Vermont poised to elect America's first socialist senator

[G_j]

smiles..

http://www.guardian.co.uk/midterms2006/story/0,,1937064,00.html

Vermont poised to elect America's first socialist senator

Julian Borger in Washington

Thursday November 2, 2006
The Guardian

Amid the furious debate over Iraq and the speculation that George Bush may be a lame duck after next Tuesday's mid-term elections, an extraordinary political milestone is approaching: a cantankerous 65-year-old called Bernie looks set to become the first socialist senator in US history.

Bernie Sanders is so far ahead in the contest for Vermont's vacant seat for the US Senate that it seems only sudden illness or accident could derail his rendezvous with destiny, after eight terms as the state's only congressman. His success flies in the face of all the conventional wisdom about American politics.


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[Crankie Avalon]

1. Vermont--the sanest state in the Union?

Maybe everything else about living there would be worth all the cold weather?

[zanne]

6. I used to live in Brattleboro, Vt.

You couldn't turn the corner without bumping into another progressive. It was fun for awhile. Then it got boring. (The weather's no problem if you're used to snowy winters, anyway).

[TechBear_Seattle]

2. Hasn't Sanders been in the Senate for a while?

Or has he been serving in the House?

[Radical Activist]

5. House.

[Radical Activist]

3. I'm not so sure he's the first.

We've never had an official socialist but we've had Senators who were close, such as Huey Long and Bob Lafollette.

[ellenfl]

4. is he staying out of small planes? i love bernie. eom

[savemefromdumbya]

7. refreshing

[Crankie Avalon]

8. If only more Dems would take THIS lesson to heart:

"Sanders is popular because even if you disagree with him you know where he stands," said Eric Davis, a political scientist at Vermont's Middlebury College. "He pays attention to his political base. He's independent and iconoclastic and Vermonters like that."

[TechBear_Seattle]

10. Amen! n/t

[LeftishBrit]

9. Great news!

[G_j]

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