I ran

for
was the
nd Hackett around
Liberty Union. I got
Our candidate
for
Diamondstone, did
percent.
This article is not a
not talk hre about the
evasion of taxalion, or
situation in the state, or
utilities, ot the unrepresentative nature of
the legislature, or the housing uisis in
Vermont, or the grossly inequitable
distribution of incore in America and
Vermont, or the schools whch uush the
spirit of our children
-
or about the dozen
othet issues we rased during the campaign.
Nor do I talk here about Lberty Unionond
my hopes and ideasfor itsfuture. llhat Iam
doing here simply recording some events
of the campaign, and my thoughts about
them, with the hope that they mght be of
inlerest o Vermonters who
follow
the
political
scene.
I should mention that running
for
governor
of Vermont was one of the most
exciting, interesting and informative
experiences of my lfe. So much happened,
and I learned so much about so many things,
that a hundred pages would barely dojustice
to the experience. lYhatfollows, therere, is
only avery partiol andfragmentedreport on
the campaign.
-
Drove with Martha (Martha Abbott,
Liberty
Union Chairperson) up to Orleans
lor
a debate with Salmon before the low
income
association up there. Hackett
apparently
decided not to show up. Not his
constituency,
I guess. It was a beautiful
drive.
I hadn't been off the interstate in the
night-time
for a long while. When we got to
the
church a young lawyer-politician,
golng
about
instinctively
were nodding and there
as I talked about taxes,
and the phone company. I even
mentioned that horrible word "socialism"
-
and nobody in the audience fainted. After
the meeting was over people came up to me
and told me how the phone company was
screwing them, and this and that. One
beautiful, toothless old man told me about
the socialist meetings they held in Newport
during the depression. Newport: Salmon did
well and got a good response
-
but I got a
better response. The real differences between
us, and the difference between what being
liberal and radical is about, became clearer
and clearer as the question and answer
period went on. Of all the groups that a
candidate talks before, I prefer most to speak
to low income people. They "know''a lot
more than most people because their lives
are constantly on the line and they can't
escape behind $10,000 a year incomes
-
as
can the good liberals.
-
Spoke to the students of St. Anthony's
High School in Bennington
-
and did
terribly. It was probably the worst speech I
gave during the whole campa. I drove for
3 hours to get there
-
(leaving Burlington at
5 a.m.). I got to Bennington in time but got
lost getting to the high school. When Ifinally
got there 300 kids were waiting. I threw
down my coat, and began talking. Spoke
right off the top of my head, didn't put two
coherent sentences together, and made very
little allowance for the fact that I was
speaking before 17 year olds. The talkjust
never came off. The response I got wasn't
bad, (the Bennington Banner called it
"lukewarm"), but it wasn't good. The Banner
reporter who covered it told me that Salmon
had gotten an enthusiastic response before
the same audience. I consider talking to
young people extremely important
-
and it
bothered me very much that I was unable to
convey my feelings to them.
-
Spoke before the Vermont Labor
Council at their convention on Marble
Island. Everyone knew that they were going
to endorse Salmon but I very much wanted
to go anyway. I really wanted to talk to "the
workers." It was a rainy day, and when
Martha and I got there we nrere greeted at the
door by two slightly tipsy delegates. It
looked like the booze was really flowing.
One of the delegates asked me, in a friendly
way: "Where is your beard? I thought you
had a beard." I've never had a beard in my
life but I guess that radicals are supposed to.
I said hello to Bill Meyer who had finished
speaking a little while before. The lights were
on and the t,v. cameras were turning when I
gave my talk. (Talking before t.v. cameras is
always eerie because you know that they're
not going to use your whole talk on the
tube. So you think, as you're talking,
-are
they going to cut this part, or that part, or
what?) I spoke about the corporations that
own the country, about the regressive nature
of our tax system and the things that I
usually talked about. (And it turned outthat
WCAX played back on the news the part
about marijuana and abortion). I doubtthat
I got two votes from the audience
-
but they
listened. When I started talking everybody
there seemed to be mumbling or falling
asleep
-
but they stayed awake and
attentive for the talk. Afterwards, a few of
the younger delegates came up to us and
inquired about Liberty Union and shook
the
not
f\
in the recent
Salmon
the
percent
vering a flowing introduction
om who gave one of his better talks
campaign. As usual, I started my talk
knowing what I was going to say. I
well, though, and it was
an old
things which
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hands. As I left I felt that that audience was
reachable. They weren't hostile, but it would
take a lot of work and a lot of time to get to
them.
-
Did a radio talk in Brattleboro, did
some street campaigning and went through
the book binding factory there. The radio
show and the street campaigning went well.
