8/11/2019 Should Bernie Run? | Vanguard Press | Apr. 6, 1986

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FI FTY C E N TS

V OL . I X N O. 1 2

A SU B W A Y S ER IE S

IN '86: BILL D 8. 1 lA 1 I

M AJO R LEA G E p ' n O A t I f .~ . . . . . .

PREVIEW _Po~ ~ l I t . _V E R M ON T'S N E WS A ND A R TS WE E K L Y

;'Ir '1

r" I' oW

SHOUL~

YEs:If not now , when?M arty .Iezer, P . 1 0

NO:A dose of politicalreality.

H am il to n D avis , P . 1 1

Inhis five years as mayor of

Vermont's largesr city, Bernie

Sanders has not only changed

the political landscape, but

the role of city government.

Even hisstaunchest opponents admit

that, during his reign, interest and

participation in city government has

increased, new programs (like them

or not) have been created. Sanders

says his administration has tried to

be innovative-from helping to

sponsor the Burlington Community

Land Trust to forming a youth office

and a teen center, for instance-and

has attempted to reduce the burden

on property tax payers.

APRlL6-13.~986

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8/11/2019 Should Bernie Run? | Vanguard Press | Apr. 6, 1986

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Y E s :If not now , w hen?

B y Marty Jezer

By entering the 1986 gubernatorial

race, Bernie Sanders promises tobreak the polit ical stalem ate stult i-fying political debate and paralyzing

government's ability to deal effectively withreal problems.

Since the ascendency of President Reagan,the right wing has set the political agenda.The D emocrats have reacted not by challeng-ing right wing assumptions, but by tackingto the right; i.e., by accommodation andcapitulation,

Even before Reagan's election, the politicalproce ss was stagn ating , with both part ies com-petin g for the same narr ow, centr ist grou nd,as if bipartianship itself was a political goal,an adequate substitute for political direction,vision and effective policy.

Bernie Sanders offers the possibility ofbreak ing the stalem ate. His candi dacy excit esexpectation of fresh thinking and new ideas, .

. of moving the political agenda beyond theconstraints of Republican reaction and Demo-cratic compromise.

The issues of the 1986 gubernatorial racetranscend personality. No one should chal-

lenge Governor Kunin or Mayor Sanders fortheir intelligence, honesty and competence.But because Bernie Sanders comes fromoutside the two-party mold, he offers us apossi bilit y of b reaki ng new grou nd, chart ingnew paths. Democrats and Republicans havehurled rhetoric, programs and money atprobl ems to littl e effec t. Sand ers offe rs us

one small step out of this bind.Kunin's limitations reflect those ofher party.

At best, the Democratic Party has achieved ameasure of damage control over the worstdepredations of Reaganite policy. Democrat-ic votes, though, consistently uphold Reagan's

Rambo-like foreign policy. Democratic votesalso sustain the level of military spendingthat make domestic reform financially irnpos-sible. The Democrats have no programs oftheir own. It is a party without vision, direc-tion or backbone.

Should Madeleine Kunin be scapegoatedfor her party's faults? Obviously, the Demo-crats need shaking up. She won't do it. Somebody must! Governor Kunin is a consensuspolit ician ; and ther e's the rub. For when thepolit ical dialo gue is skew ed, as it is, to theright, consensus is not enough.

In Vermont, the difference between whatKunin represents and Sanders promises isexemplified by the tax issue. Our tax laws areunjust and people want relief. Is there anyquarrel with that? The right wing has ef-

fectively exploited the tax issue to assault thepubl ic se ctor and destr oy socia l ser vices . Theright has made tax reform an instrument ofclass war: the rich with their lawyers andloopholes against everyone else.

Governor Kunin could have made tax reformher issue. The grievances were there. Butshe has all but refused to act. In that vacuum,Mayor Sanders and his colleagues in theRainbow Coalition turned the issue around,r e ca s t in g it a lo n g co m p a ss io n a t e , p r o g r e ss ivelines. The Fair Tax Initiative protects socialservices, helps less affluent communities fundeducation, gives ordinary Vermonters propertytax relief, and insists that the rich pay anhonest share. This is the kind of governmentinitiative we need and, under Kunin, do not

have.I was one who, early on, opposed Sanders'run for governor. I don't like picking onmoderate Democrats unless there is a credi-ble prog ressi ve candi date who c an run to win.

