S E C O N D

W I N D
F O R T H E
S A N D E R I S T A S

By Peter Freyne

M
ayor Bernie Sanders' solid
victory in Tuesday's elec-
tion left Burlington progres-
sives ecstatic, D emocrats
crushed and perplexed, and Republicans
noddingknowingly behind silent smiles.
When the dust cleared following the
longanticipated one-on-one showdown
between Sanders and Democrat Paul
Lafayette, it was clear that the Progres-
sive Coalition, the political movement
Sanders started six years ago, had sud-
denly accelerated like a marathon run-
ner catching a second wind, sprinting
to victory by a wide margin.
Not only did Sanders knock off
Lafayette inhandsome style-winning
by more than 10 percentage points-
but new faces on the progressive team
won big victories at the ward level.
For the first time ever, the aldermen
from Burlington's three inner city
wards-all six of them- wear the "PC"
label. And inacouple of weeks Ward 5
voters will get the opportunity to
decide in a run-off contest for alder-
man whether or not Bernie Sanders
and company will finally hold majority
control of the Burlington Board of
Aldermen.

Champagne for Sanders

BERNiE
COil til/lied from page 1
" What we hav e s hown,"
Sanders told his jubilant sup-
porters Tuesday night, "is that
after six years of being the
only independent progressive
government in the entire
United States of America, not
only are we not getting
weaker-we're getting
s t r -ong er ! "
The blaze of victory was
also fueled by the fact that the
Democrats, whose aldermanic
bids went up in smoke in the
heat from the progressives, in-
c1ude some nf the bitterest
opponents of Sanders' ad
ministration. In addition to
Lafayette, Democrat Rick
Sharp was once again denied
elective office by Ward 2
voters, while next door in
Ward 1, Alderman J im Rowell
was knocked out of office by
Progressive Coalition candi-
date Sharon Bushor.
In Ward 3, "the bloody
third," newcomer Tom Smith,
with just three years residence
in Burlington, trounced Dern-
ocrat Dan Ryan, who had
boasted of his family's century-
old roots in the neighborhood,
and Republican Paul Robar.
"The fact that they were
abl e t o wi n with newcomer s ,"
said Univeristy of Vermont
political scientist Garrison
Nelson, "is a real testament
to the breadth of the organi-
zation." Nelson noted that the
biggest stumbling block for the
Sanderistas to date has been
their inability to develop a
"grooming process" to bring
new candidates up through the
ranks in the way the major
parties do. Tuesday's results
indicate the Progressive Coa-
lition has jumped that hurdle.
Many Democratic Party
leaders seemed stunned by
their defeat. Lieutenant Gov-
ernor Howard Dean called the
ou t come "hard t o u nd er s t and ."
He s ai d he was " v er y s u r -
prised" by the progressives'
aldermanic victories as well
as the need for a runoff elec-
tion in his own Ward 5 (also
the home ward of Sanders,
Lafayette, and Governor
Madeleine Kunin). "Bernie's
effect," said Dean, "is a little
like Leahy's effect," a refer-
ence to last November's Dern-
ocratic triumphs on a ticket
headed by US Senator Patrick
Leahy, who won re-election
in a landslide.
Kunin, who endorsed
Lafayette and campaigned with
him briefly, said she was "dis-
appointed Paul lost. It was an
uphill battle." Kunin turned
back Sanders' energetic inde-
pendent challenge in last
November's gubernatorial race,
butshe remains afrequent tar-
get of Sanders' political jabs.
"No doubt," she conceded, "he's
a force" on Vermont's politi-
cal landscape.
Sanders ran up 6,901 votes
to Lafayette's 5,594. That's the
second-highest vote total he's
received in four races for
mayor-55.2 percent-and he
carried every ward in the city
except Ward 4. Even in that
ward's rapidly expanding bed-
room neighborhoods Sanders
did better than he's ever done,
holding Lafayette to a450vote
victory. Meanwhile in his
traditional Old North End
stronghold, Sanders ran up an
almost 1,500-vote majority.
Sanders attributed his vic-
tory to the fact that most peo-
pie in Burlington are pleased
with the job he's doing, while
his opponent failed to offer vot-
ers a clearly different vision
for the future of the city. He
al s o cr ed i t ed an " enor mou s "
effort by countless volunteers
who stuffed envelopes, made
phone calls and knocked on
thousands of doors.
Ward 6 Republican Alder-
man Fred Bailey-swhodid not
seek re-election - was one of
the few who wasn't at all sur-
prised by Tuesday's election
outcome. Ward 6 voters picked
another Republican to replace
Bailey: Paul Sutherland.
Sutherland, apparently equally
relaxed about the contest, spent
election day in Florida with
his wife and children. But
despite the Republican's easy
victory in the aldermanic elec-
t i on, t he s ame v ot er s g av e ev en
stronger support to Sanders
in the mayoral race.
"Suffice it to say Bernie's
done adecent job," said Bailey.
"His record had a lot to do
with it." But Bailey held out
the possibility that Lafayette
could have squeezed outa vic-
tory had he gotten out of the
starting blocks quicker follow-
ing the jam-packed Democratic
caucus that drew 1,000 party
members to the Burlington
High School auditorium in
J anuary.
"There was a window of
opportunity Paul had after win-
ning the nomination," said
Bailey, "a two-week period
where the undecided voters
were going to look at him
closely." But during those two
weeks Lafayette laid low.
Then, when he finally did con-
front the public and the media,
he stumbled. He got hit with
the "inarticulate" label, and
in some circles his competency
. was questioned.
"Admittedly Paul does not
imitate William J ennings
Bryan," said Bailey, "but I think
