How Bernie Sanders Learned to Be a Real Politician

[Jefferson23]

A portrait of the candidate as a young radical.


Bernie Sanders in 1981, a few months after being sworn in as mayor of Burlington, Vermont Donna Light/AP

—By Tim Murphy
Tue May 26, 2015 7:02

Sometime in the late 1970s, after he'd had a kid, divorced his college sweetheart, lost four elections for statewide offices, and been evicted from his home on Maple Street in Burlington, Vermont, Bernie Sanders moved in with a friend named Richard Sugarman. Sanders, a restless political activist and armchair psychologist with a penchant for arguing his theories late into the night, found a sounding board in the young scholar, who taught philosophy at the nearby University of Vermont. At the time, Sanders was struggling to square his revolutionary zeal with his overwhelming rejection at the polls—and this was reflected in a regular ritual. Many mornings, Sanders would greet his roommate with a simple statement: "We're not crazy."

"I'd say, 'Bernard, maybe the first thing you should say is 'Good morning' or something,'" Sugarman recalls. "But he'd say, 'We're. Not. Crazy.'"

Sanders eventually got a place of his own, found his way, and in 1981 was elected mayor of Burlington, Vermont's largest city—the start of an improbable political career that led him to Congress, and soon, he hopes, the White House. On Tuesday, after more than three decades as a self-described independent socialist, the septuagenarian senator launched his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in the Vermont city where this long, strange trip began. But it was during Sanders' first turbulent decade in Vermont that he discovered it wasn't enough to hold lofty ideas and wait for the world to fall in line; in the Green Mountains, he learned how to be a politician.



Not long after graduating from the University of Chicago, and fresh from a stint on an Israeli kibbutz, Sanders arrived in Vermont in the late 1960s on the crest of a wave. The state's population jumped 31 percent in the 1960s and '70s, due largely to an infusion of over 30,000 hippies who had come to the state seeking peace, freedom, and cheap land. Sanders and his then-wife bought 85 acres in rural Vermont for $2,500. The only building on the property was an old maple-sugar house without electricity or running water, which Sanders converted into a cabin.

remainder:http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/05/young-bernie-sanders-liberty-union-vermont

[merrily]

1. As these stories go, this is not awful. However, I am getting a bit tired of seeing Bernie

portrayed this way.

[Jefferson23]

2. I am puzzled, do you honestly feel he was portrayed in a bad light?

I support Sanders, completely and I don't see it, and would appreciate your
perspective on it.

[merrily]

3. Why would I lie? Do you think this story portrays him in the strongest light?

Maybe, one day, I'll do an Op in the Sanders group of how I see him.

[Jefferson23]

4. Lie is a strong word, and was not my suggestion and I asked if you would

expound on what you felt was negative about the portrayal of Bernie.

If you prefer not to, you could just say so.

[merrily]

6. You asked me if my Reply 1 really expressed my honest belief.

[Jefferson23]

5. If you add more on edit, I won't see it soon enough..but to answer your question

I don't see how a man who worked so hard to fulfill his desire to help all people
makes him look bad.

[merrily]

7. That was not my question, though.

My question was:

Do you think this story portrays him in the strongest light?

Remember, he is running for President, not for Burlington oldest hippie.

[Jefferson23]

9. Ok. His history is not one to be ashamed of, he clearly grappled with how he was

going to represent voters and through which viable means to do so. His personal
life also reflects his commitment to his son and his community. His motives for
wanting an in, in politics, is not fraught with efforts to line his pockets..a man
who has paid his dues.

At present, one of his qualities is that he does not ever seem to
avoid the elephant in the room, whatever that may be..I think that
is one reason he is framing his campaign as a political revolution..his words.

[CountAllVotes]

8. dupe

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12809196

[Omaha Steve]

10. Dupes are allowed in GD

Unlike LBN.

[freshwest]

11. Thanks for the post, I would have never seen this otherwise. n/t

[Jefferson23]

12. I like it, felt it establishes some background on his early life in politics. n/t

[gemlake]

13. His 1972 essay on sex is creepy

His campaign calls it a "satire" and "dumb".

At the same time, his voting record has been solid on women's issues for his entire career. That's the difference between him writing this and the typical conservative Republican. I would still trust him as President.

[WillyT]

14. K & R !!!