Don't you just want to wipe the smirks off their faces? Seriously... they frighten me too.
You can see more of Gravel from Thursday's debate here and here. You'll find his site here.
Canadians take note: "Mike Gravel was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, to French Canadian immigrants."
What's not to like?
During his first term in the Senate, Gravel authored a book titled Citizen Power. In it, he advocated the implementation of numerous populist ideas, including a guaranteed annual income (dubbed the "Citizen's Wage"), public financing of elections, a progressive tax with no deductions or exemptions, steps against the military-industrial complex (which he calls the "Warfare State"), a national law to do away with voter registration and other barriers to voting, abolition of the death penalty, universal health care, school vouchers, a drastic reduction in government secrecy, and an end to what he viewed as an imperialistic foreign policy. The book also contained the complete text of the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the complete platform adopted by the Populist Party during the 1892 presidential election.
Of course, he's just too librul to ever actually win the US presidency. As much as many Americans favour liberal ideas, they seem to be too scared to actually place people in power who smack of anything left of being centrist. Must be those old, ingrained fears of communism and scary socialism that they've had pounded into their psyches for decades ("freedom fries", anyone?) and the Democrats are offering several centrists who'll fill the bill nicely to ensure that actual progressive policies, like those endorsed by Gravel and Kucinich (who the supposedly "left-wing media" treats like a joke), never see the light of day.
This is already shaping up to be a long, tedious and boring campaign. Wake me when it's over.
Plus ca change...
Related: Mike Gravel's Campaign for President - Finally, a Populist Antiwar Candidate
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