Vermont Progressive Party
The Vermont Progressive Party is a third party independent of corporate sponsorship and organizes on a grassroots level. They seek social justice and political equality for all Vermonters and hope to provide a successful model for the United States political system as a whole.
Origins
In 1985, Bernie Sanders (now Vermont’s junior Senator) was elected mayor of Burlington, beating a conservative “old boy” Democrat. Bernie brought the best and the brightest in to City Hall and implemented many reforms that were simply modern good government. He empowered a range of citizens to have a direct voice in city government: from students, to the poor, to the elderly.
Progressives started running for the Burlington City Council and getting elected from the poor, student, and middle class areas of Burlington. They cleaned up the waterfront left trashed by industry, started city-wide recycling, and established a public/private partnership with a land trust to make low and moderate rental and home ownership available. The Progressive Administration started a women’s small business technical assistance program and an affirmative action ordinance for the awarding of city contracts. The city-owned public electric utility created nationally-recognized efficiency programs, developed a wood-burning electric facility, and provides Burlington residents with the lowest electric rates in the state. <ref> http://www.progressiveparty.org/organize/model </ref>
Recent History
Recent History
Progressives began to run for the Vermont Legislature from Burlington districts which elected one, then two, then three, representatives. In 2000, we attained major party status and elected our first legislator outside of Burlington. In 2002, our Lt. Governor candidate received 25% of the vote in a statewide race, the largest of any third party candidate for statewide office in the country in recent history. In 2004, we elected three new legislators, all from rural, traditionally Republican areas of Vermont. Although some of the names have changed, Progressives kept their Statehouse numbers steady in 2006 and 2008.
In Burlington, Progressives have won the mayor’s office in every election but one since 1985, and remain a strong presence on the City Council. <ref> http://www.progressiveparty.org/organize/model </ref>
A Model For Change
The VPP is the most successful independent party in the US. We have six members of the Vermont Legislature currently. Progressives have been elected to the Vermont Legislature, without interruption, for 20 years.
This is not a traditional third party. Our model is not Ralph Nader. We pick the races we enter strategically. We recruit candidates who are entrenched in their communities. We do not run against other “progressive” candidates.
We challenge the status quo, and this puts pressure on both of the other major parties. The Republicans and Democrats have achieved a comfort zone. They are entrenched in business-as-usual and big-money politics. They need each other and do not want competition from anyone with new ideas. They define themselves in opposition to each other, rather than articulating what they stand for.
In Vermont, our presence pushes the envelope on many fronts. As we speak out on issues and provide leadership, the voters express their support for our positions. This puts pressure on the other parties in campaigns, and in legislation. Our strong voice keeps progressive issues on the forefront and forces all the candidates to take positions on them. As our legislators speak out on the House floor, we provide cover for those progressive Democrats, and Republicans, who are unable to speak out against their party leadership.
Progressive leadership in the Vermont Legislature resulted in the opposition to utility deregulation in our state and in passage of rBGH growth hormone labeling laws and Medical Marijuana legislation.
We are strongly pro-labor and supporters of small agriculture. We have backed issues such as Universal Health Care, Opposition to No Child Left Behind, comprehensive Tax Reform, and many other issues which have forced the other parties to take public positions on these items and to move toward the Progressive positions.
This is not the only model for political change, but has proven viable in Vermont. As our hard work and measured pace pay off with state policies more in needs with working Vermonters, these successes point to a way forward for organizers and activists in other states unable to work within the two-party duopoly or on third parties focused on national, rather than local, races. <ref> http://www.progressiveparty.org/organize/model </ref>
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