Peter Unzipped 2008 Presidential Election Coverage: Mike Gravel

Today's coverage is on everybody's favorite crank candidate, Mike Gravel. Gravel has been busy the last couple months out-Kuciniching Dennis Kucinich and has provided us with some of the great moments of the 2008 campaign so far. Sure, the federal government might cease to function if he actually got elected but you gotta give Mike one thing - the man has balls. Whether he is stating the obvious when the other candidates are too careful to, or proposing some nut-job idea, Mike Gravel always calls it the way he sees it.

Candidate: Mike Gravel
Party: Democrat
Age: 77
Birthplace: Springfield, Massachusetts
Education: B.S. Columbia University's School of General Studies
Resume: United States Army Intelligence Agent 1951-1954; Alaska House of Representatives 1963-1966; U.S. Senator 1968-1980; various jobs 1980-1989; founder of The Democracy Foundation 1989-
Lazy Media Narrative: Far-left curmudgeon
Website: http://www.gravel2008.us/

Mike Gravel has been around for quite some time, and before running for President in 2008 he was best known for (as a U.S. Senator) helping release the Pentagon Papers and for blocking legislation renewing the Vietnam draft by staging a one-man filibuster for five months until Nixon and key Republicans agreed to let it expire. After two terms as a Senator for Alaska, Gravel lost the 1980 Democratic primary and conceded that he had "alienated almost every constituency in Alaska." In 2006, Gravel announced that he was running for President of the United States.

Currently, Mike Gravel's biggest issue is that of direct democracy. He runs The Democracy Foundation, which promotes the National Initiative which in short is trying to create ballot initiatives and the federal and all other levels. Currently ballot initiatives are available in half the U.S. states and a number of smaller jurisdictions. Considering that most ballot initiatives I have heard of tend to be cheap Republican stunts I am not sure whether Peter Unzipped can endorse this position at this time.

Other Gravel concerns are universal health care, better education, decriminalization of drugs, ending the death penalty, reducing energy dependence, and replacing the income tax with a national progressive sales tax (see: FairTax, normally put forth by libertarian curmudgeons like Neal Boortz). He is pro-choice and often rails on the military-industrial complex. In the past he worked to stop nuclear testing off of Alaska and has worked on Inuit affairs.

The best part of Mike Gravel though is the shit that comes out of his mouth. This guy has more lines than a coke dealer. There are a ton of great YouTube clips of Gravel below but I picked out my two favorite below. The first is Mike Gravel talking about gays in the military at an LGBT festival and the second is some kind of post-modern Gravel campaign ad. In one of the recent Democratic debates, Bill Maher asked Gravel about rising obesity and failing schools and whether or not he would be willing to tell Americans that they were getting fatter and dumber. Gravel replied (clip here): "I am prepared to tell you that Americans are getting fatter and dumber. I have no problem saying that." Gravel finished by saying:

Now, can the American people stand that kind of leadership? That remains to be seen.

How true, Mike, how true.