Sanders said that the big message of the day is that together, at the grassroots level, Vermonters will lead the nation in a profound change in American politics. He introduced the local and state representatives - a visual aid that demonstrated unity - and gave them a brief moment to say hello. Rod Gander welcomed Feingold to the "blue-est town in the bluest state..."; Carolyn Partridge spoke about affordable health care; Sarah Edwards said that we should be "nuclear free by 2012."Sanders said that he knew Delay and other Republican leadership and said that "everything is bought and paid for." He then introduced Peter Welch as the the person who should become Vermont's next representative. Immediately a few "Welch Sold Out On VY" signs went up and there was some grumbling in what had been a quite enthusiastic crowd until that point.
Welch seemed prepared and said "I understand your concerns about what happened with Vermont Yankee. We'll talk about this." An audience member yelled out "Make it right." Welch said that the government has been hijacked by special interests working for the wealthy. Corporations buy votes, he said, and their incompetence and negligence costs lives.
Sanders added that it was important to elect people to undo the damage of the right wing extremists and return to democracy. It's an outrage, he said, that the middle class is shrinking under Bush, that there are 5 million more poor, and pension lans were under attack. It's not too much to ask, he suggested, that we have affordable healthcare for everyone, a trade policy that protect families, or national security without undermining constitutional rights. He said that George Bush mistakes being president for being king, and that we must "get rid of this tyrant."
Sanders then introduced Senator Russ Feingold. "I've known him a long time. He's a leader. He understand the pollution of big money. He comes from a state like Vermont where they care for family farming rather than corporate agriculture, he said no to the Patriot Act, and he has asked for a timetable for leaving Iraq."
Insiders know that Feingold is speculated to be considering a run for the presidency himself, so it was interesting to see him at what might be the early stages of his campaign. If he is running, he didn't say it today.
Feingold said that the headline in the news should read "Cheesehead Endorses Sanders," and we oblige. He said that there were more progressive bumperstickers here than in Madison, Wisconsin, and that he considered Vermont to be a "gift that keeps on giving." Vermont, he said, has given Jim Jeffords, Howard Dean, Pat Leahy, and "if you will, Peter Welch, it has to be a Democrat" and Bernie Sanders to the Senate. Bernie has been one who has stood out among the 435 in the House.
Feingold spoke briefly about issues such as health care, trade agreements, an administration that is either in "bunker or attack mode," and illegal eavesdropping by the administration. He said that one person who has led the fight to protect our freedoms was (you guessed...) Bernie Sanders, "the next Senator from Vermont."With politics pretty much out of the way and introductions made, the meeting turned to questions from the people in the audience. Smart questions about many subjects - fiscal responsibility, transportation bills, wiretapping, impeachment, voting against Alito, energy conservation, torture and executive power, dependence on fossil fuels, roll of lobbyists in lives of Congressmen, the rush to unload Abrahamoff donations, Medicare, public financing of campaigns, a lack of unity among Democrats, price of oil, war protests, why money was going overseas when people here can't get by, electronic voting and trade agreements.
This was a listening session, so the emphasis was on hearing what people had to say. In most cases, the answers were what you'd expect a politician to say in such a circumstance: something positive, affirmative, and leaving an impression that your concern is understood and being worked on.
A few exchanges stood out. One questioner stated that he understood how we needed to send people of the strongest ethics and backbone to Washington to serve the public and confronted Peter Welch directly "I feel you sold us down the river regarding Vermont Yankee. You didn't see to it closing. You made a deal behind closed doors." Sanders cut him off when he tried to ask a second question, but allowed concluding remarks that "we need someone in Washington that won't reach accommodations with the Governor."
Another questioner asked in red was the best color for the campaign, and wondered if blue or green might be better. "Red has a good history," Sanders shot back.
When asked about impeachment possibilities, Feingold said that domestic spying would be looked into soon. "Specter said there would be hearings after we confirm Alito" he said, adding "this sounds like high crimes and misdemeanors." He predicted that the issue of executive power would play out during the coming weeks in the Alito hearings.
Asked about Bush signing the anti-torture bill but announcing he could do whatever he wanted, Feingold said that it was "a disturbing development" and they would have to return to that issue again. Sanders said that it wasn't just torture, and that the issue was a president who had contempt for the Constitution and Congress.
