by Don Keelan

In addition to his 85^th Birthday earlier this week, Senator Bernie Sanders has much to celebrate. His deep involvement in transforming America into a Socialist country has gained traction in several congressional districts throughout the country. The crown jewel of this is close to home: the election of socialist Zohran Mamdani, Mayor of New York City.  

For over forty years, the former Burlington mayor has been the clarion call for change to America’s 250-plus years of capitalism. He was a voice in the wilderness up until the 2016 Democratic Party primary to elect the party’s presidential standard bearer. The country heard the Vermont senator’s stance on socialism’s merits. They wanted more of him but not so much; the party’s leadership rejected him then and again in 2020. Nevertheless, the Vermont independent/socialist is now a national icon. 

If his message that capitalism had to be replaced was to gain leverage, it would be necessary to rally around not the liberal wing of the Democratic Party but the Democratic Socialists of America. The latter’s agenda aligned more closely with his own.

The DSA membership is not very large: 120,000 or so. What is impressive is its ability to be on national news daily. This is possible because, with Bernie’s backing, the DSA’s platform is committed to abolishing the US Senate, open borders, defunding policing and the country’s incarceration system, Medicare for all, and a 32-hour work week. Also, the DSA’s animus towards the State of Israel is well known: cut off all aid and take up the Palestinian cause.   What is paramount for the DSA is for the government to take over many sectors of manufacturing, transportation, healthcare, and finance.

Where all of this will end up remains to be seen. It is not the Democratic Party platform, but it has been for Senator Sanders.  So much so that he was convinced that the only way to get his message beyond Burlington and Vermont was to gain a national political voice. He did this in 1991 by being elected Vermont’s sole representative to the U.S. Congress and, more importantly, to the U.S. Senate in 2007. 

Bernie’s popularity in Vermont is overwhelmingly positive. He translated his standing as a gift from Vermont voters—it is not necessary to be our full-time senator.  For the past dozen years, Bernie has capitalized on Vermont voters’ gift to him. The Vermont stage was too small; he needed the national one. 

He now shares that stage with DSA supporters whose political views, as noted above, are more extreme than his own: New York’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed, Maine’s Graham Platner, and digital media influencer Hasan Piker. Bernie is comfortable with Piker’s views, including the claim that “America deserved 9/11.”

There are many amongst us who believe the State of Israel has certain policies and actions that we are not in agreement with and need correction. This position differs greatly from the views of Bernie’s new cohorts. 

The July 22, 2026, Vermont Daily Chronicle reported that Sanders’ former 2020 presidential campaign Jewish outreach director, Joel Rubin, noted, “I think what Sanders and the Sanders’ operation have done is shove into our system the most categorically anti-Israel, antisemitic candidates that we’ve seen.” 

An alarming change in the Vermont landscape has taken place since Bernie was given the gift of barnstorming the country, no matter how much time away from Vermont. In the past dozen years, Vermont has witnessed the deepening crises in its healthcare system, public schools, housing, addiction, mental health, aging population, labor force, and youth migration.  

And then, of course, there is Burlington, pleading for help from Montpelier. A dozen years ago, the city was Vermont’s jewel. The Queen City was the place to live, work, and visit. Bernie’s Vermont headquarters sits squarely in the middle of what has become an unsightly area of that city. 

It would be irresponsible to lay all that ails Vermont and Burlington at Senator Sanders’s feet. However, there are 100 U.S. Senators; 99 of them are not crisscrossing the country advocating for a new form of government–socialism.

I often wondered if things would be different had Bernie told us during his Senate campaign, “you do know I won’t be around much.” History will let us know the cost of our gift.