Partial Transcript:
So there he was, after this stunning upset as mayor of Burlington, and all of the powers that be, whether they were Republicans or Democrats decided, in Sanders’s words, that he was a fluke, that, since they still had control of the Board of Aldermen, basically their City Council, they could just obstruct him completely, keep him from accomplishing absolutely anything, and then everything could get “back to normal.” In words frequently applied these days to Donald Trump, he was an “aberration.”
So the Board of Aldermen blocked all of his key appointments. They even blocked his secretary. He was forced to try to run the city with all of his predecessor’s obstructionist people. In the interview Sanders compares this situation to Trump having to run the government with all of Obama’s cabinet members, which, of course, is, more or less, what Trump thinks has happened to him. But while Trump has collapsed into an endless stream of conspiracy-mongering and Twitter grievances, Sanders actually figured out how to get around that obstruction and govern the city according to his values.
So what did he do? Well, he got together some of his top supporters and formed essentially a shadow government to help craft and execute on ideas. He also relied directly on the people of the city, delegating power to neighborhood councils. Each borough was given its own budget that it could allocate independently to suit the needs of the community.
So, one year into his administration, seven of the 13 aldermen were up for re-election in what Sanders describes is, essentially, a referendum on his administration. This was truly a do-or-die moment for him. Would his political revolution be upheld or rejected in Burlington? So Sanders fields his own slate of five candidates. He tells the New York Times that he works harder than he’s ever worked in his life, knocking on almost literally every door of the city with the candidates by his side. And when all the votes are counted, three of Sanders candidates have won outright and two [have] forced the incumbents into runoffs. The remaining Democrats were actually forced to team up with the Republicans in order to keep control of the board. It was the Burlington equivalent of Chuck Schumer voting for Mitch McConnell for majority leader.
But, perhaps most significantly, in one year’s time, Sanders doubled voter turnout, dramatically increasing the level of popular participation and bringing the citizens back into engagement with their city government. Sanders could no longer be written off as a fluke but rather a force in his own right, with a base of power independent from any political party. He then went on to win reelection three times, including once against a candidate who was backed by both major parties—because, you know, the one thing that brings establishment Democrats and Republicans together is their commitment to defeating anyone with their own working-class base of support.
He told the New York Times: “What that tells me is that if government does respond to the needs of working people they will come out and participate.” It’s a simple statement but one at such odds with the suppression, manipulation, caricature, and derision that working people are typically subjected to. To me this interview was so revealing because you can see all of the parallels with his political philosophy and theory of change today. He has faith in this idea of a political revolution because he’s done it and he’s seen it.
Remember this moment recently when John Harwood [of CNBC] asked how he would handle someone like Joe Manchin opposing Medicare-for-All. Take a listen:
[CNBC clip]
John Harwood: …is Joe Manchin going to vote for your program? Is Jon Tester going to vote for your program?
Bernie Sanders: Yeah. Damn right they will. You know why?…We’re going to go to West Virginia which is maybe the poorest, well, one of the poorest states, in this country.
Your average politician sits around and he or she thinks, “Let’s see. If I do this, I’m going to have the big money interests putting 30-second ads against me. So I’d better not do it.” But now they’re going to have to think, “If I don’t support an agenda that works for working people, I’m going to have President Sanders coming to my state and rallying working-class people.”
You know what? The 1 percent is very powerful — no denying that. The 99%, when they’re organized and prepared to stand up and fight, they are far more powerful.