The Candidates: Bernie Sanders

[0] Hello.

[1] How are you?

[2] Senator Michael Barbaro.

[3] Nice to see you, Michael.

[4] Hi, Jessica.

[5] Nice to see it.

[6] Where would you like me?

[7] So Senator Sanders, my colleague Alex Burns, told me that to understand your political career and your presidential campaign today, we have to go back to the first time that you won elected office as mayor of Burlington in 1981.

[8] So that's...

[9] The New York Times got it right.

[10] Every once in a while.

[11] So that's what I want to ask you about.

[12] All right.

[13] There you go.

[14] What was happening?

[15] From the New York Times, I'm Michael Bavarro.

[16] This is the Daily.

[17] Burlington is the largest city in Vermont, situated as it is on Lake Champlain with the Adirondack Mountains view.

[18] It's a lovely, lovely spot.

[19] We'd like you to meet its new mayor.

[20] Mayor Sanders got a lot of attention recently, not only with his 10 -vote victory, but mostly because he is a socialist.

[21] Part two in our series on pivotal moments in the lives of the top four Democratic candidates for president.

[22] Today, the people who are living in all of the Burlington Housing Authority developments, both the senior citizen developments and the low -income housing projects, are going to be receiving the lowest cable television bills in the state of Vermont.

[23] Bernie Sanders.

[24] Ronald Reagan and his billionaire friends do not represent America, but we do.

[25] Lastly, I want to touch upon an issue that's dear to my heart, and that is the issue of affordable health care.

[26] The people of Burlington voted.

[27] overwhelmingly, overwhelmingly, in support of Congress moving forward to establish a national health care system.

[28] I think that that is exactly how this country is going to have to go on that issue.

[29] It's Friday, December 6th.

[30] Alex Burns, why this moment?

[31] Bernie Sanders is such an unusual character in American politics as a lifelong socialist and left -wing activist who has endured for dead.

[32] decades as a major political figure and who has become a leading presidential candidate.

[33] And to understand how he got from really the fringes of American politics to the absolute forefront, you have to go back to this moment in the early 1980s where he becomes mayor of Burlington, where he figures out how to take those ideas and actually win elections with them and then govern.

[34] This is a period I've been spending a lot of time on in my own reporting because it's just such a vital formative experience for Sanders.

[35] And so the story starts with the turn of the 1970s as Bernie Sanders arrives in Vermont with a whole lot of left -wing ideas, not a whole lot of local connections, and links up with a new marginal political party called the Liberty Union.

[36] And that party had been formed around opposition to the war in Vietnam and in the fight for economic justice.

[37] It's a very small party in a very small state.

[38] Bernie Sanders starts showing up to Liberty Union meetings, and the party identifies him as the man they want to run for a U .S. Senate seat in 1971.

[39] And it was a very interesting campaign and so forth and so on.

[40] I got 2 % of the vote.

[41] He loses that election, but then he has gotten the electoral bug.

[42] A year later, there was the general election.

[43] I ran for governor of the state.

[44] I got 1%.

[45] He loses again.

[46] Then I ran for Senate again against Pat Leahy, as Lehi often reminds me, and I got 4%.

[47] And again, he loses.

[48] I'm seeing a pattern here.

[49] Yes.

[50] It is loss after loss, after loss.

[51] And while he's running and losing, he has a series of odd jobs.

[52] I was doing some writing.

[53] I was banging nails, doing a little bit of carpentry work.

[54] He also had a job putting together newsreels and educational film strips about history for school kids.

[55] That's before video.

[56] For younger people, there's a thing called film strips.

[57] I won't go through what they were, photographs and sound.

[58] And I did most of the work myself, had a little bit of help, photography and so forth.

[59] It was a lot of fun, actually.

[60] He sells these films to schools in the region, and he also spends time putting together a project that he's personally quite invested in and proud of.

[61] If you are the average American who watches television 40 hours a week, you have probably heard of such important people as Kojak and Wonder Woman.

[62] Strangely enough, however, nobody has told you about Gene Debs, one of the most important Americans of the 20th century.

[63] Which is a film about the life of the legendary American socialist leader, Eugene Debs.