On the issue of sustainability, neither Sanders nor Feingold appeared to have seen "The End of Suburbia," but both were firm in their desire to spend more on renewable technologies. "We'll have a car driving around Vermont this year using no gas," Sanders said. "Hydrogen." Yes, but to make that hydrogen?
Both had stories of how completely and utterly corrupt things have become, and urged people to use the election in 2006 to make some changes. When gifts to Congress were limited to $50, Feingold sad, skyboxes for Redskins games suddenly became $49.95. The bad Medicare bill that everyone is having problems with, Sanders said, was written at 6 am by the pharmaceutical lobby and they included a line stating that Medicare cannot negotiate lower costs.
The People seemed, at times, to be ahead of where their representatives stood. The People had done lots of thinking and observing, and at the root of many of their questions was a subtheme - articulated quite well by one audience member - "You are there - what are you going to do?" It was an excellent question. It is why we elect representatives - so we can tell them what we want and they make it happen.
Feingold and Sanders are perhaps two of the best politicians at representing their constituents. They are both known for listening and acting, leading the way to help the people they work for, often returning home to ask and act. Even so, they admitted that they are limited because of a corrupt Republican leadership.
There are enough votes to do all sorts of great things, both agreed, but that GOP leadership wouldn't allow things to even be voted on. Feingold said this was in contrast to a decade ago when a bill would come up, related amendments would be offered, debate ensured, and it either won or lost on its merits.
Feingold and Sanders also seem, despite their best efforts, to be running a bit on autopilot. Feingold more. They are rushed from meeting to meeting, event to event, and expected to solve problems for everyone along the way. Time for personal reflection - something those asking the questions appeared to have used wisely - seems to be limited for high-ranking politicians. A few moments between events while being driven somewhere in car. This leads to rehearsed soundbite responses. They are, pleasantly, soundbites most of us in Vermont want to hear and we don't get to hear politicans saying these things often enough.
To be fair, kicking off a campaign isn't exactly the place to start entertaining new ideas. Still, the answers seemed somewhat shallow given the quality and thought of the questions. Being a minority and fighting big battles, the answers often came down to vote for democrats, we'll work on it, yes it is bad. We can have a deeper dialogue. For example, politicians can stop telling us they want to protect us from terrorists. We get it. What if we talk about root cause of terrorism, and how terrorism is a technique not an entity to battle? It was this sort of interaction that made the audience seem to be ahead of their leaders.
Feingold seemed aware that anything he said might come up in national headlines. I'm sure others knew this, but he showed it. Missing the point of a poorly phrased question, he jumped to his feet with a "We support Isreal" statement and a "we want a Palestinian state," perfectly worded and balanced as not to get into any hot water. The question was really about why the US spends so much on other countries and people here can barely get by, but by saying the U.S. protected the "Israeli Fatherland", it became something else. "That's a bad phrase" said one audience member.
Where the two shined brightest were on issues of civil liberties, constitutional rights, and building a grassroots effort and cooperative ventures to fight off the danger they both saw presented by the current administration's policies.
One questioner said "Bernie, I wish you were younger." The Congressman asked back "Do you have any ideas?" This led to a discussion of reaching out to younger generations to bring them along. Governor Douglas, she said, started as a young Republican. Sanders said he planned to work with young people throughout his grassroots campaign.
Sanders said that substantial changes in media are needed in response to a question about why he wasn't out protesting the war with Veterans for Peace "getting watched by the FBI." "We voted against giving the president the authority to go to war - the media forgot to talk about it."
Feingold, referring to Iraq, said that "the mission, whatever it was, is over." He said that generals close the door and say "it's time to get out."
The final questions dealt with electronic voting problems (there wasn't much of an answer from anyone), and the Andean Free Trade Agreement (Sanders: "Trade is good but these agreements are not."). Senator Feingold wrapped it up with a reminder that Sanders was THE leader in fighting terrible trade agreements and sent everyone off with a "You have to send Bernie Sanders to the Senate in 2006!"
Overall, the crowd seemed to very much enjoy the afternoon event, rising to standing ovation multiple times. Sanders asked if everyone thought it went well, and the audience appeared to agree.After the event, Sanders was handed a box on the way out of the auditorium. "What's this?" he asked. "Donations" said the volunteer, smiling. In a week when being seen with a box of cash might be a liability, Sanders took it, looked unsuccessfully for someone hand it off to, but ended up carrying it out to his car to deal with later.