[B]ERLIN, N.H. — On a cold Sunday evening, inside a cozy chalet in the heart of the White Mountains, an underdressed, progressive Vermonter with wire-rimmed glasses and tousled, white hair gave a rousing political speech.
He spoke passionately on issues of pay equity, campaign finance reform and poverty.
Then … he spoke about ice cream.
While the appearance and rhetoric was reminiscent of presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders, the speaker was actually Ben Cohen, one half of the ice cream dynamic duo Ben & Jerry’s.
“You open the pint up and there’s this huge disc of chocolate covering the entire top of the container and below it is a bunch of plain mint ice cream,” Cohen said, describing his dreamed up flavor for Sanders, called “Bernie’s Yearning.”
“The chocolate disc represents the 90 percent of the wealth created that’s gone to the top one percent,” Cohen continued, gesturing with his arms, forgoing the microphone. “The way you eat it is you take your spoon and you whack it apart and mix the chocolate into the rest of the ice cream!”
Cohen, along with Jerry Greenfield, have become some of Sanders’ sweetest surrogates, dishing out his message to voters in New Hampshire and Iowa one line and a spoonful at a time.
Crowds are apparently devouring the Sanders message, they said, not to mention the free ice cream provided.
Greenfield even said that a number of voters have told him after speeches that his remarks swayed them to Team Sanders.
“People are really tired of the politics-as-usual type of talk,” Greenfield said. “They are tired of politicians who are formulating their positions based on whatever the latest polling is.”
Hillary Clinton often employs more formal messengers as campaign surrogates, typically U.S. senators or representatives. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has been energizing voters with the Clinton message in New Hampshire, and former Gov. Howard Dean has been pumping up Clinton house parties in the Granite State over the past few weeks.
Team Sanders has no real mainstream politicians stumping on the Vermont senator’s behalf, so most campaign events are attended by the Sand Man himself, making for a busy schedule.
Cornel West, a prominent black intellectual, is perhaps Sanders’ most high profile surrogate. He stumped for Bernie this weekend in Iowa at Town Hall meetings and attended a debate watch party.
But without doubt, Sanders’ most active surrogates are the two premium ice cream kings known for infusing politics into business as easily as chunky with monkey.
Cohen’s speech here highlighted a number of Sanders’ themes and emphasized the Vermont senator’s consistency. He scribbled rebuttals in a notebook as Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio spoke on behalf of Clinton before him.
“The Clinton surrogate was the usual kind of political establishment, well-spoken, well-dressed dude,” Cohen said after the event. “I was kind of outraged by the talk about how she’s the big champion of manufacturing jobs. It echoed what Bernie’s been saying for years.”
Cohen was at ease at the event, which was hosted by the Coos County Democrats at a wood-paneled chalet complete with a roaring fireplace and an old campaign poster for John F. Kennedy high on the mantle.
Cohen was so comfortable, in fact, that he took off his shoes and hung out in his socks in the minutes leading up to his speaking slot. (The shoes were back on when he walked to the dais.)
Ben and Jerry have been out on the trail when they can, in both New Hampshire and Iowa. The two study Sanders’ policy platforms and stay current with the news to prepare for events.
In their remarks, they emphasize that they have been constituents of Sanders for decades, and that he has never let them down.
“It’s a little intimidating to speak,” Greenfield said. “We are not politicians and we are not really polished in talking about political issues, but we are familiar with the issues Bernie addresses.”
“It always helps that we bring ice cream to the events,” he added.
At the event here, Cohen brought a plethora of pints – Cherry Garcia and Chocolate Fudge Brownie to be specific – and almost every one of the 80 attendees took a sample.
Cohen took a scoop, too. He said he has recently rekindled his relationship with ice cream after consuming way too much in an earlier life as the director of Flavor Development and also Quality Control at the company.
“I was about 45 pounds heavier than I am now,” said Cohen, who had bypass surgery in 2001. “I sacrificed my body for the company and there was a period of not eating much ice cream. But now I’m back on it.”
Cohen and Greenfield both donated cash to Sanders in the campaign’s infancy, but once they started traveling as surrogates, they asked for their money back. They instead promised to donate the maximum amount of ice cream allowed by federal election laws.
“We think it’s a lot better to make our donations in the form of ice cream as opposed to money,” Cohen said. “[Sanders] returned the money in exchange for ice cream so we stay under the donation limit.”
Ben and Jerry have supported Sanders for decades, hosting fundraisers and donating their signature dessert for campaign events.
The two spoke at Sanders’ presidential campaign kickoff on the Burlington waterfront in May, and showing the depth of their support, both were at campaign headquarters to celebrate when Sanders shocked the establishment and became the mayor of the Queen City in 1981.
“Ben and I have known Bernie for 30 years and he’s been saying the same thing for 30 years,” Greenfield said. “If you are looking for the flavor of the month or the flavor of the week, that’s not Bernie.”
Cohen’s speech on behalf of Bernie was the best received of the night, including that of Lawrence Lessig, who made what turned out to be his last speech as a candidate that same night. Cohen agreed to speak last, and waited through nearly three hours of remarks before going on.
“It’s a tremendous amount of time,” Cohen said. “What’s interesting about it is you drive three hours, then you talk for 20 minutes, then you drive back three hours.” And that didn’t even include the waiting time.
After the speech, Cohen stuck around for photos with supporters, including the Democratic chair of Coos County who beamed as he agreed to pose. Cohen then got into his Volvo, emblazoned with, not just one, but two “Bernie 2016” stickers, and left.
When it comes to Ben’s idea for a new Sanders flavor, Greenfield said he likes the combo but said the company could never actually make it because it would be viewed as taking a side in the race.
“Once Bernie gets elected president, he will be everybody’s president and we could make a flavor then,” Greenfeld said.
And for Ben and Jerry, a Sanders presidency would be the Americone Dream.
