(If ) M r .

S a n d e r s G o e s
t o Washington ~
By Michael J . Badamo
Correspondent
E
to think of Bernie Sanders
asatourist attraction. Hewould
make} no do ubt , Vermo nt 's
most colorful and attention get-
t ing Co ngressman since Mat -
thew Lyon, but could Sanders
'getsnythingdone"in Washington?
Demo crat s t end t o wince in
painwhenever Sanders' impact
<X l theirpartycomesup. Republicans
POIn t o ut t hat , a s a n inde-
pendent,he would beisolated and
ineffectual in the Capital.
Sander-s says, UP]] go t o
Washmgton to represent the in-
terests of the people of Vermont."
But others think he has a more
atn~itious agenda, namely t o
realign the political party struc-
turein the U. S.
,What ever degree of success he
mighthave on the national level
h
ver
the past 20 years Sander.:
laas altered the political
. ndscapeinVermont The result-
II1 g havo c has never' been mo re
~earthan this year. The race for
e r m o n t1 s o nly Ho use s e a t s e e m s
to Suggest wild political realign-
~e~t and voter frustration with
USt ness-as_usual po lit icians.
The September primary
-
""..
Ne xt we e k, the Vermont Times wi l l
examine Republlcen U.S. Rep.
Pe te r S m i th's f i r s t te r m In o f f i ce ,
a n d hi s pl a n s If he Is r e -e l e cte d o n
November 6.
revealed gaping cracks in the
t radit io nal co nst it uencies of both
majo r part ies. Incumbent Rep.
Peter Smith held ofTa right-wing
challenge fro m an anti-abortion,
pro-gun candidate, TimPhilbin.
But now, the gun people say they
may end up supporting Sanders.
Pet er Diamondstone, perennial
Liberty Union candidate, ap-
peared opposite regular
Democrat Dolores Sandoval and
nearly no sed her o ut o f a no mina-
t io n no o ne else want ed. San-
doval has been cold shouldered
by party leaders, ostensibly for
her co nt ro versial st and o n issues.
Continued on Page 5
s a n d e r s
-,- n 1
. u e d from rage
C O
t
. . . h
heading in to t e
N~''s final days, Socialist
",mplllgneems to be more con-
sanders s than Sandoval and
vsu
ve
b hi
se
r
.. is perceived Y IS own
sn
llth
liberal. Who can make
""tyas a . ?
F enseof all thIs.
anY s Ie are fed up," offers
vpaop . di
. FlIer executIve irector
c
re
,; Ve~mo~tDemocratic Party.
ofth. k there is a feeling out
'IthJ Othat those guys in
th
er
h
e
. gton don't know what
W a s 10. II
they'redomg.
Fuller said, "A lot of people
. k it doesn't really matter
thlO d th " H
whoyou send own ere. e
. ks Vermonters see Peter
thin . . I"
itha s CIaWashington a nu na ,
Sm' h .
slidingdeftly across t e Issues
dh
ard chOIces.
en B .. t
III might vote for erme Just 0
what happens," said Diane
see l ibr ar i h
W'shinski, a 1 farlan W 0
w~rksfor the state. Wishinski
d
escribes herself somewhat
" d t" h hesitantly as a me era e W 0
usuellyvotes Democratic. She is
middleagedand middle class with
grownchildren and a husband
whoalso works for the state.
She likes Sanders because,
'Hecares about people who have
needs/'and she approves of his
usoak the rich" approach to
payingfor people's needs. But
she'salso angry at Sanders for
kinking up the Democratic
party. "Why didn't he run as a
Democrat?Why didn't he run for
thestate Senate?"
Why, indeed.
In retrospect, Sanders
prohablycould have swept aside
Diamondstone and Sandoval
and taken the Democratic
nomination for himself. The only
other statewide candidate this
year who can equal his name
recognition is former Gov.
Richard Snelling. But Sanders
resolutely stands outside the
regular party structure. He has
beenopposed to Democrats and
Republicans ever since he
startedrunning in Vermont elec-
tions nearly 20 years ago. He
seeshimself on the cutting edge
'Or a new political alignment of
that made Bernie's reputation as
mayor of Burlington." Tax the
rich and spend more on social
programs for the poor is "pie in
the sky." Cosgrove thinks that
kind of talk stirs up class resent-
ment and economic envy.
