A Q&A with the man who wrote the book on Bernie Sanders

Jonathan Tasini wrote the book on Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Literally.

The New York author and onetime senate election foe of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton authored “The Essential Bernie Sanders and His Vision for America” in just 22 days. The 176-page tome is mainly a collection of Sanders' own words separated by issue. It's meant to be used as an organizational guide.

“I wanted it to not be a book you had to carry around in a wagon,” Tasini said. “I wanted it to be something you could slip in your backpack or purse or back pocket.”

Tasini knew Sanders long before his presidential campaign. As a former president of the National Writers Union, Tasini frequently worked with Sanders on labor issues and interviewed him for an article in Playboy.

Now on the campaign trail for Sanders, Tasini sat down with the Reno Gazette-Journal to talk about the senator and his bid for the White House.

RGJ: What is it about Sanders that draws you to him?

Tasini: “I’ve been in politics for all my adult life and I’ve known a lot of politicians, including some people who I consider friends. But even the people who are good people, meaning on the issues who I consider progressives, have a certain amount of bull---- that they put out. And it’s just natural to them in a certain way. The little thing clicks in the mind and there's a slogan they remembered from the focus group. But that’s not Bernie. What he says in front of 20,000 people at those mass rallies, he says one-on-one. And he’s said that for 30 years. And I was just struck at how authentic a voice he was. I think that’s one of the reasons he’s just sparked this movement and this political revolution as he calls it.”

RGJ: People have criticized Sanders for his focus on domestic policy instead of foreign policy. Is this the case?

Tassini: “The most consequential vote in the last 15 years on foreign policy, the most consequential thing that happened was the Iraq War. And on that vote, Bernie Sanders did not trust George Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. And Hillary Clinton did. I always ask is there a single Democrat that in 2002 believed George Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld in terms of voters and I bet 95 percent would say no. If you look at what Bernie said in his opposition to the Iraq War in 2002 – it’s on YouTube, it’s five to seven minutes – every single point he made came to pass: the death of tens of thousands of Americans and Iraqis, the amount of money we spent and essentially the creation of ISIS.

“Frankly besides traveling hundreds of miles with the title of Secretary of state, tell me concretely what Hillary Clinton has done compared to, for example, John Kerry who actually completed the deal with Iran."

RGJ: Is Sanders’ campaign quixotic given the massive hurdles he’ll need to overcome to get the nomination?

Tasini: “I don’t see that at all. I mean look at where he’s come. The Clinton campaign has to unleash all these bizarre attacks. Actually, the clear indication that Bernie Sanders will win, I believe, the nomination and be inaugurated is that Hillary Clinton is copying every single one of his positions. If he was a Don Quixote, she would continue to be a hawk on war. She would be embracing Wall Street. She would not have all of the sudden changed her position on the Trans Pacific Partnership. Bernie put out a comprehensive position on tuition free education. Hillary Clinton parroted that immediately.”

RGJ: What’s the biggest challenge facing Sanders?

Tasini: “I think the hardest thing tactically is really the time frame …. The first set of caucuses and primaries are almost upon us in February. Every day you take off the calendar is one day less that you have to campaign. That’s, to me, the biggest challenge. Not Hillary Clinton. I consider that to be not the challenge. It’s how many people can he touch either directly or through his campaign or the time remaining. And then we’ll see what happens in the first four states.

"I think he will go all the way to the convention. I believe he will win the nomination. People are obsessing a lot about Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, which are the first voting states in February, but honestly there’s nothing that prevents him given the amount of money he’s raising – a tremendous amount of money – given the enthusiasm, he’s going to go all the way to the convention.”

RGJ: How can a self-described democratic socialist president work in this country?

Tasini: “He always says it’s about a political revolution. It has to start on day one when he’s inaugurated. That’s one step. What would happen in this country if he became president. That’s going to awaken this huge number of people. It’s going to create a completely different political context where people in cities, counties, states say, ‘Wait a minute, my representative is supporting the big banks. My U.S. senator has been shilling for bad trade agreements. That’s not Bernie Sanders' vision. Let’s vote them out of office.'

“I think it’s going to be a complete transformation of the Democratic Party.”