going to happen, and he just really doesn't care what anybody else thinks....'
"Still another charged that Sanders's style works against democracy: `The most fundamental thing that's wrong with the administration is that we have personal paternalism here--we don't have municipal democracy....
"`....Sanders....often makes decisions with little or no input from the people around him....It certainly is an impediment to developing a non-reformist strategy toward a democratic socialist society. As many people as possible must be included in both internal and external decision-making processes if we are to move away from the hierarchical, authoritarian, and centralized models of society....'
"....Women and the peace movement did not have such an easy time gaining access to the Sanders administration....His frequent retreat to an old-boy style of making decisions indicates that he has incorporated few of the principles that guide the women's movement today, all the more disappointing to socialist feminists that see his administration as more of the same old patriarchy.
"....There can be little doubt that Sanders bears the responsibility for running the city [of Burlington, Vermont] like a hierarchically run business instead of creating a democratic socialist polity, where all people have a voice and are truly empowered...."
"....There appears to be little difference between Sanders, a socialist mayor, and any non-socialist mayor regarding the issues of who has access to the mayor's office, decision-making processes within the administration, and the centralization of power....
"....Many women inside the Sanders administration raised concern about the mayor's style and his decision-making process. One administration insider, speaking from personal experience, said that women sometimes were `overlooked' or `cut out of the decision-making process'....
"One progressive activist criticized Sanders's style on other grounds....He....spoke of what he labeled `authoritarian' tendencies: `I don't think he has a real commitment to internal democracy....'
"Progressive critics of the administration leveled similar criticisms. One said: `He just meets with two or three people and that's who decides what's going to happen, and he just really doesn't care what anybody else thinks....'
"Still another charged that Sanders's style works against democracy: `The most fundamental thing that's wrong with the administration is that we have personal paternalism here--we don't have municipal democracy....
"`....Sanders....often makes decisions with little or no input from the people around him....It certainly is an impediment to developing a non-reformist strategy toward a democratic socialist society. As many people as possible must be included in both internal and external decision-making processes if we are to move away from the hierarchical, authoritarian, and centralized models of society....'
"....Women and the peace movement did not have such an easy time gaining access to the Sanders administration....His frequent retreat to an old-boy style of making decisions indicates that he has incorporated few of the principles that guide the women's movement today, all the more disappointing to socialist feminists that see his administration as more of the same old patriarchy.
"....There can be little doubt that Sanders bears the responsibility for running the city [of Burlington, Vermont] like a hierarchically run business instead of creating a democratic socialist polity, where all people have a voice and are truly empowered...."
Monday, September 7, 2015
Revisiting 2016 Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders' Pre-2000 Political Career--Part 5
In his 1991 book, The Socialist Mayor: Bernard Sanders in Burlington, Vermont, Steven Soifer indicated how Burlington, Vermont was apparently governed by 2016 Democratic party presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, when Sanders was mayor in the 1980's of that small city of around 39,000 people:
"We must ask how the Sanders administration's economic development policies differ from a traditional capitalist approach....In certain cases like the waterfront [area of Burlington, Vermont]....there was little to distinguish his [Sanders's] position from that of capitalist interests in the city of Burlington....
"....Concerning the more fundamental issue of the necessity of growth, the question of mass transportation as an alternative to increased vehicular traffic, and the impact....on Burlington's low-and moderate-income neighborhoods, Sanders rates poorly.
"Sanders and his administration have affected the nature of development in the city of Burlington [Vermont]....We must ask whether there was a basic difference between the Sanders administration and a capitalist Democratic or Republican administration regarding development issues....As evidenced by the critiques from various progressives, the administration certainly did not do as much as it could to limit undesirable development in the city, nor did it pursue, except perhaps at the end, a non-reformist reform or socialist strategy toward development projects....
"One of the guiding principles of democratic socialism is participatory democracy....While Mayor Sanders himself professed a democratic-socialist philosophy, his administration's internal decision-making processes tended to be limited and exclusionary,....to certain progressives and women...
"....One would expect tenants' concerns to be a big agenda item for Sanders. However,....this really has not been the case....
"When one thinks of non-reformist issues that a local socialist administration could promote concerning tenants' rights, the issue of rent control immediately comes to mind. However....Sanders, who says he supports the idea, has not strongly promoted the issue...."
"We must ask how the Sanders administration's economic development policies differ from a traditional capitalist approach....In certain cases like the waterfront [area of Burlington, Vermont]....there was little to distinguish his [Sanders's] position from that of capitalist interests in the city of Burlington....
"....Concerning the more fundamental issue of the necessity of growth, the question of mass transportation as an alternative to increased vehicular traffic, and the impact....on Burlington's low-and moderate-income neighborhoods, Sanders rates poorly.
