Here's an interesting note from the LBO archives, at the time of the 2000 election:
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Subject: Chomsky & Hitch on Election From: Nancy Bauer/Dennis Perrin (bauerperrin at mindspring.com) Date: Mon Nov 06 2000 - 07:21:01 EST
Living in a swing state (Michigan), where Bush and Gore are neck-and-neck, I've been barraged with e-mails urging me to vote Gore. For 48 hours I wrestled with this, as I utterly despise the Dem ticket, and began chatting with a number of friends to get their takes. I thought I'd share two of them with you.
First, Chomsky gave me his view:
Dennis,
I agree with you. I'm lucky. In Mass, no dilemmas. But the questions I think are real. Bush himself seems to be a total vacuum, but the people around him are frightening. I think it would be an uglier and more dangerous world if they come close to power. On the other hand, a strong Nader vote might encourage an active opposition no matter who is carrying out crimes in the Oval Office. Hard to assess, I think.
Noam
Then I received this from Hitchens:
Briefly, my take. I disagree with the vote-swappers and the other soft-optionists. A break with the two-party/ one party racket OUGHT to cost something, be painful, lead to bloodshed and recrimination. If my own vote, cast for Nader, could be demonstrated in advance as the one that would lose it for Gore and Lieberman, I would cast it for Ralph the more happily. The entire election has been rigged and polluted and there's only one way to avoid "being a part of it".
I'm not for "worsism" or anything so puerile, but I don't believe the scare stuff about the GOP and I do not wish that Mondale or Dukakis had been elected. I was for Bush and Dole over Clinton, if it comes to that. There are more conservatives than liberals talking sense about things - mainly libertarian issues - that matter more than Roe v Wade. And as for that, and things like it, the culture is too evenly split for any calamitous decision to be made UNLESS, as with welfare and habeas corpus and capital punishment and Star Wars, it is made by the Democrats.
It's an easy call, dear boy; we are lucky to be in a position to make it. I can't imagine having such an opportunity and not making the most of it.
as ever,
fraternally, Christopher
Followed an hour later by this:
And what will we say to Gore's hurt and upset people if it does fall out as the NYTimes keeps warning us? We will say: Don't ever, ever try and sell such a phoney, bought-and-sold candidate again. We weren't as ready as we might have been this time, but next time we will really be ready for you. Don't even think about it. Learn your lesson. Also, next time don't try and fix the primaries, the conventions or the debates. We'll be ready for that, too.
Hitchens
I hesitated forwarding these; but given the tightness of the race, and the contortions suffered by left/libs/pwogs, I thought they might provoke a final round of debate before the Final Act tomorrow.
By the way, I've decided to stay with Nader. If I almost caved, then I'm sure countless others will, and this may prevent the Greens from getting the magic 5%.
DP
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On Sun, 21 Mar 2004, Luke Weiger wrote:
> Well, Chomsky claims, "My feeling is pretty much the way it was in the
> year 2000. I admire Ralph Nader and Denis Kucinich very much, and
> insofar as they bring up issues and carry out an educational and
> organisational function - that's important, and fine, and I support
> it." But I'm pretty sure that he voted for Nader in '00 because Mass
> was a "safe" state, and I don't think he ever unambiguously urged
> others in contested states to vote for Gore.