Bernie Sanders' Independent Revolution

When Bernie Sanders won election as Vermont's sole member of Congress in 1991, he became the House of Representative's first Independent in 40 years.

Through eight terms in office, the former mayor of Burlington, Vt., has struck a maverick, middle path between Democrats and Republicans, agitating most often for pocketbook issues of importance to middle- and lower-class Americans: protecting Social Security, expanding access to lower-cost prescription drugs, raising the minimum wage, and promoting trade policies that protect rural and manufacturing jobs.

The Nation magazine, which profiled Sanders last August, had this to say about the congressman's ability to operate effectively across the political spectrum:

When the question of the moment is, What's the matter with Kansas? it's no surprise that Democrats want to know how Sanders wins tough races in an overwhelmingly rural state by drawing the enthusiastic support of precisely the sort of white working-class voters Democrats have had such a hard time hanging on to in recent months.

With polls consistently showing him to be far and away the most popular politician in Vermont, Sanders is currently seeking the Senate seat of the country's other famous Independent, James Jeffords, who is stepping down from office next year. In this, however, Sanders may be in for his toughest fight yet; his GOP contender in the race, high-tech entrepreneur Rich Tarrant, is the state's wealthiest person, and plans to pump upward of $10 million of his own money into the campaign -- five times the most money ever spent on a Vermont race.

The congressman spoke with Truthdig's managing editor, Blair Golson, about the current administration's standing as "the most reactionary government in the modern history of the United States," the failure of Russ Feingold's movement to censure the president, and the progressive revolution he hopes to lead in American politics as the junior senator from Vermont.

Blair Golson: What did you make of the president's Cleveland speech on Iraq?

Bernie Sanders: Same old, same old. Clearly what's going on in Iraq is a disaster; clearly the president has no plans on how to get our troops home. Just as he had no plan for waging war, just as he went to war under false premises. So his Iraq agenda is a disaster. My own view is that we need to bring our troops home as soon as possible. And by that I mean the majority in the next six months, and the rest within the next year. Polls indicate that the majority of Iraqis want our troops home, and we should respect their wishes.

BG: In light of the president's persistent unpopularity, should we expect increasing resistance to his policies in Congress?

BS: What you are going to see is a more unified Democratic Party, and you're beginning to see some modest dissent on the part of Republicans who, because of the president's free fall in the polls, are more comfortable doing that. You already saw that on the Dubai Ports World, you'll see it on budget issues, you may see it on the war, or environmental issues. There are virtually no moderate Republicans left in Congress -- but the few that are there may choose to stand up on some issues and speak out.

BG: Bush's numbers have been in a free fall for several months now -- since Katrina. Why haven't we seen Congress playing a more aggressive role up until now -- until his numbers have bottomed out to historic lows?

BS: Well, I'm not the leader of the Democratic Party.

BG: Sure, but my question wouldn't only apply to Democrats.

BS: The answer is that the Republican Party is a tightly controlled party in Congress, and they don't tolerate dissent very easily. People lost their committee chairmanships, people don't get access to campaign funds when they dissent. That's been the history of the modern Republican Party in Washington. But we'll see some Republicans, because of Bush's free fall in popularity, show a little bit more courage.