[64] Debs was a very great American.

[65] He was one of the original founders of industrial unionism, socialist party candidate for president six times.

[66] You know, somebody I've admired a whole lot.

[67] The ruling class has always taught and trained you to believe it to be your patriotic duty to go to war and to have yourself slaughtered at their command.

[68] But in all the history of the world, you, the people, have never had a voice in declaring war.

[69] So throughout the 1970s, he is this activist, educated.

[70] who is running campaign after campaign and losing every time.

[71] He's not really developing a professional or political career for himself in Vermont, but in the city of Burlington.

[72] In 1980 or so, so friends of mine came up to me and they said, you know, there's going to be a mayor's election coming up in 81.

[73] And you know what?

[74] We checked the records and you did pretty well running as a Liberty Union candidate.

[75] You got actually 12 % of the vote in some of the working -class districts in Burlington.

[76] So 2 % or 4 % or 6 %?

[77] I was statewide, but in Burlington, we did better.

[78] You were doing better.

[79] Yeah.

[80] So we had a bunch of people together, and they said, okay, we'll do it.

[81] Bernie Sanders, a Brooklyn -born self -described socialist running for mayor for the first time in 1981, running against a Democratic Gold Guard that had run the city for a decade.

[82] When Sanders becomes a candidate for mayor, he is facing off against a powerful democratic establishment.

[83] Burlington at this point for decades has been essentially a one -party town with a relatively conservative Democratic ruling clique that has just had a hammerlock on city politics.

[84] The incumbent mayor is not seen by anybody as vulnerable to the point that the Republicans don't even field a candidate against him.

[85] He's also up against just a culture of apathy when it comes to municipal elections.

[86] People generally don't show up to vote for mayor or for other city offices.

[87] So Bernie Sanders and this kind of rag -tag group of academics and activists and intellectuals band together to try to figure out how to crack a city election in a place where nobody like them has ever won before.

[88] You literally would not believe if I told you how little we knew about politics when we ended up in real politics.

[89] It's one thing to run for a statewide office knowing you're not going to win and get on a radio show and talk about issues, which I could do.

[90] But the nitty -gritty of politics, So as a newcomer to city politics, Bernie Sanders runs a different kind of campaign from the campaigns he's run before.

[91] This isn't about 30 ,000 -foot ideological issues, like when he was a protest candidate for the Senate.

[92] Ruth, you're a volunteer worker at the old north end of food co -op here in Burlington.

[93] Right.

[94] Ground disability, so it's security.

[95] You got cut from $131 to $48.

[96] And what was the justification for that?

[97] How do they expect you to live on that difference?

[98] They don't care.

[99] This is a ground -level campaign that's waded over really concrete kitchen table issues that are relevant, he hopes, to a wide array of constituencies in the city that feel like they've been left out by the existing power structure.

[100] We had a lot of support in, for example, low -income housing projects of people who are getting a raw deal from the city that ran the projects.

[101] We had support from environmental groups.

[102] We had support from one group in the south end of the city.

[103] There was going to be a major highway going right through their neighborhood.

[104] And they said, we don't like that.

[105] So Sanders is gaining some real support in this race.

[106] He's not a trivial candidate, but still, the powers that be in Burlington do not see him as a threat to win this election.

[107] Let me talk about election night.

[108] What was the story of that night for you?

[109] Well, when I walked in on election day, I was of the two opinions, number one, that we would lose very heavily.

[110] in the newspapers, some guy a newspaper writer was covering it, I said, the odds of Sanders winning about 100 to 1.

[111] That was literally what they wrote.

[112] So either we were doing something magical or we would lose overwhelmingly.

[113] What I did not anticipate is that when on election, I think the results were ahead by 14 votes and after the recount 10 points.

[114] That I did not expect.

[115] Many people in Burlington are still in a state of shock following that city's most stunning political upset in memory.

[116] The press reports from election night describe him as stunned and then elated that he wins, and he wins by the absolute narrowest of margins, just 10 votes.

[117] Ten votes.

[118] Bernard Sanders, one of the founders of the Liberty Union Party and a consistent loser in previous quest for elective office, was now the big winner.