The factory was depressing. A good half of
the workers there were from New Hampshire
-
and about half the Vermonters there had
4ever
heard of Liberty Union. That's always
depressing. On the street I got a good
response. It was amazing how many people
had heard the morning radio show and had
liked what I said. This radio show was
interesting in that a man had called in and
asked; "Did I hear Mr. Sanders say that he
was for the legalization of marijuana?" The
commentator said; "Yes, he said that." The
man said; "Could I ask Mr. Sanders if he has
ever smoked marijuana?" Strangely enough,
despite all the times that I had talked about
the need for legalizing marijuana, that was
the first time that question was ever directly
asked of me. I said, "Yes, I have smoked
marijuana." And that was the end of that.
-
Went through a factory in Bennington
with endless rows of middle-aged to elderly
women sitting behind sewing machines.
Horrible. "Excuse me, I'm Bernard Sanders,
Liberty Union candidate for governor. Have
you ever heard of Liberty Union? Well, if
you get a chance I'd appreciate it ifyou read
this." AnC out goes the leaflet. A very deadly
place. Barely made it through. As I left I
heard a few women making snickering
comments about Dr. Spock running for
president. And I thought everybody liked
Dr. Spock. I knew that I wouldn't get one
vote from that whole place.
-
We were pretty excited. Dr. Spock and
the Secret Service were coming to town. I
think that I was more interested in the Secret
Service than in Dr. Spock. On a few days
notice Martha, working night and day, had
put together a good schedule for Spock. He
was to speak at U.V.M., Johnson State,
Middlebury, Bennington College, in
Rutland and at a few coffees and smaller
meetings. The state-wide slate (which
eventually boiled down to Diamondstone
and me) was to travel with him.
It was raining when his plane came into
Burlington. I drove Martha's car over to the
Grand Union to pick her up from work
where she checks groceries and we here off
to the airport. We arrived a few minutes
early and I spotted the Secret Service as soon
as we got there. Who else could it be? There
were these four very well dressed youngish
guys, standing together and chatting and
looking at their watches. They sure didn't
look like any four guys from Burlington that
I knew. And then out came the walkie-talkie.
I saw four, but I kept wondering where the
fifth guy was. Probably that "hippie" in the
corner.
Spock's plane came in. Some more agents
were with him as he got off the plane and,
after a brief round of introductions, we were
on our way. We ate dinner at the Holiday
Inn. There were four armed men eating a few
feet away, a few more lounging out in the
front watching the entrance
-
and Spock,
Martha and I spent a half hour trying to get
the waitress' attention. I had $1.50 in my
pocket and Martha didn't have much more.
This is not the place to go into the absurd
dilemma of being a radical politician,
demanding fundamental changes in society
-
all the while my party's major candidate is
being guarded 24 hours a day by a squad of
some 20 government agents at a cost to the
government of thousands of dollars a week.
Clearly it was absurd
-
and the best that we,
or at least I, could do was to take it all in with
a sense of humor. Dr. Spock, his wife and thq
Peoples' Party had, for various reasons,
decided that they wanted the protection and
that was that. Some of us, however, didn't
take it all that easily. I recall that Peter
Diamondstone, after sitting with Spock and
two agents in the Secret Service car (which is
followed and led by other Secret Service cars
-
not to mention the occasional agent along
the route) on the way to Johnson State
College was visibly agitated by the time he
got there. His organism didn't adjust well to
being in such close proximity to all those
governmental guns
-
(neatly strapped
across the chest). The whole phenomenon of
the Secret Service and their
"professionalism" and discipline, and the
guns, and the idea of guarding someone's life
24 hours a day is itself an extraordinary
psychological occurrence which, in itself,
should be written about. But not here. The
trip with Spock was quite successful. All the
turnouts were large, the audiences \ryere
responsive and we even made some money. I
am in general very hard on people, but
having met Spock on two occasions (the first
being last March when he came to Vermont),
and having traveled with him for several
days, I am extremely impressed by the man.
He is an extraordinarily good and decent
person and I like him and respect him a great
deal. I often said during the campaign that I
was proud to be on the same ticket as Spock
-
and that is certainly true.
-
Appeared on "You Can
Quote
Me"
and did horrendously. It was
just
one of
those times that I never got started and I was
on the defensive throughout. I was kind ofin
a trance and never really woke up. I can't
figure out why, and it was probably the most
important half hour of the campaign.
Mickey Gallagher gave me a tough time but I
should have been able to turn it around on
him. But I never did. Charlie Lewis started
me off with a bang. His first question was
something like; "Mr. Sanders, it seems that
the thrust of your campaign is to bring
socialism to Vermont. How do you feel
about that?" It was downhill and
defensiveness from there on out. In a half
hour show the momentum is either yours or
theirs
-
and in that half hour it wasn't mine.
I felt disgusted with myself when we left the
studio
-
I didn't handle myself well at all.
-
The candidates'
forum at Woodstock
was
a very interesting
experience. When I got
there
I was irritated
at hving bothered
to
make
the trip as there weren't many more
Deople
there than there were candidates.
ivfost
of the people
were very middle class
and
League of Women Voter types. I think
all
the candidates of the 3 parties were in
attendance
-
perhaps for the only time of
the campaign. And what happened was that
the candidates ended up talking to each
other
-
which was an extraordinary
experience. There was no forum or table up
front. Just one candidate at a time marching
up to the microphone doing his or her thing.
