A MAVERICK IN

CONGRESS?
BURLINGTON
W
ith the formal entry of
Burlington Mayor Ber-
nie Sanders into Ver-
mont's congressional sweep-
stakes almost certain, politi-
cal observers are wondering
just how an Independent
would survive in a Congress
dominated by the two-party
system.
There's also the question of
how ef f ect i ve a congressman
Bernie might he. W ould an
outspoken socialist be con-
stantly red-baited by the Cap-
itol Hill establishment, liberal
Democrats included? If Ver-
mont's only House member is
a radi cal out si der. will t he st at e
go unrepresent ed on key com-
mittees and be denied its fair
share of federal funds? Does
an independent lawmaker
have any hope of getting even
a single bill enacted?
These considerations are
cert ai n t o be rai sed by both
his Republican and Democrat-
ic foes should Sanders make
t he race. At t hi s t i me, some of
t he expert s bel i eve Sanders
might just squeak through to
victory in such a three-
cornered contest, but his
chances could well hinge on
how convincingly he counters
doubts about his clout in
W ashington.
Contrary to Sanders' asser-
tion that a successful inde-
pendent campaign for Con-
gress "has never been done in
American history," several
precedents do in fact exist.
Congressional historians in-
terviewed by the Vanguard
suggest that athird-party hope-
ful would be wise to examine
how independents have pre-
viously managed to win and
how they fared afterwards.
The most recent House vic-
tories by candidates not run-
ning on "either the Republican
or Democratic lines occurred
i n 1980. J oe Skeen won as a
write-in candidate that year
i n New Mexico's second con-
gressional district, while
Thomas Foglietta captured a
Philadelphia seat as an
unaffiliated reformer.
Both these cases reflected
highly unusual local circum-
stances, however, and each of
these nominal independents
has since been re-elected on a
major-party ticket.
Foglietta abandoned his
Republican allegiance in 1980
to challenge both the official
GOP designee and the Demo-
cratic incumbent. He owed his
victory to Democrats dissatis-
fied with their party's standard-
bearer, who was conveniently
convicted on bribery charges
midway in the campaign.
Foglietta then caucused with
House Democrats, gained a
seat on the Armed Services
Committee (a rich producer
of pork for the south Philly
Navy yard), and easily beat
Republican contenders in the
next three elections.
Skeen was actually a regis-
tered Republican at the time
of his write-in triumph eight
years ago. In a contest com-
plicated by court battles over
ballot status, he defeated the
Democratic nominee, a last-
minute substitute for a de-
ceased incumbent, as well as
t he Iormer member's widow,
who also ran a write-in cam-
paign. The conservative law-
maker immediately joined the
Republican contingent in the
House and was rewarded with
committee posts of practical
importance to his largely rural
district.
A precedent somewhat
more relevant to Sanders' own
political situation may be
found in the 1972 independ-
ent candidacy of Boston's J oe
Moakley.
Though a lifelong Demo-
crat, Moakley decided to
oppose his party's nominee,
the arch-racist Louise Day
Hicks, who two years earlier
had won the seat long beld by
former House Speaker J ohn
McCormack. Hicks argued
that an independent would be
unable to work effectively in
Congress, but a majority of
voters in t he Massachusetts
district disagreed. Moakley
was then sworn in as a Demo-
crat and has since become one
of the party's fiercest loyalists
on Capitol Hill.
To locate a model of a full-
fledged Socialist in Congress,
it is necessary to tum back
some 70 years to the strange
case of Congressman Victor
eo.gr. _ _ VIt o Marcal l t of t l o
University of Vermont politi-
cal scientist Garrison Nelson.
W hile members of the two
established parties may not
rush to embrace a victorious
Sanders, he speculates, they
would probably not ostracize
him, either. "The circum-
stances and attitudes were just
so different then that Berger
shouldn't be seen asareal ante-
cedent to Bernie," Nelson
suggests.
Nelson, a specialist in con-
gressional history, thinks the
closest parallel to Bernie Sand-
ers, politically and personal-
time and place when affilia-
tion with the GOP often meant
being opposed to the Tam-
many Hall machine that dom-,
inated the Democratic Party.
Despite tireless service to
his constituents, Marc was a
casualty of Franklin
Roosevelt's re-election land-
slide in 1936. Two years later,
however, he reclaimed the
House seat from the Demo-
crats by running, with Repub-
lican endorsement, as the can-
didate of a new progressive
formation called the Ameri-
can Labor Party (ALP).
Back in Congress, Mar-
cantonio emerged as an un-
compromising maverick. He
parted company with the con-
servative Republican bloc in
the House and sharply criti-
cized New Deal Democrats for
not going far enough i n their
prescriptions for the country's
economic ills.
Marc was re-elected in 1940
DD the ALP ticket by a huge
margin. By then he had be-
come an exceptionally astute
parliamentarian, applying the
rules of the House-usually
manipulated by reactionary
Dixiecrats-e-to the advantage
of leftist causes. Though he
could generally count on hav-
ing only about 50voting allies
inthe 43Somember body, Marc
was able, through his mastery
of procedural details, to delay
passage of several pieces of
repressive legislation.
