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Vermont liberals lick
the ir wounds
By KEVIN J . KELLEY
E
ven the survivors are
stunned by the disaster that
befell the Democratic Party
on Tuesday, November 8. While
Republican gains were not nearly
as great in Vermont as in many
other states, GOP victories here
were still numerous enough to give
Democrats chills.
Suddenly, the future looks as
though it may belong to conserva-
tives - at least of the softer-edged
Barbara Snelling variety. In as-
sessing the causes for the 1994
mid-term meltdown, Vermont lib-
erals and leftists point again and
again to what might be called The
Limbaugh Effect.
"We can't continue to let Rush
Limbaugh go day after day and not
get our own message out in a simi-
lar medium," says Windsor County
Democratic State Senator Cheryl
Rivers, who overcame formidable
obstacles to her re-election. "He's
having areal impact on political
thought in the country and in the
state. "
Limbaugh's name was also used
in vain by Congressman Bernie
Sanders. Citing the "tremendous
influence" of the right-wing talk-
v E R M o N
COMMUN ITY N EWIPAPE.
T
T h e N e w U b e r a l i s m
The Old Liberalism The New Liberalism
Radio Program "All Things Considered" "Imus in TheM orning"
Party Icon Ralph Wright Howard Dean
Automobile Foreign Cars American Cars
Late Night "David Letterman" Sleep
Favorite Food .Bistro Cuisine Pizza
Recreation Toy M ountain Bikes Strollers
Newspaper Village Voice Wall Street Journal
Footwear Birkenstocks Loalers
Financial Approach Debt Investment
Favorite Republican J im J effords Howard Deaa
Political Escuse Gridlock LockedOut
Health Care Single-payer M anaged Care
Cartoon Doonesbury Family Circle
Biggest Liability Ted Kennedy Ted Kennedy
Party Nemesla BobDole
Rush Limbaugh
Recreational Fad
Bungee J umping Hunting
Chittenden ;;tE-
r~weekl4 Ne~
VOLUME 5
NUM SEl< 7
NOVeMAER 16.1994
show host, Sanders blamed the
"corporate media for demonizing
Bill Clinton." Vermont's sole U.S.
House member also characterized
the Democrats as "pathetic infig-
uring out how to fight back"
against Republican attacks.
Some Vermont Democratic poli-
ticians agree at least partly with
Sanders' criticism of their party.
Sandy Baird, re-elected to the
General Assembly from a
Burlington district, faults the na-
tional Democratic leadership for
not offering a compelling alterna-
tive to the Republican outlook.
The Democratic Party has moved
steadily to the right, Baird says,
pointing to Bill Clinton's crime
bill, with its 50 new capital of-
fenses, and to his punitive welfare
reform proposals.
But Baird also acknowledges
that Vermont voters themselves
Continued on Page 6
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textileindustry.
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INSIDE TRACK: 5
EDITOR IAL: 10
M IXED M EDIA: 12
A R r s : 13
CAL.PN DAR : 16
REsTAURANTS: 19
FILM: 20
PER sON ALS: 22
CLAsslF1EDs: 24
NPR's Ela;"e Segal: All open letter to J;", Jeffords - Page J J
. . .I.A .. ~.. .. .. .... .. ~ ':A ~ ~.
6-NOVEM8R 16. /994 VERMOl<r'flMEs
. . . E n d a n g e r e d S p e c i e s
Continued from Page 1
are moving in a more conserva-
tive direction. She sees the de-
feat of House Speaker Ralph
Wright, inparticular, asarepu-
diation of the traditional liberal
agenda.
University of Vermont pun-
dit Garrison Nelson goes fur-
ther. The U.S. left, he asserts,
"should declare intellectual
bankruptcy." Voters showed
their contempt for the "public-
sector solutions" that havebeen
thecornerstone of theNewDeal
philosophy, Nelson says.
Infact, Republican U.S. Sena-
tor J ames J effords predicted
such an outcome in an election-
night television interview.
Based onall heknewabout Ver-
mont politics, J effords said at
about 10:30 p.m. Carroll would
probably bethestate's next con-
gressman.
But Sanders held on to his
lead by winning in dairy-farm-
ing redoubts. Hetook Addison,
Franklin and Lamoille Coun-
ties inaddition toOrange, Wash-
ington, Windham and Windsor.
Carroll won majorities in
Bennington, Caledonia, Essex,
Grand Isle, Orleans andRutland
counties.
"Many elderly and rural
people who traditionally voted
Republican nowvote for me,"
Sanders notes. "When it's an
issue of Social Security, the
minimum wage, family farms,
veterans' rights, those people
knowI'montheir side."
The issue of gun control con-
fused class politics to some de-
gree, Sanders adds. National
Rifle Association attack ads,
aimed at Sanders because of his
vote to ban certain assault weap-
ons, may have contributed to
his loss of a fewrural counties
that hecarried inboth 1990and
1992. At the same time, Sand-
ers speculates, NRA invective
might have gained him votes
frommiddle-classgun-control ad-
vocates whowouldnot normally
support an avowedsocialist.
Apart fromSanders' win, lib-
erals and progressives found
little consolation in their elec-
tion results.
TheRepublicans' gain of two
State Senate seats is seen by
many lawmakers on the other
side of aisle as particularly dis-
couraging. "The middle ground
intheLegislature has shifted to
the right, II says Democratic
State Representative Sally Fox
of Essex.