[119] Considered by many to be unelectable because of his so -called radical views, Mr. Sanders put together an unlikely coalition of supporters and edged the 10 -year incumbent Gordon Paquette.

[120] So your strategy had worked.

[121] When you take office, how did becoming an elected official the day -to -day reality of it match your expectations of the power of winning this office and being mayor?

[122] Well, we had a very unique experience.

[123] Bernie Sanders has pulled off an extraordinary feat.

[124] He has upended the city establishment.

[125] He has become a socialist mayor in the United States at the height of the Cold War.

[126] But what happens next is he runs into a brick wall of political opposition.

[127] There is a body in Burlington, the board of aldermen.

[128] We would call it a city council.

[129] There are 13 members.

[130] 11 of them are either Democrats or Republicans, but their party label matters less than the fact that they're opposed to burning Sanders.

[131] He comes in, the powerful Democrats and the powerful Republicans both essentially say he should not be the mayor of the city and he will not be the mayor of the city for very long because we're going to make sure that he can't get anything.

[132] done.

[133] People were trying to sabotage you?

[134] Trying to sabotage me?

[135] Yes.

[136] They were trying to sabotage me. The first thing they did was to fire my secretary.

[137] They had the power to fire your secretary.

[138] Yeah, they did.

[139] So they reject his secretary.

[140] They take it back pretty quickly, but the damage of the relationship is kind of done.

[141] Not only to the Board of Alderman mess with his ability to hire a secretary, they reject all of his nominees for the top jobs in the city, city clerk, city treasurer, city attorney.

[142] And they made me run the city for the first year with exactly the administration of the guy I had beaten.

[143] You know, it's like— You're being neutered?

[144] Yes.

[145] So it's like, you know, Donald Trump running his administration with Barack Obama's appointees.

[146] So for really his first full year as mayor, he has a somewhat ornamental role.

[147] How are you thinking about this challenge?

[148] Well, their attitude, what they had said in one of their leaders said, well, look, Bernie Sanders is a fluke.

[149] That was the word they used.

[150] And they said, your brand of politics, everything about you, they thought was just a flu.

[151] This was an accident.

[152] It should never have happened.

[153] And we will stonewall him in the first year.

[154] People see that he can't accomplish anything.

[155] Then we'll go back to the office.

[156] They're going to drive you from office.

[157] Yeah.

[158] Well, it was a brutal year.

[159] So what we had to do was literally form a parallel city government without any money.

[160] I mean, we couldn't pay anybody.

[161] But we brought together a group of strong supporters.

[162] And we had them helping us working on legislation and ideas.

[163] and we did everything that we could while we were being absolutely opposed by the Democratic and Republicans on the Board of Alderman.

[164] So we organized at the grassroots level.

[165] We mobilized people.

[166] Our job was to get people involved in the political process.

[167] How did you do that?

[168] I'll tell you how we did it.

[169] Even before I took office, we had meetings on issues that people were concerned about that have been ignored for a very long time.

[170] We said we believe in arts.

[171] You know, a city has got to be vital and alive.

[172] What do we do about the arts?

[173] What do we do about economic development?

[174] What do we do about women's rights?

[175] So we ended up starting a council on arts, a council on women, a council on youth.

[176] We started what we called neighborhood planning associations, which meant we gave local neighbors.

[177] Each ward had a certain amount of money, and they spent it however they wanted.

[178] So we tried to democratize it.

[179] And we brought people into the process.

[180] So it wasn't me saying we're going to do A, B, and C. These were people who themselves were now empowered.

[181] So you're finding a way to essentially circumvent these aldermen who think you're a fluke and think they can block you by literally tapping into more voters, more people.

[182] When did you know that this strategy was actually working?

[183] Well, when hundreds of people would show up at city council meetings and demand our agenda.

[184] We were fighting for an agenda.

[185] It was being blocked by the city council.

[186] So people were upset about it.

[187] And here's the interesting thing.

[188] We have elections for mayor then every two years, but half the board of aldermen comes up on the odd year.

[189] So in 1982, one year after Sanders becomes mayor, seven of the 13, members of the board of aldermen are up for re -election.

