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F a c e s a n d P l a c e s

V e r m o n t ' s T h i r d P a r t y :
N o L o n g e r J u s t a ' F a n C l u b
by Lou Siegel
S
talVing people cannot eat jet
planes," explains Peter
Diamondsrone, Liberty VOlon
candidate for u.s. Congress. If
elected, Diarnondsrone will
work "to develop a policy in
which we substitute the sale of
food for the sale of arms. "
The 43 year old former New
York City allorney who lives in
Brattleboro, -rejecrs the entire
basis for American foreign
policy. '" function under the
assumption, ., he says, " t h a t
nobody should be compel1ed to
pay for (or fight in) somebody
else's war." He adds that,
"nationhood i s an artificial con-
cept" and "pauiotism is a
defense mechanism".
Diamondsrone's unorthodox
approach to foreign policy i s
complemented by the
imaginative fiscal reform ideas
advanced by 72 year old Earl
Gardner of Newfane, a can-
didate for the party's guber-
natorial nomination. Asserting
that a socialist is as unqualified
to fix the economy as an
economics professor, Gardner. a
manufacturing engineer with a
masters degree in English, ap-
proaches economics "from the
point of view of an engineer."
Of the past I 00 years, 33 bave
been years of depression, he
says. "If you had a car that was
in the shop one-third of the
time you would gerrid of it." If
he i s elected governor, Gardner
would set out to totally restruc-
ture the Vermont economy.
T
he Liberty Union party has
been agitating the Vermont
electoral prOCeSSsince 1970.
Although the party has never
won an election, it h a s received
over five percent of the
statewide vote and earned major
party Status. In 1976 Libery
Union's candidate for
lieutenant governor, J ohn
Franco, deprived the Democrat
and the Republican hopefuls of
amajoriry, forcing that race into
the Vermont General Assem-
bly.
Liberty Union candidates had
done rhis before, wirh the
House rubber stamping the
largest Vote getter. This time
legislators chose Republican T.
Garry Buckley, who had
received fewer votes than his
Democratic opponent, J ohn
Alden.
Since that election the parry
has splintered. Liberty Union's
campaign of 1978 will be staged
without Bernie Sanders, twice a
candidate for governor and
twice for the U.S. Senare. San-
ders considers his work with the
party a success, but says "it i s
not enough to poine OUtinsan-
ity." He feels the radical party
needs to grow in new ways, to
organize and bring people
together.
There was no illusion of win-
ning, he says, which gave Liber-
ty Union candidates the chance
"to get up and say exactly what
they meant with no com-
promise." Sanders insists that
the party's revolutionary ideas
were not laughed at: "We
talked to working people and
we got through to working
people". And he believes that
he was effective. "If you say
thatwe have to rake over the
banks and have a substantial
number of people vote for that
position, that idea suddenly
becomes acceptable reality," he
argues.
Peter Diamondstone admits
that without Sanders and other
wel1known party figures, Nancy
Kauffman and Martha Abbott,
the parry lacks dramatic
spokesmen. But he sees a com-
pensating factor. A cult had
arisen around these three mem-
bers. "Without them", says
Diamondsrone, 'we can no
longer be seen as a fan club."
Speaki ng of this year's can-
didates, including himself,
Diarnondsrone notes that the
,. charisma is not so over-
powering as to keep people in
awe... Wc're not groupies and
we're not a club, we're a real
political parry".
Beside Gardner and Diarnon-
stone, twO other Liberty Union
people have announced. Guido
Condosra of Guilford will run
for attorney general. The 66
year old retired auto mechanic,
who now repairs TV sets and
makes cello bows, said that, "I
don't want to be a leader." If
elected, Condosta will be "a
servant of the public." Also
running on the Liberty Union
line is Doris Diamondsrone,
Peter Diamonsrone's wife. who
seeks an assistant judge position
in Windham county.
O
ne requirement of major
party status is a primary el-
ection. Last month Secretary
ot State J Im Guest questioned
whether Liberty Union had
organized enough town
caucuses since the last election
to hold aprimary. Diamonosto-
ne met with Guest, assuring
him that the patty was adequa-
tely organized. After reviewir:g
the new election law, Guest said
the matter was cleared up.
To appear on aprimary ballot
for statewide office, a candidate
musr collect 500 signarures.
Liberty Union i s set up to allow
anyone to air their ideas in a
legitirnare electoral campa!gn.
No Liberty Union candidates for
legislative offices have emerged,
however, nor for the statewide
offices of secrerary of stare,
auditor of accounts, or
treasurer.
