There may soon be an avowed socialist in the U.S. Senate.

Bernie Sanders, Vermont's eight-term member of the House of Representatives, is likely to run for the seat that Senator Jeffords is vacating in 2006.

Sanders, a democratic socialist and independent, appears to have a strong early lead.

A recent poll has him crushing all possible challengers by more than a two-to-one margin, as David Sirota has reported.

And Sanders just got a big boost from his fellow Vermonter Howard Dean. Even though Sanders is not a Democrat, Dean, the head of the DNC, says he's for Sanders.

"A victory for Bernie Sanders is a win for Democrats," Dean said.

Sanders in the Senate could stiffen the spine of Democrats.

He's an outspoken supporter of workers' rights, including their ability to keep their pensions, even as companies try to dodge these obligations more and more each day.

He's against NAFTA and CAFTA and the WTO, these alphabet soups that scald workers and the environment here and abroad.

He's for universal health care, and the importation of prescription drugs from Canada.

He stands up for gay rights and the right to choose.

He's for full public financing of campaigns.

And he's a leader in the media reform movement.

A founder of the Progressive Caucus in the House, Sanders knows how to fight back against the Bush tide of reaction, not by compromising but by staking out a principled position.

"The President of the United States represents, and works very hard for, the very wealthiest people in this country," Sanders said in an article in the February 2004 issue of The Progressive entitled "We Are the Majority." He said Bush and DeLay "are representing the interests of 2 percent of the population."

Sanders has regularly butted heads with Alan Greenspan in House banking hearings. Take this comment Sanders hurled at the Fed chief on March 5, 1997: "I regard it as horrendous and vulgar, to be frank with you, that there are people in government who want to balance the budget on the weakest and most vulnerable people in this society, and then advocate huge tax breaks for the richest people in this country, as you continuously do."

Who, other than maybe Barbara Boxer, talks back like that?

If Sanders moves over to the Senate, he'll have even more power to grill Greenspan and the rest of the plutocrats in power.

A democratic socialist in the Senate?

For those who think the country's moving rightward, look what's going on up in Vermont.

© Copyright 2005 The Progressive

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