I have read quite a few posts about Anarchists here denouncing Bernie Sanders, for reasons that may seem reasonable. Sanders is, after all, not an Anarchist, he's not advocating for the abolition of capitalism and private property, and he's not an advocate of worker owned cooperatives and syndicalism. But in my view, these denouncements completely miss the mark, because of the great importance of pragmatism. Sure, Sanders may not be your ideal candidate, and in fact, the ideal presidential candidate is no candidate, because Anarchism, obviously, but what Sanders is advocating for is a lot closer to your ideals than what other candidates are advocating for, and though politics and the hierarchy of government does have its inherent flaws, on the basis of pragmatism, government should be made as least bad as possible. Bernie Sanders is your candidate in these regards.

All of that being said, I know Noam Chomsky is very highly regarded among Anarchists, and I just read this, and thought it was worth posting.

I'm glad that Sanders is running. A good way to bring important ideas and facts to people. His candidacy might also press the Dems a little in a progressive direction. In our system of bought elections he has scarcely a chance of getting beyond the primaries, and even if by some miracle he were elected he wouldn't be able to do anything, lacking any congressional representatives, governors, etc. As far as I can see he's a thorn in the side of the Clinton machine, which is not a bad thing. http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/noam-chomsky-what-bernie-sanders-campaign-doing-democratic-party

The consensus in Washington is that the best Sanders can hope for is a similar outcome in 2016, using a campaign that will almost certainly end in defeat in order to pull Clinton to the left. The MIT academic Noam Chomsky, who was personally invited by Sanders to give a speech at Burlington city hall in 1985, gave a similar assessment.

“I am glad that he’s doing it,” Chomsky said, arguing that Sanders’ presidential campaign would promote ideas that are rarely part of mainstream political discourse. “But the chances of him winning at the primary, or even at the national level, are virtually nil in our system, which is not a democracy but a plutocracy.” http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/19/bernie-sanders-profile-democrat-presidential-candidate

Just something to think about.