"That's the darkside of Bernie
Sanders. He's a demagogue. The
bright side is that he is arefresh-
ing voice for change."
Cosgrove thinks Bernie has
an emotional appeal for the "J oe
Six-Pack" kind of voter. People
perceive him as sticking up for
the little guy and sticking it to
the fat cats. He has a cute,
fuzzy Koala bear kind of appeal,"
Cosgrove said .
Campaigning in a Springfield
slum, Bernie Sanders doesn't
WJI/O M '1IIIS '1lC roIIII25,1IIIl- 5
outsiders, the poor who are get-
ting poorer, the oppressed of the
earth. A maverick conservative
state senator, J ohn McClaughry,
R-CaJedonia, can't see Bernie
Sanders becoming an influential
Washington insider. "He's not
the sort of person who will lay
back for 20 years building up
clout in the institution."
An anti-planning and pro-
death penalty advocate, Me-
Claughry likes Sanders. "He has
a kind of damn the torpedos ap-
proach to things that I identify
with, a kind of mirror image of
myself.
McClaughry described the ef-
fect of Sanders popularity on the
Vermont Democratic Party as
"grim.:' Vermont Democrats
"have some serious choices to
make," he said.
He described a "rubber band"
process he has observed since the
1972 McGovern campaign. An
increasingly powerful left wing
of independents, who sometimes
call themselves Democrats,
stretch the fabric of the party
thinner and thinner over issues
and candidates. In McClaughry's
view, "IfBernie gets elected, the
Democratic Party is in danger of
collapsing."
The regular Republicans are
hoping they'll be able to pick up
some of the pieces. Brian
Cosgrove, executive director of
the Vermont Republican Party,
thinks the Democratic Party of
today has no place for traditional
Vermont Democrats. ''The party
has left them," he said. The
"traditional Vermont Democrat"
can perhaps be described as a
Franklin County farmer or a
Springfield machine tool
operator. He thinks a lot of them
are uncomfortable with Sanders
and will fall to Peter Smith.
Cosgrove, a big, bearish Viet-
nam veteran, freely, almost
proudly, says he has a brother
who campaigns for Bernie
Sanders and a grandfather from ~-------------------------------------,
St. J ohnsbury who ran for gover-
nor as a Democrat.
"I don't see anything that radi-
cal about Sanders," Cosgrove
said. "If he is a socialist he hides
it well. Itwas Reagan prosperity
seem "cute"or "fuzzy" He is grim
and grey, on the edge of anger.
He has difficulty cracking a
politician's smile. Sanders ap-
pears to be a very serious man.
"They think you're stupid,"
Sanders rumbles to the small
crowd of mothers, children and
old people, clearly the final
recipients of trickle - down
economics. ''They know you don't
vote. Peter Smith doesn't need
your vote and doesn't want it.
An overcast day complements his
black jacket, silver hair and Cal-
vinistic lecture. "There is a cl a s s
war under way. The Republicans
want more tax hreaks for the
rich, higher taxes for the poor. I
am a Progressive. I think we
need better health care and af-
fordable housing for poor and
working class people. The rich
Continued o n. Page 15
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have to pay their fair share. You
have to register and vote to tell
them what you want. The
group responds a little but it is
an uphill struggle.
Thirty or forty "J oe Six-Pack"
types drift out of a Windsor fac-
tory at noon to listen to Sanders
while they munch sandwiches.
He is introduced as a "friend of
labor" in traditional shop
steward style and he pounds
again at the theme "the rich are
getting richer and the poor are
getting poorer." He repeats his
declaration of Class War. They
seem puzzled, apathetic. Maybe
they've heard it all before.
Maybe they don't understand or
care except that Sanders says he
is on their side and actually
came down to talk to them.
J ohn McClaughry calls
Sanders "an anachronism out of
the 1930s. He is agarden variety
labor socialist." McClaughry
compares Sanders to Vito Mar-
centonio, a New York City Mar-
xist, who was the last inde-
pendent elected to Congress 40
ye ar s ago.
"He would like to nationalize
all the big corporations and
banks," said McClaughry.
