Finally, I will be flying to Madison Wisconsin for a fundraiser for me and Bernie Sanders tomorrow evening and than on Saturday to speak at the "Fighting Bobfest" in honor of the great progressive Bob LaFollette. Please feel free to come to either or both events (or let your friends in Wisconsin know about them).
http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/index.php?ntid=53326&ntpid=1John Nichols: Sanders to be a highlight of Bob Fest
By John Nichols
September 8, 2005
Fighting Bob Fest, the annual celebration of progressive politics and activism that will be held Saturday in Baraboo, takes its name from Robert M. La Follette, the former Wisconsin governor and senator, who proved that one man or woman can have a dramatic impact on essential public policy debates. But is it still true that adding an individual voice, particularly that of a radical independent with no party loyalties, can change the course of the debate in Washington? U.S. Rep. Bernie Sanders of Vermont thinks so. The only independent member of the House, and a front-running candidate for the Green Mountain State's open U.S. Senate seat, is no egotist. But Sanders, who will be a featured speaker Saturday at Bob Fest, which is sponsored by The Capital Times and the www.fightingbob.com Web site, is convinced that an independent progressive can have a profound influence in the Senate.
"I would not have told you when I came here in 1991 that I would be able to do more as an independent than a Democrat," Sanders said recently, as he sat outside the House chamber. "But the truth is that, if you check my record, you will see that I have been a leader in forming left-right coalitions in the Congress. I think it has been easier for me to do that as an independent, as someone who does not get involved in a lot of the petty bickering that goes on. I am one of the leaders in opposition to the disastrous, reactionary Bush administration. "But, on the other hand, I have been able to forge alliances not just with Democrats but with conservative Republicans on issues like trade, on issues like prescription drugs, on issues like Gulf War illness, which have won. Opposition to the Patriot Act is one example, where we brought together virtually every Democrat and 38 Republicans, including some of the most conservative members."
Even though Republicans currently control both Houses of Congress - a circumstance to which Sanders objects with a passion - the congressman is unwilling to accept that progressive populist ideas are off the agenda. Progressive members of the House and Senate must identify the issues where even conservatives know the president is wrong. That, he argues, is how to break the deadlock in Washington. "In the sense that we are trying to develop left-right coalitions, we are also trying to redefine American politics," Sanders explains. "Generally speaking, if you go to one of the media pundits here in Washington - who often don't know much about anything - they will define it: If you are pro-choice, you're a liberal; if you're anti-choice, you're a conservative. If you're pro-gay rights, you're a liberal; if you're anti-gay rights you're a conservative. These are very important issues to me - I'm 100 percent pro-choice, I'm for gay rights. But those are not, to my mind, necessarily the defining issues. "You have the trade issue, which is important. You have health care issues, which are very important. You have war and peace issues, economic priority issues, which are very important. And on those issues you can bring together coalitions, which redefine the normal paradigm which a lot of the corporate media creates when they talk about liberal and conservative."
Like La Follette, Sanders is uncomfortable with the word "liberal." A social democrat, he prefers the label that the great Wisconsin senator chose: "progressive." "Liberals are not as engaged as they should be on the economic issues that face tens and tens of millions of people - on health care, which is enormously important in so many people's lives; on trade policies that are costing us millions of decent-paying jobs; on the decline of family-based agriculture; on the need to raise the minimum wage; on the need to protect unions so the workers can negotiate decent contracts. All of those issues sometimes seem to be secondary issues for a number of liberals and I think that's unfortunate," says Sanders, who adds, "I think that's what the Republicans have been playing off. The Republicans jump in and say, 'OK, look, Democrats are not talking about your economic issues. We're not either, but at least we're telling you about the Ten Commandments, we're telling you about abortion, we're telling you about gay rights.' "What my focus has been as a congressman, and what my focus will be as a member of the United States Senate if I'm elected, is to bang away at the fact that - with an explosion of technology and worker productivity - it is absolutely insane that the middle class is shrinking, that poverty is increasing, that the next generation may have a lower standard of living than our generation, that 45 million Americans have no health insurance, that we're losing our pensions, that middle class families can't afford to send their kids to college, that families are spending 45 or 50 percent of their income on housing."
more.......
For more information on the Conyers-Sanders fundraising event, contact 256-3191.
For a Bob Fest schedule and other information, visit www.fightingbobfest.com.
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