Sarasota – Jonathan Tasini, author of The Essential Bernie Sanders and his Vision for America, spoke at Fogartyville Community Media and Arts Center on Jan. 9. The event was one of five Florida stops with an engagement in Melbourne that evening, and three in Miami the following day. A predominantly caucasian audience of approximately 100 attended the Fogartyville event; attendees ranged from teens to senior citizens but skewed elderly, including one gentleman who turned 103 that week.
Endorsed by Sanders, Tasini’s book breaks down the presidential candidate’s policies in an easy to read format to layout talking points for supporters or introduce voters to Sanders. Tasini meticulously patchworked excerpts from Sander’s speeches and press release statements to create the slim, accessible book. He wrote the book in the 20 days following Sanders’ Presidential bid announcement in May 2015.
Complete with a section to take notes, The Essential Bernie provides an approach in keeping with a Sanders tenet that the election process should be educational. Tasini’s book tour echoes this philosophy with a presentation expounding on six key points: foreign affairs, civil rights, education, health care, jobs, and climate.
“I see it more as being a surrogate for Bernie, promoting Bernie, and the political revolution,” Tasini said in a subsequent interview for Dr. Doreen Dupont’sOne Wonders podcast. “The book is secondary. If the book never sold another copy, I’d still be honored and privileged to be doing this because this is about changing the life that we all live.”
Tasini is an animated speaker, often bending at the knees as if to thrust his passion at the listener. Behind him poster-size printed visual aids were clipped to a curtain, helping to keep him and the audience on track. He was flanked by two more posters on easels. One simply said “Political Revolution vs. Status Quo” – Hillary Clinton was rarely referenced by name, but instead as “the candidate of the status quo.” (As point of fact, Tasini unsuccessfully ran against Clinton in 2006 in NY for U.S. Senate.)
The other poster lists three qualities of the Sanders approach: “Moral Principles, Shared Responsibility, Economic Wisdom.” Consistently Tasini came back to Moral Principles, often expressing awe for his subject matter. On Sanders eschewing super PACs in light of his campaign finance reform stance, he said: “If it were me, I’m going to have the super PAC, then I’ll fix that when I’m elected.”
Following a Q&A, Tasini closed by urging the audience to find ways to do more and give more for the cause. “When you wake up in the morning, ask your partner, ‘What are we doing for Bernie today?’”
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