8/11/2019 Bernie's Mexican Connection | Vermont Times | Oct. 14, 1993

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B e r n i e ' s M e x i c a n C o n n e c t i o n

T hings had been looking quite g r im until last weekend. De-

spite the hopes and wishes of political junkies across Ver-mont, it appeared almost certain that Congressman Bernie

Sanders was content to go on being Congressman BernieSanders and had no desire to change his name to Senator BernieSanders. Of course, a name change would require a run againstincumbent Senator Jim Jeffords, who hasn't lost an electiorisince the 1972Republican gubernatorial primary. As far as 1994goes, Sanders is the-only dark cloudinJeezumJim's political sky.

In recent weeks, yours truly has boon getting teased quite a bitfor suggesting here a few months ago that 01' Bernardo wouldsurely rise to the challenge, since 1994would be his ouly shot atthe 100 Club, barring an incumbent's untimely death in office.Since then, many readers have taken pleasure in assuring me

that Bernie is "too chicken" to take on Jeezum Jim, and besidesthe roaring mouth of the Green Mountains needs to put in one

more year on Capitol Hill to become vested in a governmentpension and no way will he risk that. "See," they say, smugly,"he's just like everyone else."

Things got so depressing I called up an old friend to whine."His staff members say they see no evidence of a U.S. Senate

bid," I lamented, "and with Jeffords packing his campaign fundlike aBrinks truck, there's no signBernie'sdoingany fundraising.Woe isme."

Suddenly, my friend hurled a glass of ice water in my face andshouted at me towake up. "Snap out of it, Mr. Pundit. When has

Bernie's staff ever known what his plans were until the lastpossible minute? And who says it's too late to start fundraising?Besides Jeffords would look like a sleaze ifhe dumped a ton ofbucks into the race."

I felt like I had just woken up from a bad dream. Once again,

hope was alive. I wanted to call Bernie right away and run it byhim, but then I remembered he was in Mexico.

Why Mexico, you ask?Well, you see, he went to Mexico to get a hundred more reasons

to support his absolutely rock-solid position against NAFrAFair enough, you say, but why go there ifyour mind's made

up?Because, ifhe goes to Mexico and gets his picture taken

looking totally disgusted while standing outside of a GM plant

that pays workers 58cents an hour to make $25,000 Chevys, he'llbe the darling of the unions who are fighting NAFTA tooth and'nail. And come next spring, all he'll have to do is pick up thephone and the money willcome gushing in. Payback time.

Come to think of it, Jeffords better hire a meteorologistbecause that dark cloud keeps getting bigger.

From Russia With A Grain of Salt ..If you had trouble swallowing the description of the events inMoscow as Boris Yeltsin's "forces of democracy" were shellingthe Russian Parliament building "in order to establish demo-cratic reform," you were not alone. In the midst of Russiandemocracy's worst hour, Burlington author and historian, BillDaniels, penned an op-ed piece for The New York Time. titled

"Yeltsin's No Jefferson - More Like Pinochet."Daniels was shocked by the way Bill Clinton and the U.S.

media twisted the facts inBoris' favor. "It's not the rubber-stamp Supreme Soviet that you had in Communist times,"Daniels tells Inside Track. "This Parliament was elected in 1990after-the Communist Party had given up its monopoly. It electedYeltsin as chairman. Itfixed up the Russian Constitution so hecould create for himself the job of president in 1991. Itgave himthe power to reform the economy by decree. "

Daniels taught hlstory at DVM for msny years and was aVermont state senator 15years ago when Richard Snellingwas governor. "Dick Snelling was a strong leader," says Daniels."Credit him with that. But he never tried tosend tbe Legislature

packing the way Yeltsin has done."

Andinother news .. The other Sanders, Jane Sandera, the congressman's wife

and chief of staff, is the newly elected chair of the board oftrustees at Goddard College. Jane's a 1980 graduate. She reportsGoddard is on the rebound - enrollment's up 20percent, andthis is the fourth straight year the former hippie haven is

operating in the black.

Word from the Free Pre88 is that the paper's editorial stanceis about to take a sharp turn to the right. Publisher ~i~ Careymay not bring in Rush Limbaugh to replace Editorial PageEditor Candy Page, but a Rush-clone is almost a certainty.~annett's employment bulletin board, Newswatch, recen!JYlisted the opening with the caveat "must be comfortable wlthconservative positions." Whoopee, Ditto Heads!

By the way, Big Daddy Gannett was recently dropped by theCalvert Investment Group from its soclally and environmentallyresponsible list of stocks. A Calvert spokesperson says Gannett

was taken off the list for having a record of "quite extensive

union problems." No kidding. . Finally, Tom Burke, president of the local letter earners

union, says he and his troops are worried about Mayor Peter

~rowneUscutbacksinsnowplowing.especiallysidewalkplow-109. He also says the carrier who delivers on Ledge Road reportsthat the mayor isn't known for doing a particularly goodJob ofshoveling his own walk. Tsk, tsl