(Except for Peter Diamondstone who
refused to use the microphone, as did Kim
Cheney who felt compelled to do the same).
What happened that day before almost
nobody at all was that morally and in every
important way, Liberty Union carried the
day.
*Proud"
is the only word that I can use
to describe how I felt because the things that
we all were saying were so much more
relevant and right than what the others were
saying. And I think that they even knew it.
There weren't 20 voters to convince, there
were no reporters there, so it was
just
a
matter of some human beings (who were
candidates) talking to other human beings
(who were candidates) and we came out well.
Peter gave one of the best talks I have ever
heard him give. Steve Dunham, a 20 year old
student at U.V.M. and our candidate for
Secretary of State, raised issues that no
candidate for Secretary ofState before even
knew existed. And Elly Harter, our
candidate for Lt. Governor, started off by
saying: "I'm not a politician,"
-
which was
obvious and then proceeded to give a fine
talk about medical care. When I finished
talking Jack Burgess
-
(I never can figure
out Jack Burgess) --J said; "sanders for
governor." Hackett, who was standing near
by didn't seem too concerned, though,
What I got out of the Woodstock meeting
was a very good feeling about Vermont, and
even about Vermont politicians. I have to
admit that I liked almost (not quite)
everybody in that room. Vermont may be
one of the few places left in America where
people with very strong political differences
can still talk to each other like human beings.
It was at this Woodstock meeting that I got
into the first real conversation (as opposed to
debate) that I ever had with Fred Hackett.
We had a very friendly chat, and Fred even
smiled,
which was rare for him. As the
campaign
wore on, and I debated Hackett
and Salmon some 15 or 16 times, I became
impressed
with Hackett in a certain kind of
vay.
He is a pretty straight-forward, no-
nonsense
kind of guy who is pretty up front
about
what he says. Hejust gets up there and
says it. He was a poor speaker in the sense
that
he had almost no sense at all as to where
his audience was at. I don't think that I ever
heard
him get one round of spontaneous
applause
during the entire campaign and I
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am not surprised that he did poorly before
high school students.
-
Campaigned on Church Street,
Burlington. There is no place in the entire
state of Vermont that you can hand out more
literature and meet more people that at
Church and College, Burlington. I met a

of people who said that they were going to

vote for me. I met a lot more, how-ever, who
said that they liked what I was saying but
that they wouldn't vote for me because they
"didn't want to waste their vote" and they
wanted to beat Hackett. That was the sad
motif I herd a thousand times during the
whole campaign. Will they ever learn?
-
Early in the campaign the Free Press
mentioned that I was expected to get
between 5 and l0 percent of the vote. An
early poll done by students at Johnson State
showed me at 12 percent and most of the
reporters I spoke to thought that I would get
at least 5 percent. As the campaign wore on,
though, and as it appeared that Salmon had
a chance to win I began to realize that
relatively few people who liked what Liberty
Union was saying would vote their
consciences. In fact the entire last week of my
campaign was directed
just
toward that end
-
toward telling people that they should
vote for what they believed in and not for
what they considered to be the lesser of two
evils. I guess the appeal didn't work, though.
On election day I expected at least 3 percent
and was very disappointed with what I got. I
was also disappointed that none of us on the
state-wide ticket got the 5 percent that we
needed to get primary status for the next
election.
-
The last debate of the campaign took
place in Plattsburg, N.Y. It was a taped
debate for WPTZ-T.V. Plattsburghasgot to
be the ugliest town in the world and going
there, even forjust one evening, makes one
appreciate Vermont and Burlington all that
much more. John and I took the ferry across
at Grand Isle and, due to wrong information,
got to the studio an hour and a half early. We
\ryent to Howard Johnson's and split one fish
dinner
-
we had about $3.00 between us.
When we got back to the studio Hackett and
Salmon were both there
-
and I found
myself in a very strange mood. Completely
high and very unnervous for a change. The
fact that I knew the two people who were
going to be asking the questions (Chuck
Butlerand Bill Morrissey of U.P.I. and A.P.)
made it all that much better. The debate went
well and, as I watched it the next evening on
t.v., I was surprised to see how much more
effective I was when I talked slowly.
-
Before the debate I proposed to Fred
Hackett that we trade clothing. I suggested
that he take off his tie and suit
jacket,
mess
up his hair a bit, and put on my jacket.
I
would put his tie and suit
jacket
on. I tried to
convince Fred that a great historical moment
was at hand
-
that tens of thousands of
people would turn on their t.v. sets and there,
right before their uncomprehending eyes,
would be a new Fred Hackett. Needless to
say Fred didn't take my advice
-
which is
probably why he lost the election.