He also managed to steer a
major reform measure through
a largely hostile House. Prob-
ably the most ardent civil
rights advocate in Congress,
Marcantonio led the fight that
eventually resulted in aboli-
tion of the poll tax. This de-
vice had been used since
Reconstruction to disenfran-
chise black voters inthe South.
The congressman also head-
ed campaigns to stop an epi-
demic of Ku Klux Klan
lynchings.
The powerful Dixiecrat fac-
tion retaliated for acts like
these bypreventing Marc from
gaining a seat on the House
J udiciary Committee. He was
also regularly red-baited,
inside and outside Congress,
for foUowing Moscow's line
on many international issues.
Marcantonio denied he was a
communist, explaining by way
of analogy that he would not
become a nudist just because
communists were in favor of
wearing clothes. Years later,
Marc served as an attorney
for the US Communist Party
as it came under attack from
McCarthyites.
Charges of being a subver-
sive did not diminish Mar-
cantonio's popularity among
hi s constituents. For a t i me,
the Republicans and Demo-
crats acknowledged his elec-
toral invincibility by enders-
ing himfor re-election after
Mayor ...... landon
Berger.
First elected to the House
in 1910, this Socialist Party
member f rom Milwaukee nev-
er got along very well with his
Republican or Democratic
colleagues. Indeed, they re-
fused to let Berger even take
his seat following the 1918
election. The former editor of
aradical journal had been sen-
tenced a month earlier to a
2(}year prison term on sedi-
tion charges for strenuously
opposing US entry into W orld
W ar I.
Berger's conviction was
overturned by the US Supreme
Court in 1921, but the House
had again barred him from its
estimable ranks. The voters,
however, would not disown
their crusading representative.
After being elected once more
in 1922, Berger was finally per-
mitted to participate in Con-
gress, where f or six more years
he continued to irritate the
power brokers.
Could Burlington's own
socialist leader expect similar
treatment ifelected in 1988?
Not liItely, in the opinion nf
Iy, would be Vito Marcan-
tonio.
Born of Italian immigrant
parents in 19()2, Marcantonio
was one of tIie greatest fig-
ures in US radical politics. His
successful and highly contro-
versial career began at the
grassroots in New York's East
Harlem in the 1920s, and re-
mained firmly implanted there
until his death in 1954. In
between, Marcantonio served
seven terms in the US House
of Representatives, made a
strong race for mayor of New
York City, and proved con-
elusively that a progressive
politician could stay outside
the two-party system and still
gain national stature.
"Marc," as he was univer-
sally known in his polyilJ ot dis-
trict, first won election t o the
House in 1934. A protege of
then-Mayor Fiorello La-
Guardia, the young congress-
man was t he nominee of the
City Fusion Patty, which he
had helped form with the "lit-
tle Rower ....as laGuardia was
ealled. Marcantonio also ran
. on the Republican line in a
he won both parties' prima-
ries. But in 1950, as the "Red
Scare" reached its peak, the
two parties united behind a
single nominee. Aided by
three successive editorials i n
The New York Times urging
his defeat, the Republicrats
finally got rid of Marcantonio.
He died four years later ,just
as he was about to run for his
former seat as a non-party
independent. Tributes poured
in from every slate as well as
from Puerto Rico, whose inde-
pendence Marcantonio had
championed. Some 10,000
mourners filed past his coffin
in 24 hours, even as the Cath-
olic Church was forbidding
priests from officiating at his
burial. InCongress, several
members rose to say that,
while they did not much care
for Marc's politics, they
respected his integrity and val-
ued his friendship.
Dismissed by mainstream
chroniclers as a gadfly or an
aberration, Vito Marcantonio
is not much remembered by
today's progressives. Bernie
Sanders is, however, well
acquainted witb Marc'scareer.
In an interview this week,
Sanders called Marcantonio
"avery great congressman ....
Sanders agreed that, should
he run for Congress, he will
be attacked as a potentially
ineffective gadfly. "W hat the
people of Vermont would have
to decide,"Sanders said, "is
whether their interests are
being properly served by the
435 Republicans and Demo-
crats who now make up the
House. They'll have to deter-
mine if it wouldn't be better
to have at least one independ-
ent voice speaking out on their
behalf."
UVM's Nelson thinks that
l<indof approach might just
succeed. "It's an excellent race
for Bernie to make," Nelson
said. "I believe he has a very
decent chance nf winning," he
added. The victor in the race
will be the candidate with the
most votes and in Vermont's
congressional race no mini
mum threshold is required.
The professor notes that, if
elected, Sanders would have
achoice of getting committee
assignments via the Democrat-
iccaucus or byapplying direct-
ly to the Speaker. "It might
make the most sense for him
10align with the most progres-
sive group of Democrats," Nel-
son suggests, "which would
have to be the Congressional
Black Caucus."
A spokesman for Califor-
nia Congressman Ron Del-
lums, a leading member of the
Black Caucus, told the
Vanguard this week that if
elected, Sanders would be wel-
come to join the caucus as an
"associate member" as have a
number of white congressmen.
.By KevIn J. K.... y