<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1561" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial size=3><A href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/midterms2006/story/0,,1937064,00.html">http://www.guardian.co.uk/midterms2006/story/0,,1937064,00.html</A></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial size=3></FONT></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial size=3>Amid the furious debate over Iraq and the speculation that George Bush may be a lame duck after next Tuesday's mid-term elections, an extraordinary political milestone is approaching: a cantankerous 65-year-old called Bernie looks set to become the first socialist senator in US history.</FONT></DIV> <P><FONT face=Arial size=3>Bernie Sanders is so far ahead in the contest for Vermont's vacant seat for the US Senate that it seems only sudden illness or accident could derail his rendezvous with destiny, after eight terms as the state's only congressman. His success flies in the face of all the conventional wisdom about American politics.</FONT></P></FONT> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>____________________________________<BR>Travis W Fast<BR>Ph.D ABD<BR>York University<BR>Political Science<BR>Toronto, On</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>