Bernie is certainly credible. He enters thisrace with the same proven popular appealthat Kunin had in her first statewide race.

M ay or Sande rs : P ow e r t o t he pe op le orpow e r to the Republ icans?

More to the point, there is that vacuumneeding to be filled. Itis rare in US politics(where the two major parties have the electoralproce ss in their con trol l that an indep enden tcandidate with a proven track record has achance to win an important political office.Those who feel that the Democrats don't ade-quately represent them should not pass thisopportumty up.

D tcourse, there are good progressive Dem-ocrats in Vermont and elsewhere, all of themhostage to conservative Democrats who vote

with the right wing but hold party leadershipposit ions. A Sand ers victo ry may be the kickthe Democrats need to force them out fromReagan's shadow.

On its own terms, a Sanders victory wouldbe an inspi ratio n for prog ressiv es in otherstates. A dmittedly, Vermont is unique andthe political situation not easily transferable.But Sanders has proven himself a good mayoro f Burlington. No doubt, he 'd be a goodgovernor of Vermont.

I know there are problems with Sanders'candidacy. Some people who support him onthe issues are upset that he's taking on agovernor they personally like. Yet isn't it timewe got off the defensive? To assert ideals isnot to be nostalgic for the sixties. To believein government as a vehicle for constructivereform is not an archaic-concept just becausethe public likes the president's personality.

Progressives should and can use the electoralarena to fight for peace, equality and justice.There is no reason why, like the Democrats,third-party progressives need to settle forproxywars, partial equality, and a concept of Justicepredi cated on the lates t publ ic opini on poll .

Governor Kunin, and Democrats hke her,will not challenge the right wing on itsassumptions. Nor will they confront theretrograde leaders of their own party _It'stime we opened the electoral process to thekind of left-of-center ideas that are repressedin our own political system but commonplacein every other Western democratic country.

Some no doubt, will agree, yet argue that

this is the wrong race at the wrong time andthat Bernie should not challenge Kunin, Butif not now, when? With the political climateas it is-and witb this election likely to deter-mine the climate for the decisive 1988 presi-dential elections-can we afford to wait anylonger?

8/11/2019 Should Bernie Run? | Vanguard Press | Apr. 6, 1986

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NO:A do s e o f po l i t i c a lrea l i t y .

B y Hamilton Davis

B.ern ie Sanders i s almost cer tainly go-mg to run for governor th is fal l ,t rying to spread h is progressivegospel to the rest of the s tate . I t ' s

l ikely instead to be the last hurrah for Sandersif no t for the gospel. '

The pol it ical reali ty i s that a th i rd-par tycandidate c an only win ifhe or she can some howget in to a two-person race, preferably againstan unpopular opponent. That i s how Sanderswon his first mayoral race in Burlington which,though technically a four-man race, effectivelypi tted San de rs aga in st th en- M ayor G or donPaquette.

In the present ci rcumstances, i t' s h ighlyunl ikely that the Republ icans wi l l fai l to f ielda candidat e; Sander s wou ld t hen be in a

th ree -way r ace wi th the GOP con tender andGoverno r Made leine Kun in.Itwould be theoretically possib le in such a

race fo r Sander s t o t ake enough vo tes f romKunin to force the choice into the legislature,bu t it w oul d no t even be th eo re ti ca lly pos si bl efor Sanders to win in such a fonun: Legislators,as a so l id b lock , beg in bay ing a t t h e moon ifSanders SO much as shows up in the ha l l s.

The e f fec t, t h ere fo re, wou ld be e it her t o

damage Kun in' s manda te and prest ige , o r t oelect the Republ ican . If by some chance theRepubl icans fai led to field a candidate, Kuninwou ld ge t a l l t h e Repub li can vo tes and ahuge chunk o f t he Democra ts and win in alandslide.

Tba t w ou ld l eave Sander s back where hewas in h i s L iber ty Un ion days-wi th l ot s o f sel f-sat i sfact ion f rom having the opportuni tyto spread h is v iews, but w i thout many votes.

Moreover, i t would give Kunin total freedomto move to even more conservative posi tionsin keeping wi th a mandate that would includethe s tate's Republ icans.

There i s , in shor t, no pract ical reason for Sanders to run , pract ical being def ined as arealistic chance to win or to gain some strictlypo li ti ca l ben ef it .