Adds Progressive Coalition
legislator Terry Bouricius of
Burlington: "Any property tax
or health reform with any
chance of passing will probahly
be worse than the status-quo.
House Speaker Ralph Wright, Vermont's most skillful I
Democratic streetfighter, was dethroned on Election
Day. A fragmented Democratic party doesn't know
whether to grieve or celebrate.
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At this point we're in aholding
position of trying to prevent di-
sasters."
Fox, however, believes that
progress is still possible on the
property tax and health insur-
anceissues. "Regardless of party
affiliation," she says, "the goals
remain the same" of reducing
the tax burden where it is most
onerous and of extending cover-
ageto atleast aportion of unin-
sured Vermonters. Fox adds,
though, that the national Re-
publicans' "Contract with
America" could make those ob-
jectives even harder to achieve.
"We'll have to come up with
incremental strategies," says
Rivers, the legislator most
closely identified with the pro-
posal for a Canadian-style,
single-payer health insurance
system. She points to "the high
cost of prescription drugs" as
an area where cooperation with
the Republican majority may be
feasible.
Sanders' victory, whiehmight
seem to contradict some post-
election theories about the de-
mise of progressivism, is seen
Political pundit
Garris on Nels on
advis es
Democrats to
s crap the
philos ophy that
has guided them
for the pas t 60
years . They have
to greatly "reduce
the role of
government in
the equation, " he
s ugges ts .
by Nelson as reflecting the
"uniqueness" of both the con-
gressman and his constituency.
The UVM political scientist be-
lieves that socialist-style poli-
tics was only one of many
elements in Sanders' success.
But Sanders and his longtime
supporters think a class-based
vision isthe key to understand-
ingwhyhesurvived while many
liberals suceumhed to strong
Republican challenges.
"I'm not a liberal," the con-
gressman himself says when
asked to account for his trend-
bucking performance "Wedeal
in class, issues." .
Baird, who is not among
Sanders' most fervent admir-
ers, agrees that this appeal to
economically insecure Vermont-
ers made all the difference.
"Bernie's always been perceived
as someone not captured by the
special interests" she says.
"H' '
. e sseenasstronglyforwork-
Ing-class people. "
Blue-collar men, especially,
probably did not desert Sanders
tothe degree that occurred with
many Democratic candidates
Baird adds. InVermont's Hous~
contest, she notes, male wage-
earners could express their an-
ger and alienation without
necessarily turning to the Re-
publican Party. Sanders offered
one of the country's few oppor-
tunities of voting for a viable
independent.
Analysts in the congress-
man's camp narrow the focus
further, suggesting that Sand-
ers' strength in rural areas is
what pushed hiroover the top.
AbreakdownofVermont vot-
ingpatterns appears toconfirm
this contention.
Sanders started with asolid
'base in his hometown of
Burlington, where he led Re-
publicanJohn Carroll byan8-5
margin. But that lead was
ernor, DougRacine, held over
Republicanincumbent Barbara
Snelling. In accordancewiththe
usual pattern of Vermont vot-
ing, Sanders' margin should
havevanished- asdidRacine's
- as returns trickled in from
themost rural counties.
B
ut with nomorethan half
adozenideological alliesin
the 30-member State Sen-
ate, Rivers seesher roleinthe
coming session as mainly "pro-
tective." She also intends to
"The middle ground in the legislature
has shifted to the right, "says Democratic
State Representative Sally Fox of Essex.
whittled considerably in the
Chittenden County suburbs.
Carroll carried Charlotte,
Colchester, Essex, Shelburne,
SouthBurlington andWilliston,
whileit wasmainly inoutlying
towns - Bolton, Huntington,
Richmond, Westford - that
Sanders prevailed.
In Chittenden County as a
whole, Sanders hadonlya2500-
vote edge over Carroll, which
was significantly smaller than
the lead that the Democratic
challenger for lieutenant gov-
"holdRepublicans accountable
for thepromises they made."
Other than grooming aleft-
wingversionofRushLimbaugh,
how can liberals and leftists
extricate themselves fromthe
wreckage wrought on Novem-
ber 81
"Wehave to build a strong
coalitionof peopleinterested in
theworkingclass, thepoor and
minorities," says Baird. "Some-
bodyhastospeakforthem. This
istheUnitedStates ofAmerica,
not the United States of rich
VERMOI T! M Es ' No v EIDER 16,1994--7
Bernie made the left look respectable with a hit in the late innings, but Vermont's
sole U.S. House member also characterized the Democrats as "pathetic" in figuring
out how to fight back against Republican attacks.
people."
NelsonadvisesDemocrats to
scrap the philosophy that has
guided them for the past 60
years. Theyhavetogreatly "re_
ducetheroleof government in
theequation," hesuggests.
Sanders, for his part, sees
nothing fundamentally wrong
withtheviewthat government
should try to rectify economic
injustice. He urges an all-out
effort to recaptur.e the hearts
and minds of Vermonters and
other Americans whofeel mis-
treated bythe system.
"If peopleontheleft arego-
ing to survive, they will have to
getbackintouchwiththework-
ingclass of America," Sanders
declares. "Wehavetohelpthem
understand that there are
things in life more important
thananAK-47."