Diamondsrone says he would
welcome a challenge to his
Liberty Union nomination. So
far, no Democrat has shown a
serio.us interest in running
againsr Republican
Congressman J im J effords,
making Diamondstone the in-
cumbent's only opposition.
Diamondstone insists that he is
running to win. "I'm not an
educator," he says, ''I'm a
good politician ... .! know the
traditional ways of the politician
and I use them."
His political ideas are not
philosophical, but programaric,
says Diamondstone. He
proposes, for instance, a $3,000
minimum guaranteed income
for all Americans. This would
eliminate the need for social
workers and let the air out of
the social serivce bureaucracy;"
according to Diarnondsrone,
the plan would create more
choices for people. Even
children would get money. "I
want children to have the op-
tion to leave their parents." He
also believes that children
should have the right to vote.
Diamondsrone would also
work to impose a$50,000 ayear
limit on personal income. In the
capitalisr system, he says, "we
keep rewarding the winner,
making the loser less and less
able ro compete." He feels that
corporations should be similarly
restricted in profit making. "If
a corporation has all the
privileges of a person," he says,
"it should have the obligations
and responsibilities."
I
nhis race for governor, Earl
Gardner may be forced by
financial considerations to cam-
paign solely on weekends. The
idea of a "weekend candidacy"
isendorsed by liberty Union as
a statement on the
discrimination faced by working
people who want ro participate
in the political process.
Inflation will be one of Gar-
~ner's main campaign issues.
He blames the economic illness
on three factors: war financing
through bond issues rather than
taxes; corporate borrowing of
enormous sums; and . 'a
deliberate campaign by inter-
national financiers to drive
down the value of the dollar."
By borrowing at interest rates
below the inflation rate, multi-
national banks and corporations
maintain a high level of in-
flauon, explains Gardner. The
average person, however, earns
bank interest that is below the
double digit inflation rate, in
effecr losing money on his or
her savings.
To remedy inflation Gardner
proposes a new system, using
computet technology, that
would automa tically balance
the price of all commodities. If
the price of soap increased, for
example, the cost of all other
goods would then be reduced to
compensate for the increase.
Gardner feels it is not im-
proper for this approach to be
used on the state level. If the
federal gqvernment won't act,
he says, it's up to the state.
Gardner will seek legislation to
prevent manipulations by
limiting the size and number of
cotporations that do business in
Vermont. He isn't worried that
these corporations might refuse
to do business here. "Vermont
did very nicely before the big
corproations came here.... We
have more dependable, more
S m a l l F a c e s
V
ermont journalist Hamilton
Davis fared well in The New
York Times book review section
last week. Reviewer J eff Green-
field labeled Davis "a first-rate
reporter with a taste for hard
facts and clear writing" in a
short critique of MOCKING
J USTICE, Davis' chronicle of
undercover cop Paul Lawrence.
Winooski Democratic Rep.
Randy Niquette is back in cit-
culation after..surgery to remove
a tumor last week. "With
Elr/ G"rdnerond Peter DIIJlnondslone
lire in the race
intelligent workers than
anyplace else... .If I'm elected
governor, I will stan businesses
in every little community."
Gardner's other concerns in-
clude free health care and in-
surance for aJl residents. non-
compulsory free education for
people of all ages, abolition of
the sales and property taxes,
distribution of fuel at COSt,and
the closing of Vennont Yankee
nuclear power plant.
In 1976, gubernatorial can-
didate Bernie Sande" received
over 9,000 votes. Polls haven't
yet assessed what percentage of
those were protest votes and
how many were an endorsement
of Sanders' radical politics. If
liberty Union returns in 1978
hover around five percent the
party may be labeled ahome for
perennial losers,
.. But the Vermont electorate
paid virtually no attention to
the Democratic party for over a
century. Until reapportion-
ment and Phil Hoff, Vermont
had been the nation's most
fairhful Republican stare. If
liberty Union c~nsurvive irs in-
fancy, and growing pains, who
knows what could happen in
the nexr hundred years.
Loti Seigel of Brattleboro has
writ/en for The Valley Ad
vocate.
today's technology it's in and
OUt in a couple of days," said
the legislator. "I feel grear."
Former Burlington resident
Roby Colodny published a
poem in the May edition of
Monthly Review, an indepen-
dent socialist magazine. Roby,
who worked as a housing ad-
vocate for PACT before moving
to Boston, is currently a dish-
washer at the Harvard School of
Public Health. His poem IS
titled "Playing the Odds."
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