Catching Up With a Loser: Mike Gravel
The nation has been buzzing about Alaska's most famous maverick politician all week and, well, we're going to stretch it out one more day… former Senator Mike Gravel (D-AK) is this week's entry in our Presidential Loser Series!
As Americans, we like everything bigger and better than what the other guy has, and Gravel was no exception. Not content to wallow among your garden-variety losers like Tom Vilsack, Jim Gilmore and Hillary Clinton, Gravel eclipsed them with the rare feat of losing two presidential nominations in the same cycle!
Gravel's first loss came as a Democrat. He stood out within the party's field for his knowledge of how to get a prescription for cocaine, but not for his knowledge on how to sneak into a debate. And when the party frontrunners aired standard-issue ads of themselves striding through factories and shaking hands with the entire U.S. Army, Gravel responded with an avant-garde video of himself heaving a rock into a lake — which pundits agree vaulted him over the elusive 240 vote barrier in South Carolina.
Gravel's second defeat was in the Libertarian primary, which came as a surprise to those who hadn't realized he'd quit his Democratic campaign. He got 71 out of 618 votes at the Libertarian Convention, polling fourth behind a research scientist, the self-proclaimed "King of Vegas", and the eventual winner, Bob Barr.
But why should Gravel stop at just losing two nominations? It might not be too late to try to get on the ticket for the Equal Rights Party, or perhaps the Anti-Masonic Party. And what about the Alaskan Independence Party, which we've heard so much about recently… wonder if we could conjure up a feisty fellow Alaskan to serve as VP on that ticket?
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Mike stopped the draft and helped end the vietnam war, stopped nuclear testing. Wow what a real maverick. Too bad americans are about popularity contest instead of content. Put mike to debate anyone and he will make minced meat of them, he is the best no one compares. He has educated me as to the workings of the political world, what a feat no one else couold do it in just the thorough and intelligent, insightful and meaningful way he has, and he does not get rich or popular doing this. Is this not enough proof of his value and valor. I do not know what to say more but that Gravel is the only one making sense and being forthright, I hope Obama employs him to destroy the opposition, and who cares about the rock video, what is the difference, he means well and has depth when all the others are shallow and low class. Gravel is superior and real american royalty not like McCain whose wife thinks she is the queen and dresses like as if she were some royalty, his mother also thinks she is queen of england. I thought americans made a revolution against this and now they want a king and queen. Please get a grip on things use your common sense and not high schol popularity contest mentality too many lives are at stake. Besides gravels sister is a nun this shows you that he is the real McCoy not McCain whose wife made him who he is.
I keep hearing the accusation that throwing a rock into water and videotaping it is nuts or staring into a camera is nuts. But really the accusation itself is nuts because there is nothing wrong with doing that whatsoever. The only thing that is nuts are persons repeating this statement kind of like bears locked in a cage pacing around in circles. That is these accusations are so repetitive and boring and without substance that they in themselves are nuts and are trying to project their own faults onto others, Gravel did a spontaneous creative thing with the videomakers and that makes him robust, open minded, unbourdened with hipocrisy, smart and alive with gusto and that is all. The critics are just hnarrow minded fools who only see value in prime time crap, boring, cheezy, uncultured vicious nonentertainment and think that baseball players are some sort of genius, maybe for them baseball players have the experience necessary to run the country because baseball players are great. These people are hipocrites who only support who they support because of their shallow views on things like S. Palin whose views are really horrible Mike said but the people will talk how great she is
havine seen her once proving the shallow popularity contest nature of the american people. Wise up to the revolution get rid of the King,embrace gravel NID40.
Mike Gravel did more for this country than all the other candidates for prsident combined so what are you talking about?
Mike Gravel did more for the people of this country than all the other presidential candidates combined, so what are you talking about?
The funniest thing about Mike Gravel is the terrible irony that when you look that the issues… When you look at what Gravel actually stands for, he really is the candidate that we all want. Decriminalization of the drugs. Immediate withdrawal from Iraq. Pro-choice. Pro-gay-rights. National Initiative (aka direct democracy) Fair Tax. Single-payer National Heath Care. The list goes on. The problem is, now everyone just treats him like a joke. We do so at our peril, because it's making a joke of the ideals that most Americans believe in. I guess it's just easier to laugh and support the media's manufactured consent of two candidates. Hell, it's better than crying.
Mike Gravel is amazing. I find it very interesting that his staunchest supporters are all people who don't watch TV but find their news in other places. At Democratic functions I would mention him and NO ONE knew he was running, they all knew who he was and LOVED him but didn't know he was running. I'd ask if they had seen the debates and they hadn't! They were waiting until closer to the actual primary to pay attention, by then Mike had been excluded for not raising enough money. Mike never tried to raise money, he believed that the power of the people and word of mouth was much more valuable to his campaign. If you have ever watched what our allegedly "elected officials" do and thought you could do a better job, YOU'RE RIGHT! Go vote at http://www.ni4d.us NOW…..
Fannie & Freddie has forced the issue.
nader paul kucinich gravel
mckinney ventura
perot charts
rage
Got honesty?
The satire here SHOULD be about how Americans are so manipulated by mainstream media that they completely forgot about the true maverick Mike Gravel (Kucinich and Paul too).
Oh ya, and if you want to learn about Gravel's proposed amendment to the Constitution that gives citizens the ability to propose and vote on laws, go here: http://www.ni4d.us
Dylan and Ethan Ris, you two are obviously a couple of twits (see Monty Pythons Flying Circus for a video demonstration of your apptitude as you must find reading and writing awfully difficult!!!)
Mike Gravel is a living American hero and you treat him like dirt, you two are not worthy enough to lick his boots!!!
Obviously you never bothered to watch the first Democratic debates where he was actually allowed to participate, before being shut out by the CORPORATOCRACY and if you can't figure out what was meant by the video where he throws a rock in the water creating ripples, then you should just shut up until you get a clue! (which appears like it could be along time in your case.)
[...] what has to be the greatest display of Alaska bipartisanship since Ted Stevens (R) and Mike Gravel (D) made a pact to both become blathering, demented loons at the same time, Governor Sarah Palin [...]