This commentary is by Eric Peterson, a stage director who has been writing newspaper columns for decades.
The end of one of the most consequential American political careers of the last 65 years is in sight. The state of Vermont and the United States are watching the twilight of someone who has changed the political landscape. He has made it safe for a Social Democrat to become a mayor, a member of the House of Representatives, a United States senator and nearly the Democratic Party nominee for president.
In August of last year I began contacting Sen. Bernie Sanders’ office to ask if he is going to run for reelection. Several contacts later, I have still not gotten much of an answer. The latest email I’ve received said simply, “Don’t have those details for you yet but will keep you posted!”
It now seems almost certain that sometime soon Sen. Sanders will announce he will be retiring at the end of his current term. That will be a political earthquake in Vermont, where he has been our most nationally known and admired politician since President Calvin Coolidge.
Joshua Green’s new book, “The Rebels: Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the Struggle for a New American Politics,” deals, in part, with the influence the three Progressives have had on the presidency of Joe Biden. Sanders lost the nomination fight to Biden but many of the initiatives of the president are further left than expected from the candidate seen as the middle-of-the-roader during the campaign.
Sanders first drew attention in the Green Mountain State and nationally when he was elected mayor of Vermont’s largest city. He became a character celebrated in the Doonesbury newspaper comic strip as ‘The Mayor of the People’s Republic of Burlington.” He shocked the state and the American political world by being elected to Congress as an independent. He was reelected to the House of Representatives seven times before being elected to the Senate in 2006. He has been reelected twice and twice come in second in battles to become the Democratic nominee for president. Despite the fact he never became a member of the Democratic Party.
Sanders is now 82 years old. One year older than the man who defeated him in 2020. That is one reason, one expects, that Sanders has been reluctant to announce his decision not to run for reelection. Only one other current senator up for reelection has not yet announced her decision whether to run. That is Krysten Sinema, the Arizonan who left the Democratic party to become an independent. In polls, Ms. Sinema is running well behind the already announced Democrat and Republican running for her seat.
Biden and Sanders have become political allies. Sanders is always to the left of the president on every issue. That allows Biden to move left while claiming the middle ground. Being one year older than Biden means Sanders would be 89 at the end of another Senate term. The younger president will serve only four years if reelected, but will still be pushing 90 by the end of a second term. That has become a real political liability for the aging president and a Sanders retirement announcement will once again bring attention to the “age issue.” Sanders will be asked, if he is too old to run for reelection, “Then why isn’t Biden?” Neither the senator nor the White House wants that.
Sanders suffered a heart attack during his last presidential run. He has grandchildren and, like all of us who are getting on in years, must be thinking about how he wants to spend his remaining time. Sanders has published best-selling books and could certainly make big bucks giving speeches and becoming an MSNBC political commentator.
There have been millions of words written about the political career of Bernie Sanders. There will be many more as biographers attempt to get an incredibly busy and important life between the covers of lengthy tomes.
Sanders must be agonizing about the decision of whether to run again. If he decides to return to Vermont as a private citizen to enjoy a quieter life with his beloved wife, Jane, the state and the country will owe him an enormous debt of gratitude.
Correction: An earlier version of this commentary understated the number of Vermont’s cities.