voters look beyond that. It was
the content that was more im-
portant than the delivery. The
whole point was content," said
Bailey, who added that
Lafayette's reliance on being
a hometown-born-and-bred
al t er nat i v e t o Ber ni e was n' t
enough.
Last November, Sanders
received just 22 percent of the
citywide vote as Kunin car-
lied the Queen City. On
Tuesday, his 55.2 percent
showing indicates that there
was strong support for Sand-
ers among those voters who
consider themselves traditional
Democrats.
"What Bernie is doing is
what a lot of Democrats should
be supporting," said Police
Commissioner J ohn Burchard
of Ward 4, a UVM sociology
professor. "His policy is right
on in terms of the small person,
the disadvantaged, the poor
people who are struggling. He
represents those people, and
to me that's what the Demo-
cratic Party should be all about.
Ther e' s a mes s ag e her e," s ai d
Burchard.
Another message was de-
livered by the grassroots organ
izing effort the progressives
put into action. Sanders' cam-
paign manager, J im Schu-
macher, boasted that tbey
really turned out the vote.
In Wards 1 and 6, which
include the UVM campus as
well as Trinity College and
Champlain College, Schu-
macher s ai d t he pr og r es s i v es
were able to bring out a lot of
students and get them "in-
vol ved in the political process."
In Ward I, noted Schumacher,
the student vote was especially
important: Previous races indio
cated that without it, the Dem-
ocrats would hold sway. By
10a.m. Tuesday, Sanders cam-
paign volunteers were knock-
ing on dormitory doors, and
van loads of students were
whisked to the polls. Accord-
ing to Schumacher, "it was the
highest student turnout since
1983."
Over in Ward 2, said Schu-
macher, 10 campaign workers
were on the street by noon
and adozen more hit the pave-
ment during the afternoon to
get out a big vote. Sanders
carried the ward by better than
two-to-one.
It was asimilar story in Ward
3, said Schumacher, where the
progressives dug in after the
appearance of many Lafayette
signs in windows and front
yards in J anuary. "Bernie put
an enormous amount of time
into Ward 3," said Schumacher,
who also credited the hard
grassroots organizing work of
aldermanic candidate Tom
Smi t h. "He's been very active
inthe neighborhood and started
r u nni ng i n December ."
In Ward 4 the progressives
didn't expect victory. Tbey just
wanted to shrink Lafayette's
winning margin. {(W e started
voter identification three
week s bef or e any wher e el s e,"
said Schumacher. The effort
paid off as Sanders won
almost 44 percent of the. vote,
his strongestever showing in
the ward.
In Ward 5 Lafayette bad
been expected to do well. As
an a1d~rman there he had won
almost 70 percent of the vote
even in 1985 wben Sanders
carried the ward inthe mayor's
race. On Tuesday it was al-
most a dead beat as Sanders
squeaked to victory by a sin-
gle vote, 10411040. Sanders'
coattails and the fact that the
aldermanic contest was athree-
way affair left Democratic can-
didate Nancy Chioffi just a
handful of votes short of the
required 40 percent, forcing a
run-off against Sanders-backed
progressive Mary Bentley.
Ward 6, said Schumacher,
"was the surprise." There a
strong student turnout coupled
with Republican support won
the day for Sanders.
"Y oubave six to eight weeks
to identify your supporters,"
said Schumacher, "and 'then
you get 12 hours to get them
to the polls."
For Lafayette, a painting
contractor, the defeat may reo
move him from Burlington's
political battlefield for some
time to come. "What Paul
Lafayette is going to do is go
back and paint for now and
think abouttbe rest of it later,"
the defeated mayoral candi-
date said about his future plans.
Lafayette recalled a point in
bis life not too many years
ago when a bid for mayor of
Vermont's largest city seemed
a fantasy. '1 never thoughtI'd
be making my career being a
politician," he said.
Bernie Sanders, on the other
hand, has made quite acareer
out of being a politician and a
successful one at that. "I think
we can say we won an incredi-
ble victory," said Sanders. "We
bave got to be an example to
the rest of the United States
of America that a grassroots
movement standing up and
fighting for world peace, fight-
ing for social justice, fighting
for economic democracy, for
the rights of all people rather
than just the very rich, is an
idea that is as American as
apple pie... made with Vermont
apples."
HAYES
continued front page 5
newspaper reporter, and I'm
willing to take the oath with
respect to that, the press saying
I've been to bed with J udge
Wheel," said Hayes. He also
denied having any basis to indio
cate that Hill or Gibson "is
having sexual relations with
Wheel or ever had. I heard a
rumor 11 years ago about Ius-
tice Hill," said Hayes. "And
that's all it turned out to be."
Hayes told Richards that he
considered the whole affair "an
attempt to topple me from the
Supreme Court ... 1think his-
tory will look back on the
events of the last year and it
will speak of a gutless Bar
that never came to the defense
of the judiciary, the most vul-
nerable of all our institutions.
I think it will speak of a judi-
cial Conduct committee that
was stampeded by newspa-
per stories into this investi-
gation, most of which is ab-
solutely groundless. And I
think it will speak of prorni-
nent Vermonters getting to
gether in an attempt to ern-
barrass, in particular, this
J ustice, for whatever motive.
And I think when all of the
players are known, it will be
very interesting indeed."
This week Hayes continued
his recovery from surgery in
the intensive care unit at Mas-
sachusetts General Hospital
in Boston.