[190] Essentially, there was a referendum on my administration.

[191] These elections become a chance for Mayor Sanders to go directly to the voters and ask them to replace these intransigent members of the board of aldermen with people who are friendly to him and supportive of his ideas.

[192] We ran candidates in almost every ward in the city.

[193] I probably have never worked so hard in my life.

[194] I knocked on almost every door in the city with the candidates that we're running with.

[195] And this is the wintertime in Vermont.

[196] So we're talking about 10 below zero and zero weather.

[197] And on election night, the turnout was phenomenal for a non -mayors race.

[198] It was just off the charts.

[199] In five, if my memory is correct, in the five wards that we ran in, we won outright three of the wards in all the working class areas.

[200] And here is the most exciting thing about all of this.

[201] If you go back to the basement of City Hall and check the old records in Burlington, what you'll find is that between 1979, that was the previous election, before I won.

[202] And two years later, when I was running for re -election, we doubled voter turnout.

[203] He's right.

[204] Voter turnout really did rise in Burlington when Sanders got involved in city politics.

[205] And some of that is about him and his message and his political organization.

[206] Some of it is just having contested elections, elections where people file to run against the people who are already sitting in public office.

[207] When you have two choices rather than one, then, yeah, more people show up to make a choice.

[208] Good evening.

[209] We're recording this on Friday, March 5th, and we've decided to get out of City Hall, get out of the office, and we're here on the first floor of the Burlington Square Mall.

[210] And he continues to engage and attempt to inspire voters in this same way, getting out in the community.

[211] He's a highly visible mayor.

[212] And I think what we'll do is have some informal discussions with Vermonters as they walk past us.

[213] we can grab them and we'll see if we can get their views on some of the important issues of the day.

[214] He even creates a local television show called Bernie Speaks with the Community where he is just out there and connected to your average voter.

[215] Oops, up, here we go.

[216] Hi, Shannon.

[217] Shannon.

[218] Do you live in Burlington, Shannon?

[219] Yep.

[220] Okay, so how are things going with you?

[221] Pretty good.

[222] I was just wondering, my mother had this idea for a music.

[223] an indoor, outdoor amusement park by the waterfront, and I want to know if, is there anything going to be done about it?

[224] Well, I can't say for sure that something will be done immediately.

[225] I think it is a good idea, and interestingly enough, your mother mentioned, it's a highly unusual approach for a municipal politician, and especially in a city where the mayor had not been that kind of man about town previously.

[226] Okay, the next person that we've kidnapped here off the streets for a few words is just, Jody Baggerly.

[227] Jody, welcome.

[228] Well, thank you.

[229] One thing I want to appreciate being a disabled person is the little discount we get on our cable TVs because I think it's a positive point to have educational programs to be able to watch and fill our minds at periods when we are unable to get out.

[230] Let me just jump in and remind our viewers.

[231] What Jody is talking about is the city negotiated with the Mountain Cable Company.

[232] So, Senator Sanders, in brief, what are the lessons of this moment for you?

[233] Lessons on this moment is that winning politics is grassroots politics, that winning politics is developing coalitions of working people, of low -income people, of women, of environmentalists.

[234] So coalition is we do it from the bottom on up, and we ended up in my years as mayor, taking on everybody.

[235] We'll be right back.

[236] To Kill a Mockingbird has not played to a. single empty seat.

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[242] Jesse Green calls it a mockingbird for our moment.

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[244] Harper Lees to Kill a Mockingbird.

[245] A new play by Aaron Sorkin.

[246] A New York Times critics pick.

[247] Tickets at Telecharge .com.

[248] So, Alex, in Sanders' telling, in the face of total political opposition and stonewalling, his solution is to essentially do what got him political power in the first place, which is go to the people, talk to the people, always the people.

[249] That's his political brand as mayor, much as it's his political brand now.

[250] And in Burlington, it's an approach that really works for him.

[251] It establishes him as a legitimate city executive with an independent power base who cannot just be treated as.

[252] as an interloper in City Hall.

[253] It's also the first of a couple stages in Mayor Sanders' campaign to reinvent Burlington City politics.

