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With less than two weeks until the 2008 presidential election, a new CNN/Reuters/Zogby telephone poll released yesterday shows Barack Obama opening an eight point lead over his Republican rival John McCain. In the wake of Colin Powell’s political endorsement the poll also found statistical gains for the Obama campaign among Republican and Independent voters. Indeed, in recent days I’ve personally spotted several “Republicans for Obama” buttons. As both candidates expect the race to tighten in the coming days, philosopher, linguist, political activist, author, and lecturer, Noam Chomsky has said in a recent column in the Irish Times, that the U.S. has, in essence, a one-party system. According to Chomsky, the ongoing financial crisis on Wall Street underscores the lack of a functioning democracy. Neither major party is his estimation has addressed core fundamental issues in the nation’s economy in the course of their campaigns. Following those sentiments, the professor emeritus of linguistics at MIT, acknowledged minor differences between the two major parties, and encouraged voters to consider those differences especially in swing states. In an interview with The Real News Network, Chomsky suggested voting against McCain and for Obama in battleground states, but without illusions about Obama’s slogans of “change.” Reminding readers of the true nature of democracy, he concluded that progressive legislation and social change has come historically in this country by popular struggles waged on a daily basis, not merely by voting every four years. Noam Chomsky’s critical voice is more necessary than ever today, no matter who wins on November 4th.

Today we’ll mark Chomsky’s upcoming 80th birthday on December 7th by hearing him in his own words. “The Chomsky Sessions: Noam Chomsky on the World,” is a brand new DVD released by Docurama, which takes a comprehensive look at the influential public intellectual’s analysis on a variety of issues through a series of candid interviews, lectures, and classroom discussions in which he traces the entire arc of 20th-century American politics, from 1920s public policy to 9/11. More importantly, he sketches a history of grassroots resistance and struggle that he claims has contributed to the “civilizing” of America.