...during the 1950s. Eisenhower said that "anyone who doesn't believe in New Deal programs doesn't belong in American political life."
New Deal programs: Social Security. Jobs programs. Public works programs. Free education. Medicare. Rural electrification (extending the benefits of modern life to all). A living wage. And so on.
A Republican president said this. Eisenhower also presided over a tax system in which the taxes on the very rich went as high as 90% and more.
That was a good society. That was a society that believed in "upward mobility" and a decent life for all. And that, as Chomsky points out, is what the vast majority of Americans want, and have said so in poll after poll after poll for many decades.
This is the theme of Chomsky's remarks, and it is quite brilliant. He says that Sanders is not a radical at all. And it is quite strange that those who call him a radical, or treat him like some kind of fringe candidate, are also people whom General Eisenhower would exclude from American political life. THEY are the fringe, not Sanders.
I would add that Eisenhower would condemn, as not fit for American political life, those who fake belief in New Deal programs--who spout rhetoric about it but actually serve the uber-rich. And that, today, would be many if not most of our Democratic Party leaders, who "triangulate" on these fundamental issues--would, for instance, agree to chipping away at Social Security so that its purpose--support for the elderly--eventually fails and its large fund can be turned over to Wall Street (which is lusting after it).
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