1

Peler Freyne
.A Seven Letter Word-
Love is just a four-letter word
and success is a seven-letter
word. And success is one thing
Mayor Bernie Sanders has
been good at achieving, as 01'
Bernardo and company demo
onstrated Tuesday. Sanders
got 6,901 votes-just 41 votes
shy of his record total in 1983.
But the question everyone
would like an answer to is,
"Where does Bernie go from
here?"
He keeps saying this will
be his last term as mayor. If
he serves it out it'll mean Sand-
ers will have been mayor of
Burlington longer than J ohn
Kennedy, Lyndon J ohnson,
RkbardNixon, Gerry Ford,
and J immy Carter were presi-
dent of the United States.
01' Bernardo says he's not
planning on leaving town,
either. Burlington, he says,
bas been his home for 17
years and he intends to keep
it that way.
Nobody interprets his de-
clared intention not to run for
mayor again as a sign he's
going to drop out of politics.
In fact, just about everybody
expects him to be in the 1988
gubernatorial race.
That will bea very interest-
ing political year in Vermont.
After US Senator Robert
Stafford makes his retirement
announcement in late Septem-
ber or early October, as is ex-
pected, the two big horses on
the track will be Republican
J im J effords and Democrat
Madeleine Kunin. That
leaves a wide opening in the
race for governor without an
incumbent in the field, and
Lieutenant Governor Howard
Dean fancying being Con-
gressman Howard Dean.
Last November 01' Bernardo
won 14.5 percent of the state-
. wide vote. Mr. Independent,
ever determined to do what's
"never been done before in
history," probably could add
another 10 percentage points
to his 1986 total. Of course,
he might feel great about that
and wouldcertainly have scme-
thing to brag about, but he'd
still be a loser.
However, our fearless leader
could make the road to Mont-
pelier a smooth one by wiping
out his biggest negative-the
lack of an organization out-
side Burlington. But it would
require that Bernie Sanders
swallow the dirtiest word mhis
vocabulary -that disgusting
seven-letter word "Democrat"
If 01' Bernardo sought the
Democratic nomination for
Governor of Vermont it would
be his in a snap. And as a
Democrat he'd have the best
statewide political organization
working for him. It's called the
Vermont Democratic Party,
and it'd be as thrilled to work
for Bernie as they were to get
Patrick Leahy re-elected.
Queen Madeleine told "In-
side Track" this week that she
doubts he would do it. After
all, noted Kunin, "Bernie's
made a career out of cam- "
paigning against Democrats.
She onght to know, having
spent weeks on the campaIgn
trail getting whipped by
Bernie's terrible tongue. .
The Gov thinks that a "free
agent" like Sanders gets away
with a lot by not having to be
accountable to a politcal or-
ganization. But ifhell were to
freeze over, and the swallows
didn't return to Capistrano, and
the Red Sox won the World
Series, and 01' Bernardo .
entered the Democratic pn-
mary, Kunin acknowledges ..
"that would be fair and square.
Of course, Bernie will have
DOneof this. and everyone who
\ c D OW S him well knows he could
never call himself a Democrat.
But that's the big paradox
aboutBernie. Everyone knows
a!terwatching him for the last
six years that Bernie Sanders
is about as radical as whole
wheat toast. In the recent elec-
tion his "radical" proposals in-
duded raisingtaxes and adding
morecops to the police force.
Everyone knows that 01'
Bernardoisa Democrat, every-
oneexcept him, that is. And
everyone knows that labels
aren't so important. Heck,
DemocratPaul Lafayette was
callinghimself a "progressive"
by election dav. And for
beaven's sake. everyone also
knows that calling yourself a
Democrat doesn't mean you
can't continue to go out and
fightDemocrats. That's aparty
tradition.
.CIose Race- The race for
alderman in Burlington's Hill
section was a close one, but
the winner wasn't anywhere
close to Ward 6 on election
day.
Attorney Paul Sutherland
was on the beach in Florida
withhis wife and kids! Alder-
man-elect Sutherland tells
"Inside Track" he had made
theplans for the Florida vaca-
tion long before he decided to
ron for alderman.
Sutherland is no stranger
at City Hall. In fact, he has
represented "the enemy" in a
coupleof disputes between the
Sanders administration and
UVM. In the battle over the
city's gross receipts tax,
Sutherland renrsented DVM,
Trinity College and the SAGA
foodservice. Curently he's han-
dlingSAGA inthe federal case
inwhich Assistant City Attor-
neyJ ohn Franco went into fed-
eral court shouting "anti-trust"
and "nocomoetitive bidding."
US District Court J udge J ames
Holden kicked it out of court
and astatus conference onthe
city's appeal will take place in
the Big Apple next week.
As an alderman, Sutherland
says there mav be some prob-
lems due to his client list.
Things will "have to be con-
sidered onacase by case basis:'
he says .
Media Notes- Butlington
Free Press reporter Leslie
Brown has landed a job on
the West Coast with the
Tacoma News Tribune. She
starts there April 6.
Disc IockevDanny G is
back ontheair at WVMT-AM.
Word was he'd been shown
the door, but iusttwo weeks
later he was welcomed back.
Overat WDOTAM, Dana
J ewell, the voice of good old-
fashioned horse sense, has reo
turned to do mornings, and
thepopular and bubbly Sandy
Lee has returned to middays
after astint that included doing
the news on WXXXFM.
.The J oke Mafia-
Leunig's morning bartender
Bob Conlon heads for star-
damwith the release this week
of M y Turn ill the Barret-
50 Years 0 / Saloon Humor.
When asked how he picked up
50years' worth of saloonhumor
after just"22' vears in the bar
business, Conlon points out,
"Someof these iokes are older
than I am. Some were oldwhen
myfather was my age."
Conlon warns that the tape,
recorded live at White Crow
Audio in J anuary, would get
an "R" ratinz in Hollywood.
"It'snot your New Age humor.
People laughed at these jokes
in the 1930s before we were
supposed to be sensitive."
Copies of M v Tum in the
Barrel are available from the
maestro himself at Leunig's
Old World Cafe.