Tag Archives: Bernie Sanders

08.26.26
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HOW THE DEMOCRATS SCREWED BERNIE/Tad Devine

Democratic Political Strategist, Tad Devine was the chief senior advisor to the Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign. His book, How The Democrats Screwed Bernie, is not an apology for a defeat but rather an inside look at exactly how the Sanders effort unfolded and then folded.

There are two narratives here. First is the story of an incredible successful grass roots campaign that came within inches of delivering the 2016 presidential nomination to Sanders. The book is eye opening into the intricacies of a grassroots political organization and resulting hugely successful campaign. It is also a very close look at Bernie himself and his wife Jane and their hands on political savvy. The book answers the question as to why Bernie never gets off message.

The second narrative is how the Democratic National Committee and the party establishment worked tirelessly from within to defeat Bernie. At first the establishment looked at Bernie as pesky fly. By the time that he was attracting crowds of upwards of 25,000 and polling showed his strength in Iowa, they panicked. Despite rules requiring neutrality during a party primary, the DNC threw the entire weight of its financial resources and organization behind Hillary Clinton. They went as far as to make access to common voter information unavailable to the Sanders Campaign. Wasserman Schultz was eventually fired as DNC Chair over the egregious breech of protocol.

Finally, Devine, admittedly at the risk of sour grapes, makes a convincing case that Bernie Sanders would have been the better candidate and very likely beat Donald Trump in the general election.

Much water under the dam. ( Excuse te cliche but seems apprioriate)

04.21.26
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BERNIE FOR BURLINGTON/ Dan Chiasson

If any young Progressive or a candidate of any stripe desires to read the bible on how to overcome impossible odds and get elected to public office from local Mayor to the United States Senate, Dan Chiasson’s BERNIE FOR BURLINGTON THE RISE OF THE PEOPLE’S POLITICIAN is the quintessential manuel.

Only Vermont native author Dan Chiasson, a master storyteller, could weave together the elements of Vermont politics with the human nature and the condition of Vermonters. Along comes a penniless New York Brooklyn Jew looking and acting more like a hippie than anyone remotely qualified for any office. Bernie Sanders a most unlikely farmer buys one and falls into even deeper poverty. He and his brother try all angles to eek out a living and finally find company among the colony of hippies that had been ensconced in Vermont since Woodstock.

Sanders an avowed Democratic Socialist dreams up the fantasy of seeking elected office in a Republican dominated state and sets his site on the Mayoralty of Burlington a city left behind by changing economic times. He also needed a job

Chaisson brilliantly maps the Sanders journey handshake by hand shake, door knob by door knock, bitter disappointment, financial woes, disallousament and then the impossible first victory!

If you wish to understand Bernie Sanders unwavering messaging from his very beginnings Dan Chiasson will become your teacher. Regardless of your political persuasion BERNIE FOR BURLINGTON is an in depth examination of Vermont society and just how remarkable the American Democratic system can be.

02.01.24
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THE REBELS/DEMOCRACY AWAKENING

Two recent books are great reads providing insight and understanding into the 2024 election year. DEMOCRACY AWAKENING by Heather Cox Richardson is an insightful narrative into the political rise of Donald Trump dating back to the beginning of Republican conservatism following FDR’s New Deal.Her concise narrative makes abundantly clear as to how and why Trump has taken over the Republican Party. A history that looks back to a mythologized past as the country’s perfect time is a key tool of authoritarians.

THE REBELS- Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez the Struggle for a New American Politics by Joshua Green is a another must for the political observer. Green’s historical perspective does not miss one major player in this political drama.

Warren, Sanders, and Ocasio-Cortez, as detailed by Green, pulled the Democratic Party back to its working class roots. He speculates, We don’t know yet whether history will remember them as harbingers of a new Democratic age or as insurgents who ultimately didn’t change the party as they’d hoped.

Two books, perfect companion reads.

02.21.17
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BERNIE SANDER’S “OUR REVOLUTION” ALIVE AND WELL!

” Let’s be clear!”  This familiar quote from Bernie Sanders is the perfect introduction to his recently published book detailing his campaign for the presidency. Perhaps more  important it is a detailed description of his progressive platform

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 Bernie Sanders, Our Revolution is divided into two sections. Part one reviews the origins and the execution of his campaign for the presidency.  It is an insightful glimpse of how the improbable became reality. For Bernie supporters the read is a pleasant and reinforcing journey.

The second part of the book is an excellent and detailed a count on the Sander’s progressive platform. The narrative extends far beyond the sound bites that are dictated by media coverage of campaigns. Fact based examinations of policies and programs lend substance to his ideas regarding income in-equality, climate change, corporate concentration, greed, education and health care. The reader comes away with a far greater understanding  of the depth and the rational for his ideas.  His explanations pattern his familiar straightforward and blunt style.

Having  just read Tom Friedman’s   Thank You For Being Late ( see gordonsgoodreads.com) it is interesting to discover the similarity of ideas and policy shared by Sanders and Friedman. Of particular interest is their common ground on education, climate change and income inequality.

Do not look for a lament on a lost cause because you will not find that narrative in these pages.  Bernie’s  Our Revolution, appears alive and well. I thought it appropriate to quote this battle cry from the final chapter.

” We will not be able to accomplish those goals if we look at democracy as a spectator sport, assuming others will do it for us. They won’t. The  future is in your hands. Let’s go to work.”

Let’s be clear!