[254] And if the first part of that is about really engaging with city politics at the ground level, the next stage, after he's been mayor for a couple of years, is to look way beyond Burlington and take on big national and international political issues and connect them back to the local level.

[255] If I were the president of the largest bank in Burlington, I'd be real nervous about you.

[256] Well, they may be.

[257] They may be.

[258] But I think, they are.

[259] But I think what we've often talked about also is that my powers as mayor are in many ways limited.

[260] And I have my visions as to what life should be in Vermont, in Burlington, and in the United States.

[261] But we are going to speak out, though, on national and international issues, which affect the city of Burlington.

[262] For example, obviously, we're very concerned about Mr. Reagan's policies, which are impacting devastatingly on low -income and working people.

[263] but we know what our powers are within the city of Burlington.

[264] So, Senator Sanders, during this period, you start talking about national issues.

[265] You start talking about President Reagan, his economic policy.

[266] You start talking about foreign policy.

[267] You send letters to the leaders of Japan expressing regret for the two bombs that were dropped on that country by the U .S. What was your thinking?

[268] As you're building this coalition locally, you start talking about issues beyond the borders of Burlington.

[269] And what is your thinking about why that's...

[270] Let's be clear.

[271] 90 plus percent of our energy was dealing with local issues like reforming the police department and paving the streets.

[272] We brought a minor league baseball team into Burlington, Vermont.

[273] 95, 98 % of our work was locally doing what mayors are supposed to do.

[274] But as part of empowering people, what we also believed is it was important to think globally and act locally.

[275] So if we were spending a whole lot of money in Washington under Reagan, investing in military spending or giving tax breaks to the rich, that impacted the city of Burlington.

[276] We are mayors.

[277] We need money to help us with housing.

[278] We need money to help us with roads and infrastructure.

[279] And yet Washington is spending this money on the military or the busy invading another country or whatever they're doing.

[280] We should be speaking up on those issues.

[281] The question is whether we use the incredible wealth and natural resources and intelligence of our society to create a decent standard of living, a decent life for all of our people, in this country and abroad, or that we develop the greatest military machine for killing in the history of the world.

[282] That's what the choice is.

[283] This was in the middle of the Cold War, and we started a sister city program.

[284] I know some of the right -wing media misinterprets this, but what we did is I took a group of about a dozen people from Burlington to Yaroslavl in the old Soviet Union.

[285] We had a hockey team's coming about, we had doctors coming in and out, we have kids coming in and out.

[286] Really, I loved the idea of citizens.

[287] the city programs, and it worked phenomenally well, and involved a lot of people.

[288] So the kids began to learn about Russia.

[289] And I happened to believe then, and I believe now that if we're going to bring peace to the world, we need a lot of cultural exchanges, we need a lot of youth exchanges.

[290] In fact, I recently proposed to take a one -tenth of one percent of the military budget and putting it into cultural exchanges, which I think was a very good investment.

[291] In experience, this last summer, I was invited by the government of Nicaragua to attend the sixth anniversary of their revolution.

[292] And they must have had four or five hundred thousand people out there listening to speeches.

[293] And the horrible thought that I had really sunk in my stomach was that kids in my own city, young kids, working class kids, might be asked by this president to go to Nicaragua to kill and get killed.

[294] And it was a horrible thought.

[295] Some of these endeavors were relatively bold.

[296] At a certain point, you go to Nicaragua.

[297] You end up meeting with the leader of the Sandinistas.

[298] And I...

[299] Oh, no, I'm not worried about any...

[300] No, no, I'm just...

[301] Oh, you were about time?

[302] Yeah, we're running.

[303] Yes, we all running.

[304] How are we doing on time?

[305] Five more minutes?

[306] I think we're probably going to have to end it right now.

[307] Oh, no, no, no. This is not...

[308] Don't end it on this question, if that's the issue.

[309] Well, you know, the issue is...

[310] Trust me, this is not even...

[311] All I was going to ask you was, how do events like that connect to voters in Burlington?

[312] Your mind...

[313] Very good question.

[314] How does...

[315] How does...

[316] How does...