When Bernie Sanders Said He'd Do More for Women Than Vermont's First Female Governor

[George II]

THU, JAN 16, 2020

Former governor Madeleine Kunin still recoils at a male opponent's claim that, as she recalls it, he'd be "more pro-female than me."

When Kunin, Vermont's first — and, to this day, only — female governor, ran for reelection in 1986, Burlington mayor Bernie Sanders told voters that he would do more for women if they replaced her with him.

"He claimed to be a better feminist than I was," Kunin said this week in an interview with Seven Days. "It shocked me at the time."

Sanders, now a U.S. senator seeking the presidency, has faced heightened scrutiny over his views on women in politics since CNN reported Monday that he'd declared in a private meeting that a woman could not win the White House in 2020. The other participant in the December 2018 meeting, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), confirmed the report. "Among the topics that came up was what would happen if Democrats nominated a female candidate," said Warren, who is also running for president. "I thought a woman could win; he disagreed."

Sanders has denied the story. "Well, as a matter of fact, I didn't say it," Sanders responded when asked about the alleged remark at a Democratic debate Tuesday in Des Moines, Iowa. "Anybody knows me knows that it's incomprehensible that I would think that a woman cannot be president of the United States."

Kunin, whose path to power in the 1980s coincided and sometimes conflicted with Sanders', doesn't believe her former rival. "As far as the conversation between he and Elizabeth Warren, I tend to believe her, since she's been such a straight arrow on everything else," Kunin said.

Sanders' campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

The former governor has previously criticized Sanders over his approach to the 1986 race.

"When Sanders was my opponent he focused like a laser beam on 'class analysis,' in which 'women's issues' were essentially a distraction from more important issues," Kunin wrote in a Boston Globe op-ed at the height of his 2016 campaign for the presidency. "He urged voters not to vote for me just because I was a woman. That would be a 'sexist position,' he declared." (Prior to writing the op-ed, Kunin had endorsed Sanders' rival for the Democratic nomination, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton.)

https://www.sevendaysvt.com/OffMessage/archives/2020/01/16/when-bernie-sanders-said-hed-do-more-for-women-than-vermonts-first-female-governor

[Tiggeroshii]

1. Thank you for drawing my attention to who this woman is.

Very cool!

[George II]

5. Yes, she's a remarkable woman. Three degrees, has been Lt. Governor and Governor....

....Ambassador to two countries, and recipient of more than 20 honorary degrees, and a life-long Democrat.

[pfeiffer]

9. In other words...

This woman is bomb-ass.

[George II]

10. I've never heard that term before, but yes - it fits!

[karynnj]

18. She really is - she is now in her 80s and is still involved nt

[Blue_true]

20. She is incredibly accomplished. Something like the second female Governor in US history

(there was a southern female governor before Kunin). He has had a great post political office career also, she has written several books that got good circulation, and she has held diplomatic posts (if I remember correctly). Truly an amazing person.

[Gothmog]

2. Who is surprised by this?

[TwilightZone]

3. "focused like a laser beam on 'class analysis' "

That clearly hasn't changed. He often seems to discount more specific concerns (and not just those of women) with the generic assertion that his policies will essentially be an umbrella that will address them all.

[Scurrilous]

16. Yep.

Everything takes a back seat to class. Very Marxian of him.


Bernie Sanders still says class is more important than race. He is still wrong (Nov. 22, 2016)

<snip>

"It appears that in the aftermath of a monumental but nonetheless failed presidential campaign, Bernie Sanders remains most comfortable in the spot that made him a loser: trying to separate class and race.

Sanders has never been wrong about the damaging roles establishment politics and economics play in the lives of millions of Americans. Even so, he’s long struggled with acknowledging that focusing on class alone won’t make this country better for many who are struggling. That the revolution cannot be colorblind if it were to truly make this country better for all of the disenfranchised.

At a speech in Boston on Sunday, the Vermont senator advocated “go[ing] beyond identity politics,” declaring, “The working class of this country is being decimated — that’s why Donald Trump won. And what we need now are candidates who stand with those working people, who understand that real median family income has gone down.”

<snip>

"In his Boston speech, he demonstrated this blind spot yet again, when a woman in the audience asked asked Sanders how she could become the second-ever Latina senator.

“It is not good enough for somebody to say, ‘I’m a woman, vote for me,’” Sanders explained. “No, that’s not good enough. What we need is a woman who has the guts to stand up to Wall Street, to the insurance companies, to the drug companies, to the fossil fuel industry. In other words, one of the struggles that you’re going to be seeing in the Democratic Party is whether we go beyond identity politics.”

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/22/bernie-sanders-identity-politics-class-race-debate

“No, that’s not good enough. What we need is a woman who has the guts to stand up to Wall Street, to the insurance companies, to the drug companies, to the fossil fuel industry."

Like say, Warren? Still not good enough Bernie?

[ehrnst]

23. Indeed. (nt)

[Cha]

4. smh. Excellent OP.. thank you!

Kunin, whose path to power in the 1980s coincided and sometimes conflicted with Sanders', doesn't believe her former rival. "As far as the conversation between he and Elizabeth Warren, I tend to believe her, since she's been such a straight arrow on everything else," Kunin said.

[Thekaspervote]

7. +1000

[sheshe2]

6. Great informative OP!

Thank you, George.

[squirecam]

8. Why

Did this not surprise me in the least....

[mcar]

11. Kick!

[betsuni]

12. K&R

[djacq]

13. History repeats itself;

[link:https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/evolution-clinton-sanders-feud-over-qualifications-n553046|

[handmade34]

14. blasphemy

[TexasTowelie]

15. K&R! nt

[NYMinute]

17. Sanders did so much for the women in his campaign

even when he was "a little bit busy"

[Skidmore]

24. Yep.

Imagine that he's still a little busy.

[Blue_true]

19. Glad to see Vermont politicians who know Sanders opening up. nt

[David__77]

21. Kunin was "baffled" that any woman would think Sanders would do better for women...

...than a female opponent.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/02/bernie-sanders-madeleine-kunin-feminism/

It’s a matter of the viewpoint of the woman, of course.

[ehrnst]

22. One's record is important... (nt)

[Cha]

25. yeah yeah..

[Me.]

26. So Now, In The Space Of A Week, He Has Called Two Powerful Women Liars