![NRA in 1990: "[Sanders] Was Viewed As The Lesser Of Two Evils.”](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IO-XEI1LgEs/VmPNKFp0BhI/AAAAAAAACOg/_JrYHMBXV5w/s260/nothumb.jpg "NRA in 1990: \"[Sanders] Was Viewed As The Lesser Of Two Evils.”")
How The National Rifle Association Helped Get Bernie Sanders Elected
By David A. Fahrenthold, July 19, 2015
Washington Post
Washington Post
BURLINGTON, Vt. — A few days before Election Day in 1990, the National Rifle Association sent a letter to its 12,000 members in Vermont, with an urgent message about the race for the state’s single House seat.
Vote for the socialist, the gun rights group said. It’s important.
“Bernie Sanders is a more honorable choice for Vermont sportsmen than Peter Smith,” wrote Wayne LaPierre, who was — and still is — a top official at the national NRA, backing Sanders over the Republican incumbent.
That was odd. Sanders was the ex-hippie ex-mayor of Burlington, running as an independent because the Democrats weren’t far enough left. He had never even owned a gun.
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