Mike Gravel: Difference between revisions

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By 2019 Gravel was living in [[Seaside, California]].<ref name="nytm-2019" /> He was working on a book, at the time titled ''Human Governance'', about his principal idea for direct democracy, a [[Article Five of the United States Constitution|U.S. Constitutional Amendment]] to create a "Legislature of the People" that would circumvent the existing Congress.<ref name="nytm-2019" /><ref name="Atlantic" /> The book was [[self-published]] at the end of the year by [[AuthorHouse]] under the title ''The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/1728339294/ref=rdr_ext_tmb |title=The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution |publisher=Amazon |access-date=January 12, 2020}}</ref>
By 2019 Gravel was living in [[Seaside, California]].<ref name="nytm-2019" /> He was working on a book, at the time titled ''Human Governance'', about his principal idea for direct democracy, a [[Article Five of the United States Constitution|U.S. Constitutional Amendment]] to create a "Legislature of the People" that would circumvent the existing Congress.<ref name="nytm-2019" /><ref name="Atlantic" /> The book was [[self-published]] at the end of the year by [[AuthorHouse]] under the title ''The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/1728339294/ref=rdr_ext_tmb |title=The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution |publisher=Amazon |access-date=January 12, 2020}}</ref>
== Political positions ==
[[File:Graveld.JPG|thumb|right|Mike Gravel with [[campaign finance reform]] activist and friend Ethel "[[Granny D]]" Haddock]]
[[Alan Abramowitz]] and Jeffrey Allan Segal described Gravel as "a maverick, if not an eccentric, in the Senate."<ref name="Abrahmowitz">Alan Abramowitz & Jeffrey Allan Segal, ''Senate Elections'' (University of Michigan Press: 1992), p. 75: "Gravel was a maverick, if not an eccentric, in the Senate."</ref><ref>Phil Williams, ''The Senate and U.S. Troops in Europe'' (Macmillan, 1985) p. 255: "Not only was Gravel one of the Senate's mavericks or outsiders who lacked the status, prestige and influence of someone like Mansfield ..."</ref> His [[Americans for Democratic Action]] "Liberal Quotient" scores ranged from 81 out of 100 (1971) to 39 out of 100 (1980),<ref name="Abrahmowitz" /> with an average of around 61.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adaction.org/pages/publications/voting-records.php |title=Voting Records |publisher=[[Americans for Democratic Action]] |access-date=November 5, 2016}} Gravel's ADA scores for 1969 through 1980 are 72, 75, 81, 75, 65, 43, ?, 45, 55, 70, 47, 39. (The ADA site's 1975 report is missing some pages, including the one for Senators from Alaska.) His lower scores from 1974 on are partly a reflection of a change in ADA methodology regarding how they treat absences and paired absences from votes.</ref> His [[American Conservative Union]] scores ranged from 0 out of 100 (several years, including 1971 and 1972) to 38 out of 100 (1979), with an average of 14.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://acuratings.conservative.org/acu-federal-legislative-ratings/?year1=1971&chamber=13&state1=7&sortable=1 |title=Federal Legislative Ratings |publisher=[[American Conservative Union]] |access-date=November 5, 2016}} Gravel's ACU scores for 1971 (when ACU began its ratings) through 1980 are 0, 0, 5, 36, 23, 12, 20, 6, 38, 0.</ref> Abramowitz and Segal note that Gravel's lowest ADA ratings coincided with his two Senate re-election bids,<ref name="Abrahmowitz" /> and for the most part his highest ACU ratings followed the same pattern.
