It's a book...about to see the light of day.
It's an organizing tool.
It's Bernie's voice.
The facts: it's a book I've written that is coming out from Chelsea Green.
The structure: 19 very short chapters on a whole set of the key issues--class warfare, taxes, the economy, trade, racism, climate change and more. Each chapter starts with a quote from a person, mostly not politicians. It's followed by a short intro from yours truly to set the context and ends up at the bottom with three bullet points about specific things Bernie has done...
AND MOST IMPORTANT, EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN...IS BERNIE...
It's 95 percent Bernie's words: I thought of this as an organizing challenge--how do you get Bernie's ideas into a compact format so supporters and those who want to learn more can here BERNIE SPEAK? It's a small, not heavy book people can carry around. You can read each chapter on its own so it's a quick time investment for very busy people...just before you get on a call to a family member or you have to write a response to a friend, you can pick out specific things Bernie has said and what he has done.
Why I hope you'll buy it here and share it around: well, sure, that's an obvious self-interested point. Consider this as well--
First, I think it helps spread Bernie's message. You won't read the usual nonsense about his hair. It's actually what he believes in--and has done. No intervening bullshit analysis.
Second, doing this book with Chelsea Green was the perfect fit, and a pleasure: a Vermont-based, worker owned independent publisher. Chelsea Green is Bernie's message: the peoples' publisher versus the big conglomerates. For writers and for the progressive political movement, we need more Chelsea Greens.
And I'll add: Chelsea Green has a great track record pushing progressive books into the mainstream. It published George Lakoff’s "Don’t Think of an Elephant!" which was a must-read in political circles in 2004 on how to frame political messages.
I am providing the introduction here, published for the first time, so people get a sense of the book.
I’ve been involved in politics my whole life, from stuffing envelopes to knocking on doors in all kinds of weather to working closely with politicians. So, my bullshit alarm is on a hair-trigger alert in the presence of most politicians—and it goes off with regularity, even among politicians who I agree with.
A couple of years ago, something different happened. Over the course of a couple of days in 2013, I spent a number of hours chatting with Bernie Sanders for an interview for Playboy. To be sure, it was a pleasure—unfortunately, too rare an experience—to be with a member of Congress who actually had an informed, complex understanding of the issues facing the people. It’s a deep understanding steeped in a worldview that seeks to represent the regular person, not because it tests well in 2015 polls but because Bernie believes what he says.
When I walked out of Bernie Sanders’ office, aside from the energy one feels from a good policy give-and-take, I was left with an unusually strong sense of something else: authenticity.
Authenticity is hard to manufacture—and, as we all know, politicians of all stripes spend many hours and millions of dollars to painfully, and often comically, try to say to voters, “I’m like you, I’m real.”
But, authenticity is easy to explain. It’s a simple sense: “Here it is. Here is what I believe from deep inside. I don’t need to convene a think-a-thon of consultants and other sycophants to tell me what I should believe. This is me.”
That is the essence of Bernie Sanders. No bullshit. Unvarnished opinions and beliefs.
Now, Bernie carries that authenticity into the national arena in his quest to become president of the United States. As I write these words, tens of thousands of people have already swarmed to hear Bernie speak the truth at mass rallies in arenas and halls across the nation.
To be clear: this is an electorally successful politician, winning races for office as an independent to be Mayor of Burlington, Vermont (four times beginning in 1981), serving as the state’s lone member in the House of Representatives (from 1990-2006) and, finally, in 2006, ascending to the United States Senate.
Which elicits a question some have asked about his inspiring campaign for the White House: Why is the longest serving independent in Congress, who describes himself without hesitation as a Democratic Socialist, running for president in the Democratic Party primaries?
To be sure, some of it is practical. Unless you are a billionaire, it’s virtually impossible to win a national election as an independent in the dominant two-party system (and even, as Ross Perot proved, being a billionaire does not make it a cinch). Some of it has to do with branding and the corrupted nature of Super PAC-fueled elections in the post-Citizens United world, a topic Bernie feels passionately about, and as you will read in the book.
But, there is something more here. In an exchange we had back in 2013, I asked Bernie whether he thinks people understand the term class warfare, which is at the heart of his orations about how the historic divide between rich and poor is ripping apart the nation.
He replied: “Sometimes people come up to me and say I’m courageous for saying all these things. I say, ‘I’m not courageous. Go look at these guys who want to give more tax breaks to billionaires and cut programs for working families. That is incredibly courageous, because the vast majority of the American people think that’s crazy.’ The polling says: Don’t cut Social Security, don’t cut Medicare, don’t cut Medicaid. Ask the wealthy and large corporations to pay more taxes. The political question is, why have the Republicans not been reduced to a 15 percent marginal third party? [The answer is] most people do not perceive a heck of a lot of difference between either party. The Democrats are too diffuse, and their message is so unclear the American people don’t see the real difference.”
This is the essence of his belief that he can win: he is certain that if he speaks boldly, clearly, honestly, and authentically, that he can win the Democratic nomination for president, and the party he leads can win everywhere—in all fifty states—and relegate a regressive anti-worker, pro-corporate Republican Party to rump status. It would be a party transformed, with a standard bearer who would not hesitate to say exactly what he believes, as this book lays out, whether he is walking the streets of Newark, Tampa, Eugene, Detroit, or, Dallas, trekking from the Deep South to the Midwest, or traveling from sea to shining sea.
The goal of this book is to present to the country, in a succinct way, Bernie’s authenticity and his accomplishments, a vision that be believes is a winning agenda because it exactly reflects, whatever labels one sticks on the messenger, the desires and beliefs of a majority of people. No one should underestimate—and Bernie does not—the challenge of winning the White House; it is a steep climb, for a whole set of logistical and organizational reasons.
But, what is laid out here is a simple point: his path to victory is possible because, in his authenticity, his views are America’s views.
Bernie Sanders carries with him a hope and vision for a 21st Century caring, sustainable, more just and fairer United States of America.
I aimed to be brief. Each chapter is short. Each chapter can be read on its own, depending on a reader’s interest. I’ve used Bernie’s direct words, mostly from speeches on the floor of the Senate or House or in statements he’s made, because he usually does so with very concrete explanations and descriptions of a problem that any reader can follow. Each chapter has my own very short introduction to give some background, and ends with very specific steps Bernie has taken to implement his views.
It’s important to underscore a point from the title of the book. This is what I think are the essential views of Bernie Sanders, not a complete list. I wanted this book out fast, as a handy organizing tool. It allows readers to read conclusions about Bernie’s worldview and overall philosophy, and seek out additional positions on other issues not covered in the chapters.
Hopefully, the words presented here help individuals make the argument for Bernie’s candidacy to a family member, neighbor, friend or co-worker.
But, ultimately, as Bernie often says, this is not about him. It’s about our chance to ignite a political revolution by exercising collective power to restore democracy and justice.
Feel the Bern.
I'd be honored and pleased if
you would consider ordering a copy. And, if you are willing, move it around your social networks.
By the way, if it's relevant, bulk discounts are totally doable, so private message me:
40% for 10-49 books
45% for 50-199
50% for 200-499
55% for 500+ books
I'll update people on the book, and try not to overdo it!
The Essential Bernie Sanders and His Vision for America