bernie sanders (by guest blogumnist brendan mcfadden)

A few weeks ago I read that Jim Jeffords (I), the Senator from Vermont would not be seeking re-election in 2006, and that Congressman Bernie Sanders (I) would be running for the vacated seat. Jim Jeffords you may remember was originally a Republican, but defected a few years back because of the parties despicable stance on issues of the environment, labor, etc, thus briefly tipping the majority in the Democrats favor, and drawing the ire of Republicans everywhere. I was sad to see Jeffords go, and wanted to learn more about Sanders his potential replacement. So I went to his official site, to see what he was all about. It took me only a few minutes to determine that Bernie Sanders is fantastic. If he elected he would be the most progressive US Senator since the late Paul Wellstone (MN).

He faces an uphill battle. An Independent has never been elected to Senate in its history. On top of that we all know that Karl Rove will pours tons of money into a candidate to defeat Sanders. When Wellstone (a perpetual thorn in the side of the Bush administartion) ran for re election in 2002 the administration targeted him specifically they poured bucket loads of money into the campaign of his challenger, Norm Coleman. Despite this Wellstone was enjoying a comfortable lead up until his suspicious death in a plane crash week prior to the election. Sanders doesn't accept money from corporate PACs, so he's at an immediate economic disadvantage. While it will be tough it won't be impossible. He's been re-elected to the House seven times, and was the longtime Mayor of Burlington, so in other words he's very popular in Vermont.

I watched him speak at Democracy Now event, addressing the issue of Media Consolidation, and let me tell you this guy will kick your ass. He's the best. I encourage you to go over to his site, once again check out his official site, read about him and if you can donate a few bucks. I donated 10 myself earlier today. Also if you're interested in finding out more about paul wellstone go to his official site here. I apologize that my first post on Chad's blog isn't a funny video, but I can tell you I'm hard at working search from clips from 'Riding the Bus with My Sister', and I'll post them soon enough.