When Bernie Sanders ran for mayor of Burlington, Vermont, in 1981, he was even more of an underdog than he is now in his bid for the presidency.
An outsider born in New York City, Sanders was facing a popular five-term incumbent. He had already failed twice in bids for the U.S. Senate (1972 and 1974) and twice more as a candidate for governor (1972 and 1976). His brand of socialism was not faring too well in Vermont, where many voters leaned populist but were
decidedly blue-collar on social issues such as guns, crime, and policing.
They may have agreed with him on jobs, but they were not likely to tolerate his apparently critical view of law enforcement — like the time he walked around Chicago posting fliers denouncing police brutality while a cop trailed behind him, taking them down.
So Sanders changed his tune on the police.
"Bernie took the approach that cops were 'labor,' not the enemy, their demands should be listened to, and they deserved higher pay," says Huck Gutman, his former chief of staff and longtime friend. "He promised to open negotiations with them and generally to keep coming back around to income and the economy.”
For reframing the issue, Sanders was rewarded. In a turn of events that "surprised everyone," Gutman says, the Burlington Patrolmen's Association decided to endorse him — the leftist, anti-Vietnam War agitator — rather than the incumbent, whom it had endorsed in the past. Even the police commissioner, Tony Pomerleau, a wealthy, conservative Republican who had frequently sparred with Sanders over the development of Burlington’s waterfront, was impressed and became an ally.
With their help, Sanders went on to win that election by 10 votes. Then he won 13 more races, serving as mayor for eight years and as a member of Congress for well over two decades and counting.