Sanders would favor a huge in-
crease in federal bureaucracy
and much more control over
people's private behavior. The rich
would be heavily taxed and Ber-
nie would tilt toward Cuba in
foreign policy.
Sanders certainly tries hard
to be arabble rouser. He exhorts
and pleads with what he con-
siders his primary constituency,
the working poor. He bangs
again and again at simple issues
and basic human needs. Cut the
defense budget, tax the rich and
put more money into health,
education and housing.
Professor Frank Bryan, of the
University of Vermont Political
Science department, is upset
about the "mess in Washington."
He says, "Iam a Republican who
is voting for Bernie Sanders," so
his political analysis may be
somewhat colored by his personal
feelings. Bryan cannot be con-
sidered a party insider or a typi-
cal Republican. He describes
himself as an "Aiken populist
Republican -" a kind of radical
traditionalist.
Bryan calls this year's Ver-
mont House election "asymptom
of the demise of the two-party
system in America." Bryan says
the two-party system was an
outgrowth of the industrial
'empore, I'veworked to
protection programs,
reand child abuse
hequality of education for
sking for your support SO
rk."
eader in t he Senate,
1 I :R M 0 N r1 1 llE S'0 C l0 8 I 'J I 2 5 .1 fllI I - 1 5
revolution of the ninteenth cen-
tury and that Vermont "side-
stepped" that development due
to its rural isolation. Vermont
changed from an essentially one-
party system to the standard two
in the 1960s with the election of
Gov. Philip HofT. However, two-
party development in Vermont
has been "very embryonic" since,
and modern circumstances are
causing party weakness to show
up here first.
The forces destroying the par-
ties, according to Bryan, are the
mass media spotlight, the
predominance of special-interest
funding sources and ballots
which allow voters to ignore
party lables. He thinks the chan-
ges are "bad for democracy."
"Bernie Sanders is not part of
the problem and he may be part
of the solution," said Bryan.
Sanders represents a clear
choice for voters who are used to
politicians who try to be all
things to all people in an elTort to
hold center ground. He cited the
Nationa! Rifle Association's dis-
gust with Rep. Peter Smith's ap-
psrent position change on gun
control. At least, with Bernie
they know what they're getting,"
Bryan said.
Bryan is not enthusiastic about
what he calls Sanders' "Old,
tired socialism." He calls
Sanders, 1 4 a serious Democrat.
Sanders may really do what the
Democrats have been saying they
want to do."
Bryan seems to be more per-
suaded by Sanders' straightfor-
ward style than with the sub-
stance of issues. He thinks
Sanders' effect in Washington
will be "positive."
Sanders doesn't recognize that
there is a major contradiction be-
tween the demands and needs of
his primary constituencies. John
McCJ aughry thinks there is.
McClaughry is convinced
Sanders will try to use his Con-
gressional seat "as a launching
pad for a national third party
movement." He does not think
the chances are very good for a
new third party based on or-
ganized labor, poor people and
yuppie environmentalists. lilt is
not a good strategy. I can't see
how it would work."
Sanders insists that lithe
people of Vermont" will be his
primary concern in Washington
but he doesn't rule out working
for a new national coalition built
around the so-called progressive
agenda. He knows he must have
allies and does not rule out
political parties altogether. He
feels he can make common cause
with people like Rep. Ron Del-
lums of California, Rep. J ohn
Conyers of Michigan and Rep.
J oe Kennedy of Massachusetts,
all left-wing Democrats.
Sanders intends, if elected, to
seek voting status with the
Democratic Caucus of the House,
and he has said he would like to
join the very liberal Black Caucus.
State Democratic Party
Director Fuller thinks a new
third party is "ridiculous" and
that Sanders will be part of the
liberal-left caucus inthe Congress.
A Democrat in fact if not in name.
No freshman in Congress has
much power or influence. Ver-
mont as a tiny state hal>little
clout on the national stage. But
Sanders would bring his own
spotlight to Washington. I f he
wins on November 6, the morn-
ing television news/talk shows
can be expected to have Sanders
on stage on November 7.
His campaign slogan is
"Making History in Vermont"
and, ifelected, hewould bemaking
a little national history, too.
Americans elect few inde-
pendents to national office and
third-party movements have al-
most always faded into obscurity.