Book: Outsider in the White House

This is a reprint of Bernie Sanders' 1997 book, "Outsider in the House," written when he was a Vermont U.S. House representative.  It traces his history and describes his principals.

It has been rereleased (and re-titled) in 2015 to coincide with his presidential campaign.

I just started to read it, and already find eminently quotable passages:

Bernie Sanders wrote:

The American people want political campaigns to be about candidates' stands on the issues, not about fundraising, polls, or the negative ads that overwhelm honest debate.  Elections should be influenced by grassroots movements and unexpected coalitions, not by the cult of personality or a billionaire's checkbook.  From the time I began to get involved in politics [...] what offended me most was the pettiness.  It seemed the media and political parties were encouraging voters to make decisions of enormous consequence on the basis of whether a candidate had a bright smile or delivered a zinger belittling another candidate.

Pg. xi

Despite some good quotes Bernie's book, which I'm about halfway through, is far too much lists of his volunteers, poll ratings, and local Vermont issues.  It's nice knowing Sanders has had the same agenda since the early 1990s but this book isn't likely to help win any new converts.

In fact, I think that's the great weakness in the Sanders campaign.  He hasn't developed any slogans that explain his agenda to outsiders.  People see him described as a "socialist" and they don't know what that means, only that it is scary.

The book is also curiously anachronistic.  It is written as if it's a series of magazine articles, or even newspaper editorials.  He keeps saying things like "Last month, the Rutland Herald ran a detailed article by Diane Derby contrasting my views on abortion with Sweetser's."

The reader is left wondering, "last month"?  When was that?

Books need to be written with a little more shelf life in mind.

Bernie Sanders wrote:

During the course of the NAFTA debate, various congressional members expounded on the need for American workers to become more competitive in the global economy.  I was so impressed by their arguments that I introduced legislation that would make the president and members of Congress competitive with their Mexican counterparts.  My office discovered that members of the Mexican Congress earned about $35,410 a year.  I thought members of Congress should lead by example and lower their $133,644 salaries to the Mexican level.  I didn't get many cosponsors for this legislation.

Pg. 225

Bernie Sanders wrote:

I am sometimes criticized as not being a true Independent because I almost always vote with the Democrats.  People who believe this miss the point.  I am not an Independent because my views fall somewhere between the Democrats and the Republicans.  It's not my goal to vote with the Democrats half the time, and the Republicans half the time.

I am an Independent because neither of the two major parties represents the interests of the middle class and working people of this country.

Pg. 235

Bernie Sanders wrote:

nine out of ten Americans would have paid less in federal taxes in 1992 if Congress had done nothing to "reform" the tax system since 1977.  Yet, incredibly, the government would have brought in almost $70 billion more a year -- a substantial portion of the federal deficit.

Pg. 277