In 1972, as a young senator, Gravel published ''[[Citizen Power: A People's Platform]]'', a manifesto outlining his populist reform proposals.<ref>[https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/senator-mike-gravel/citizen-power-a-peoples-platform/ Review: Citizen Power: A People's Platform], ''[[Kirkus Reviews]]'' (June 26, 1972).</ref>
=== Social issues ===
On drug policy, Gravel said in 2007 that he favors decriminalization and treating addiction as a public health matter.<ref name="Q&A" /><ref>George W. Grayson, ''Mexico: Narco-Violence and a Failed State?'' ([[Transaction Publishers|Transaction]], 2011), p. 260.</ref><ref name="3dTranscript">[https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/28/us/politics/29transcript.html Transcript of the Third Democratic Primary Presidential Debate], PBS (June 28, 2007), transcript provided by the New York Times.</ref> During his 2008 presidential candidacy he condemned the [[War on Drugs]] as a failure, saying that it did "nothing but savage our inner cities and put our children at risk."<ref name="3dTranscript" /> Gravel called for abolition of [[Capital punishment in the United States|capital punishment]] in his book ''Citizen Power'', and adhered to this position during his 2008 run for president.<ref name="Pew">[http://www.pewforum.org/2008/11/04/religion-and-politics-08-mike-gravel/ Religion and Politics '08: Mike Gravel], [[Pew Research Center]] (November 4, 2008).</ref> He supports [[abortion rights]].<ref name="Pew" /><ref name="GravelOfficial" /><ref name="Kim">Richard Kim, [https://www.thenation.com/article/mike-gravel/ Mike Gravel: An inconvenient truth-teller], ''The Nation'' (November 8, 2007).</ref>
During the 2008 campaign Gravel was a strong supporter of [[LGBT rights]]. He supported [[same-sex marriage in the United States|same-sex marriage]] and opposed the [[Defense of Marriage Act]] and the U.S. military's "[[don't ask, don't tell]]" policy.<ref name="Pew" /><ref name="GravelOfficial" /> He wrote in 2008 that "depriving gays and lesbians of equal rights is immoral."<ref name="Pew" />
=== Foreign policy and defense issues ===
Gravel is a critic of [[American imperialism]].<ref name="Q&A" />
Gravel firmly opposes U.S. military action against Iran and Syria.<ref name="GravelOfficial" /> He voiced opposition to the [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp]], the [[Military Commissions Act of 2006]], the [[Torture and the United States|use of torture]], [[Indefinite detention without trial|indefinite detention]], and what he called "flagrant ignorance" of the [[Geneva Convention]].<ref name="GravelOfficial" /> In 2014 Gravel called for the release of the full, unredacted [[Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture]].<ref>[http://www.democracynow.org/2014/12/16/mike_gravel_to_senator_mark_udall Mike Gravel to Senator Mark Udall: Make Full Torture Probe Public Like I Did with Pentagon Papers], ''Democracy Now!'' (interview with [[Amy Goodman]]) (December 16, 2014).</ref>
Gravel opposes the use of [[international sanctions]] as a policy tool and blamed the ones against [[Iraq under Saddam Hussein]] for the deaths of a half-million children in that country.<ref name="Pew" /> In 2013 Gravel said that [[sanctions against Iran]] were "illegal".<ref name="Keating">Joshua Keating, [https://foreignpolicy.com/2013/02/22/mike-gravel-on-movies-sanctions-and-what-we-can-learn-from-iran/ Mike Gravel on movies, sanctions, and what we can learn from Iran] (February 22, 2013).</ref>
During his 2008 candidacy, Gravel called for a cut in military spending, variously reported to be 15 percent<ref name="Pew" /> or 50 percent.<ref name="Kim" /> He called for the savings to boost public education spending.<ref name="Pew" /> To spur international [[nuclear nonproliferation]] efforts, Gravel called for unilateral reductions in the [[U.S. nuclear arsenal]].<ref name="Q&A" />
In 2008 Gravel criticized the decision of [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|House Speaker]] [[Nancy Pelosi]] to not pursue the [[efforts to impeach George W. Bush]] and the [[attempted impeachment of Dick Cheney]], saying also that Bush and Cheney had committed crimes and deserved "to be prosecuted" at [[International Criminal Court|The Hague]].<ref name="Goodman">[http://www.democracynow.org/2008/6/17/former_senator_mike_gravel_calls_for Former Senator Mike Gravel Calls for Independent 9/11 Investigation and Prosecution of President Bush and Vice President Cheney], ''[[Democracy Now!]]'' (June 17, 2008).</ref> In 2013 he expressed disdain for President Obama, calling him "a total fraud" and saying that both Bush and Obama should be tried "for the crimes and murders they've committed" in the [[International Court of Justice]].<ref name="Nelson">Steven Nelson, [https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2013/07/09/former-sen-gravel-nsa-leaks-should-have-come-from-senators Former Sen. Gravel: NSA Leaks Should Have Come From Senators], ''U.S. News & World Report'' (July 9, 2013).</ref> Gravel specifically condemned Obama for the [[drone strikes in Pakistan]] and elsewhere.<ref name="Nelson" />