Some wi ll a rgue , o f cou rse -and Bern ieh imse l f wi ll undoubted ly p roc l aim-thatspreading the pol i tical gospel i s worthwhi le;that there i s no real d i f ference between Demo-crats and R epubl icans; and that i t is time togive power back to the people.

I t i s possib le that local candidates run-n ing on such a p latform might actuallywin local government posi tions or evenseats in the legislature.

Bu t t h e i dea t ha t Bern ie 's success i n Bu r-lington means that a third-party wave is readyto crest in Vermont is at the very least open toserious question.

Sanders or ig inal ly won in Burl ington b e-cause t he i ncumbent mayo r w as wide ly per-

ceived to be inadequate. Sanders ' ab i li ty toconsolidate h is posit ion in the ci ty has heenba se d la rg ely on a re gr ess iv e city D em oc ra ticorganizat ion that i s clear ly out of touch wi ththe voters .

That 's no t to say Sanders ' performanceas a c i ty manager has been bad . On thecontrary, the city is better run now than it hasbe en in dec ade s. B ut San de rs ' pe rf or m anc ehas not been rad ical , however much he mightl ike to th ink so . Most of what he has done hassimply been in tell igent management .

In any case, these ci rcumstances have beenpe cu liar to B url in gt on . N o su ch ass ess m entcan be made fo r st a te government . You canargue that Kunin hasdone less than she might,but it w il l be ve ry ha rd to ar gue th at st at egovernment i s in shambles.

Itwi l l a lso be hard to argue credib ly thatthe D emocrat ic par ty i s out of touch in thestate . T he par ty holds the governorsh ip , thespeakership in the Hou se, control o f the Senate,and one of two US Senate seats . I t s for tuneshave ac tual ly improved th rougb the Reaganyears.

I t ' s also worth not ing that the Progressivemovement wi th in i t s Burl ington base isbe gin nin g to sl id e. Sand ers hi m se lf has beenvery s t rong , but party s tr eng th appear s t o

V A N G UA R D P R E S SIAPRIL 6-13, 1986-11

have peaked .P rogress ives have never c r acked Ward 4 ,

th e biggest in the city;they have neveraackedW ard 6 ; they recently lost their on ly seat inWard 5 ; and they barely held thei r on ly seat

in Ward I.They real ly contro l only Wards 2and 3 .

Par t of th is lack of a widening power basemay resu lt f rom the inherent d i f ficu lty inconsolidating a th i rd-par ty operation . But i tmay also indicate that Sanders ' bombast icand abrasive s tyle i s beginning to wear onpeo pl e, eve n so m e of th os e w ho have su p-por te d hi m in th e pas t.

There i s a l so a long -range r eason why

Sanders ' supporters might question h is decis ion to run: Whi le he could not do much for h imsel f and is unl ikely to def lect the courseof the Democrat ic Par ty, he could damagebo th Sena to r Pat ri ck Leah y an d K un in .Both are importan t to the fu ture of the

pa rty 's align m en t an d th us to na tiona lpol ic y in to th e nex t deca de .

Leahy is now engaged in a tough race wi thformer Governor Richard Snel l ing . He needs

all the suppo rt he can get from the left wing ofthe Democrat ic par ty - f rom Bernie Sanders 'natural al lies . A Sanders campaign is goingto be a major d is t ract ion for them.

Even worse - f rom the poin t of v iew of bothLeahy and the Rainbow Coal i t ion-would

be B ern ie 's pr ope ns ity fo r fo re ig n pol ic ypr oclam ation. If Leahy ge ts d ragged in t hedirectiono fm ore radical foreign policy positionsthan he is comfor tab le wi th , he could end up

losing to Snelling.A s for potential damag e to Kunin, that would

come in 1988. Kunin is almost cer tain ly goingto be re-elected governor, and she would thenbe co m e th e pr esu m pt iv e D em ocra ti c Senat ecandidat e i n 1988 when Repub li can RobertStafford is expected to ret ire .

The m ore she ge ts hammered a round th isyear , especially by Rainbow Coal i tion voters ,the barder i t wi l l be for Kunin to d e fea t a

conservative Republ ican for the Senate sealSanders won ' t care . .. he 'U be happy wi th thechance to promote h is cause and p ick up f iveor s ix percent of the vote in a th ird-partycampaign for some off ice or o ther .

But the Rainbows might ref lect on whether t h ey a re advanc ing the p rog ressive cause ,o r h e lp in g R ep ub li can s r eg a in p o w er i nY erm on t.

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