"Sanders and his administration have affected the nature of development in the city of Burlington [Vermont]....We must ask whether there was a basic difference between the Sanders administration and a capitalist Democratic or Republican administration regarding development issues....As evidenced by the critiques from various progressives, the administration certainly did not do as much as it could to limit undesirable development in the city, nor did it pursue, except perhaps at the end, a non-reformist reform or socialist strategy toward development projects....
"One of the guiding principles of democratic socialism is participatory democracy....While Mayor Sanders himself professed a democratic-socialist philosophy, his administration's internal decision-making processes tended to be limited and exclusionary,....to certain progressives and women...
"....One would expect tenants' concerns to be a big agenda item for Sanders. However,....this really has not been the case....
"When one thinks of non-reformist issues that a local socialist administration could promote concerning tenants' rights, the issue of rent control immediately comes to mind. However....Sanders, who says he supports the idea, has not strongly promoted the issue...."
Saturday, September 5, 2015
Revisiting 2016 Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders' Pre-2000 Political Career--Part 4
In his 1991 book, The Socialist Mayor: Bernard Sanders in Burlington, Vermont, Steven Soifer indicated how 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders apparently governed the city of Burlington, Vermont during the 1980's, when he was the mayor of that small city:
"....One of Sanders's progressive critics strongly felt that Sanders's comment about running the city [of Burlington, Vermont] like a corporation was indicative of the sellout of his socialist principles. Said this critic about Sanders: `He respects capitalists....The big fact is he's running the city like a corporation. The city's not an ethical community to him, it's a corporation....'
"....His `honeymoon' with Antonio Pomerleau, the city's largest individual taxpayer, [head of] a large insurance business and own[er of] shopping centers and development throughout the state, was a curious one that raised eyebrows in the progressive....community. The two seemed to strike a personal friendship early on in Sanders's first term. Said Sanders: `On a personal level, I have to say I'm fond of Tony....He's a self-made capitalist, not a corporate capitalist....' This is not the sort of distinction one expects a socialist to make.
"....Some progressives accused the [Sanders] administration of making too many compromises with developers....
"....One prominent Burlington businessman commented: `I think most of Bernie's initiatives around job formation and economic development have been very entrepreneurial and capitalistic, frankly.'....Business fears of `nationalization' or real socialism in Burlington have proved unfounded...."
"....One of Sanders's progressive critics strongly felt that Sanders's comment about running the city [of Burlington, Vermont] like a corporation was indicative of the sellout of his socialist principles. Said this critic about Sanders: `He respects capitalists....The big fact is he's running the city like a corporation. The city's not an ethical community to him, it's a corporation....'
"....His `honeymoon' with Antonio Pomerleau, the city's largest individual taxpayer, [head of] a large insurance business and own[er of] shopping centers and development throughout the state, was a curious one that raised eyebrows in the progressive....community. The two seemed to strike a personal friendship early on in Sanders's first term. Said Sanders: `On a personal level, I have to say I'm fond of Tony....He's a self-made capitalist, not a corporate capitalist....' This is not the sort of distinction one expects a socialist to make.
"....Some progressives accused the [Sanders] administration of making too many compromises with developers....
"....One prominent Burlington businessman commented: `I think most of Bernie's initiatives around job formation and economic development have been very entrepreneurial and capitalistic, frankly.'....Business fears of `nationalization' or real socialism in Burlington have proved unfounded...."
Friday, September 4, 2015
Revisiting 2016 Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders' Pre-2000 Political Career--Part 3
In his 1991 book, The Socialist Mayor: Bernard Sanders in Burlington, Vermont, Steven Soifer indicated how 2016 Democratic presidential primary candidate Bernie Sanders won election for a third term as mayor of Burlington, Vermont in the late 1980's:
"After Sanders's unsuccessful 1986 gubernatorial bid, the daily newspaper speculated that he would run for mayor again....At the beginning of December [1986], Sanders threw his hat into the ring....Sanders announced that....this would be his last race for mayor....
"As the race unfolded....Sanders proposed a 4-cent tax increase to hire more police officers and administrative personnel and to buy more police cruisers--his first proposed tax increase since 1983....."
"After Sanders's unsuccessful 1986 gubernatorial bid, the daily newspaper speculated that he would run for mayor again....At the beginning of December [1986], Sanders threw his hat into the ring....Sanders announced that....this would be his last race for mayor....
"As the race unfolded....Sanders proposed a 4-cent tax increase to hire more police officers and administrative personnel and to buy more police cruisers--his first proposed tax increase since 1983....."
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Revisiting 2016 Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders' Pre-2000 Political Career--Part 2
In his 1991 book, The Socialist Mayor: Bernard Sanders In Burlington, Vermont, Steven Soifer indicated how 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was re-elected as the mayor of Burlington, Vermont in November 1983:
"....The 1983 election differed from the previous mayoral election....Sanders received more than 50 percent in a three-way election...
