8/11/2019 Bernie on the Box | Vermont Times | July 15, 1993

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And InOther News . . . WKDR'sAndy Potter came home one morning last week to

find a very confused house mate and atape-full of strange messages

on his answering machine. Turns out the Pree Press was ~oldlng awell-publicized call-in for readers who "have a psychiatnc illnessor know someone who does" to cap off Tom Backer's well-doneseries on how Vermont handles mental-l1lness. The Freeps had a

panel of experts on hand waiting for the calls topour in. ProblemWas the paper printed Andy Potter's phone number on the front

page Instead oftheirown. Andy says he passed the ~e along and

received an apology and flowers fromA s s ' "

Managing Editor JuUMetzger. Hey, everybody makes mistakes. Right?

B e r n i e o n t h e B o x

n

elveyears, four months and nine days after the revolution

began, Burlington Progressives gathered for their officiai

kicked-out-of-the-Bastille political wake Sunday night at Club

Metronome.Back on Bernie Day 1981, it was just a seldom-used banquet

space above Nectar's with a curved bar lined with stunned Burling-

ton old-timers almost giddy from the fear of comprehending the

consequences of what had just happened.

Sunday night there was remarkable good cheer from the ousted

Progressives. There were musical numbers, biting humor, self-

mockery and even light-hearted poetry. Also a list of the commenlBthe Progs are hearing in the post-revolutionary age, from "Gee, Inever thought I' d see you inthe private sector" to "Don't mourn and

pity the past - celebrate it!"The Elvis of the movement, our congressman, arrived appropri-

ately late, but just in time to hear Gretchen Bal1ey, the former

personnel director who's been around since the early days, belt out

the line of the night. "Bernie Sanders taught me how to run arevolution. Peter Clavelle taught me how to run a government.

And Peter Brownell gave me the summer oro"Clavelle retains a personal, deep loyalty from the troops that

once were known as "Sanderistas" and now answer to

"Progressives. "The Bern went onto the show in D.C. And as he hung back at the

rear of the gathering Sunday night, one couldn't help but notice thedistance between 01' Bernardo and the Sandertstas he left behindin City HaIl fwe years ago. Of course, in such a milieu, Bernie'sawkwardness and lack of social graces come through. The guy's

only good in a crowd when he's at the microphone and we all know

he's very good at that. And just last Wednesday, CongressmanSanders sat behind a premium microphone as a guest on "LarryKing Live" on CNN.

"Gave a real solid performance," says Tom Farmer, the show's

producer and a WCAX-TV alumnus. Tom says The Bern did such a

good job, he'll defInitely have him back in network land.

The overnight quarter-hour ratings showed the TV audience thatgot hooked on the opening segment about the guy in Texas whoshot the cop and claimed the music made him do it stuck around.What they witnessed was our Bernie playing Home Run Derby with

his standard collection of American outrages: about being the onlyindustrialized nation on earth without national health care, about

the S&L crooks, about the power of wealth, and the 45 percent that

doesn't vote.Host Bob Beckel was filling in for Larry. He didn't throw one

fastball. Notevenacurve. All underhand slow pitches. At onepoint,

Beckel even knighted Bernie in front of the nation as "a damn good

politician." That prompted the smile of the night from our hero."Since coming to Washington, Bernie's acquired a sense of

humor. It's a survival Instinct, " says Fanner, who remembers him

from the old days. "Otherwise he'd have astroke.""Crossfire" could be next. "They're just down the hall, " notes

Farmer. Who wouldn't pay to see Bernie and Pat Buchanan go atit? And with a ratings smash there, the next stop would be the

Sunday morning network shows.in his role as the Elvis of Vermont's progressive political move-ment, Bernie Sanders Isrocking and rollin' just fine ... for himself,anyway. He's gone to Washington and found it agrees with him,thank-you, And in the heat of July 1993, he's poised to climb even

higher with a run for the U.S. Senate agatnst incumbent Sen. Jim

Jeffords in 1994.

Some members of his origmal band ofSandertstas feel he shouldduck that race. Too risky.Jim Jeffords hasn't lost an election in 20years. They say 'Jbe Bern has a lock on Vermont's only House seatuntil the cows come home. 'Jbey forget the guy Isn't in Itfor the

pension.lfThe Bern doesn't take on Jim Jeffords next year, he'll have to

hope Patrick Leahy decides to take early retirement in 1998 or

else put his personal poIlticai dreams on the shelf until the next

century. Bernie wlIl be inhis sixties then.You really think he'd do that? Suddenly accept a satisfied,

comfortable life )mowing he never made it to the U.s. Senate

because he blinked against Jeezum Jim? C'mon.As for the Sanderistas excuse me, Progressives he left behind,

there was one telling ~ Sunday night. It wasn't who showed upbut who didn't. As the revolution succeeded in the 1980s, Demo-

crats and even an odd RepubIlcan would jump on the bandwagon.Everybody loves awinner. But Sunday night they all stayed away.Seems a losing team never attracts much ofa crowd.