Seven things Noam Chomsky believes (on electoral politics) that much of the “left” do not.

1) Chomsky believes that it is likely that the Bernie or Bust contingent played a role in throwing the election to Trump.

2) Chomsky does not believe that the Democratic Party is “self destructing”. Rather he believes a) that the neoliberal wing of the party is self-destructing and b) that this is a good thing.

3) Chomsky believes that a takeover of the DP by the Sanders wing is possible, desirable (obviously) and very much worth the investment of activist energies.

4) Chomsky (and for that matter Sanders, despite what has been claimed) believes that third party runs can be viable and has frequently supported local third party candidates (such as myself) and even supported, albeit with little enthusiasm, voting for third party national candidates IN SAFE STATES.

5) At the same time, he believes that third party runs for national office which are unsupported by a significant national infrastructure are foolish for many reasons including their potential to result in a greater evil victory. (See 1).

6) Chomsky takes a dim view of Greens and Jill Stein in particular because they have failed to take seriously the necessity for developing a local infrastructure, only becoming active to promote their celebrity based candidacies during the “quadrennial electoral extravanga”.

7) He strongly rejects the view associated with the Greens that there is no difference between the two parties. In the past, his view has been that the differences, while small, can be decisive, particularly for marginalized constituencies who will be the primary victims of Republican policies. In recent years, as it has become clear that the Republican Party has become “the most dangerous organization in human history,” the arguments for preventing them coming to power by casting a vote for the lesser evil Democrat is overwhelming.

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