"....A progressive critic expressed disappointment in Sanders's reelection campaign:....`His [campaign] slogan in '83 was `Leadership that's keeping Burlington strong.' It's not a radical posture to take. And the context of it [the campaign]--street improvements, keeping taxes down, efficiency in government, saving money,....at best they're kind of democratic, reform-oriented platform. He [Sanders], in fact, does what almost all politicians do, which is he runs left between elections and then back right, right before the election--not so much in the spoken word--but in what the machine produces. And the machine gets the word out real well...."
"....The 1983 election differed from the previous mayoral election....Sanders received more than 50 percent in a three-way election...
"....A progressive critic expressed disappointment in Sanders's reelection campaign:....`His [campaign] slogan in '83 was `Leadership that's keeping Burlington strong.' It's not a radical posture to take. And the context of it [the campaign]--street improvements, keeping taxes down, efficiency in government, saving money,....at best they're kind of democratic, reform-oriented platform. He [Sanders], in fact, does what almost all politicians do, which is he runs left between elections and then back right, right before the election--not so much in the spoken word--but in what the machine produces. And the machine gets the word out real well...."
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Revisiting 2016 Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders' Pre-2000 Political Career--Part 1
In his 1991 book, The Socialist Mayor: Bernard Sanders In Burlington, Vermont, Steven Soifer indicated how 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was elected to be the mayor of Burlington, Vermont in November 1981:
"...Sanders formally announced his independent bid for mayor [of Burlington, Vermont] in Fall 1980....After a tense recount [in November 1981], Sanders was declared the official winner, but by an an even slimmer ten-vote margin...
'How do we explain the extraordinary upset of Bernard Sanders over Democratic mayor Gordon Paquette?....The lack of a Republican candidate and the presence of three independent candidates, including Sanders, also was critical to Paquette's defeat. One of these independent candidates, restaurateur Dick Bove, ran against the incumbent after losing in the Democratic Party city caucus. If Bove had not gotten the 1,000 voters he did, Paquette almost surely would have won the election....
"The endorsement of the Burlington Patrolman's Association in a week before the election was still another crucial factor. Paquette had alienated this group over the years and the socialist challenger actively courted their support. One Sanders administration official commented that the endorsement `probably took him [Sanders]...to a situation where he was now a real legitimate contender.' And one newspaper reporter confided that it `gave Bernie an endorsement from a very credible source that in and of itself negated all the possible...red-baiting that would have gone Bernie's way....I mean how can you be a communist if the police are for [you]?'.
"The news media also played an important role....By giving Sanders a lot of coverage, the news media helped turn him into a major contender in the election. Said one progressive: `I can't believe he [Sanders] would have won as mayor if he had not been on the news almost every night--and sympathetically so!'....
"....One campaign worker said Sanders's identification as a socialist was `never brought up by the media or Paquette, even though the campaign was ready for it.' Immediately after the election...a story appeared in The Burlington Press on Sanders's socialist beliefs and philosophy, making it widely known for the first time...."
"...Sanders formally announced his independent bid for mayor [of Burlington, Vermont] in Fall 1980....After a tense recount [in November 1981], Sanders was declared the official winner, but by an an even slimmer ten-vote margin...
'How do we explain the extraordinary upset of Bernard Sanders over Democratic mayor Gordon Paquette?....The lack of a Republican candidate and the presence of three independent candidates, including Sanders, also was critical to Paquette's defeat. One of these independent candidates, restaurateur Dick Bove, ran against the incumbent after losing in the Democratic Party city caucus. If Bove had not gotten the 1,000 voters he did, Paquette almost surely would have won the election....
"The endorsement of the Burlington Patrolman's Association in a week before the election was still another crucial factor. Paquette had alienated this group over the years and the socialist challenger actively courted their support. One Sanders administration official commented that the endorsement `probably took him [Sanders]...to a situation where he was now a real legitimate contender.' And one newspaper reporter confided that it `gave Bernie an endorsement from a very credible source that in and of itself negated all the possible...red-baiting that would have gone Bernie's way....I mean how can you be a communist if the police are for [you]?'.
"The news media also played an important role....By giving Sanders a lot of coverage, the news media helped turn him into a major contender in the election. Said one progressive: `I can't believe he [Sanders] would have won as mayor if he had not been on the news almost every night--and sympathetically so!'....
"....One campaign worker said Sanders's identification as a socialist was `never brought up by the media or Paquette, even though the campaign was ready for it.' Immediately after the election...a story appeared in The Burlington Press on Sanders's socialist beliefs and philosophy, making it widely known for the first time...."
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