=== Economy, immigration, and environment ===
During his 2008 candidacy Gravel favored a progressive [[FairTax]] scheme, which would abolish the [[Internal Revenue Service]], eliminate the [[federal income tax]] (which Gravel called "corrupt"),<ref name="Q&A" /> and impose a [[national sales tax]].<ref name="GravelOfficial" /><ref name="LVS">[http://lasvegassun.com/politics/voterguide/2008/mike-gravel/issues/taxes/ 2008 Elections: Caucus Guide: Mike Gravel on Taxes], ''Las Vegas Sun'' (accessed September 7, 2016).</ref><ref>[http://business.time.com/2008/01/04/the_fair_tax_has_its_moment_in/ The Fair Tax has its moment in the sun. Could there be more to come?], Time (January 4, 2008).</ref> To offset the new sales taxes on essential goods, Gravel's plan called for monthly government rebate payments to individuals and families.<ref name="GravelOfficial" /><ref name="LVS" /> During his 2020 campaign Gravel also voiced support for a third legislative body that would give the people direct control of the budget as well as the implementation of a [[land value tax]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://fortune.com/2019/07/11/mike-gravel-land-value-tax/ |title=Mike Gravel: A Land Value Tax Helps Return Power to People |website=Fortune |language=en |access-date=2019-07-12}}</ref>
Gravel opposed the [[North American Free Trade Agreement]] (NAFTA) during his 2008 candidacy, calling it unfair and economically harmful and needing renegotiation.<ref name="Pew" /><ref name="GravelOfficial" /> Gravel believed that NAFTA was the "root cause" of illegal migration to the U.S.<ref name="GravelOfficial" /> He favored a [[guest worker program]] and "setting up naturalization procedures that would fairly bring immigrants into legal status."<ref name="GravelOfficial" /> In a 2007 interview, Gravel identified himself as "very much of a globalist" who believed in open markets and open borders and condemned the scapegoating of undocumented immigrants.<ref name="Arrington">Michael Arrington, [https://techcrunch.com/2007/12/08/presidential-candidate-mike-gravel-does-things-a-little-differently/ Presidential Candidate Mike Gravel Does Things A Little Differently], ''TechCrunch'' (December 8, 2007).</ref> Gravel also said that he favored eliminating the cap on [[H1B visa]]s.<ref name="Arrington" />
As a senator from Alaska, Gravel favored [[Arctic Refuge drilling controversy|drilling]] in the [[Arctic National Wildlife Refuge]], but opposed it during his 2008 campaign.<ref name="Pew" /> In 2008, Gravel supported a [[carbon tax]] to combat climate change.<ref name="Pew" />
Gravel spoke in favor of [[net neutrality]] during his presidential campaign.<ref name="Arrington" />
=== Education and health care ===
Gravel called for the cost of college tuition to be borne by the federal government, rather than students.<ref name="Pew" /> In his 2008 campaign, he called the [[No Child Left Behind Act]] "a failure"<ref name="Q&A" /> and called for it to be "reformed and fully funded".<ref name="GravelOfficial" /> He expressed support for universal [[pre-kindergarten]] and the expansion of the [[Head Start (program)|Head Start]] program; and expressed an openness to [[charter school]]s<ref name="GravelOfficial" /> and [[school vouchers]]. He also suggested extending the school day and the school year, and supported [[merit pay]] for teachers.<ref name="otieducation">{{cite web |url=http://www.ontheissues.org/2020/Mike_Gravel_Education.htm |title=Mike Gravel on Education |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=April 2, 2019 |website=[[On the Issues]] |access-date=May 31, 2019}}</ref>
Gravel also called for publicly funded [[universal health care]] to replace the current [[Health insurance in the United States|employer-sponsored health insurance]] system.<ref name="Pew" /><ref name="GravelOfficial" /> He supported "full funding" of the [[United States Department of Veterans Affairs|VA system]].<ref name="GravelOfficial" /> When asked in 2007 about [[naturopathy]], [[homeopathy]], and [[acupuncture]], Gravel said that he was "totally" in favor and was "very very much in favor" of [[holistic medicine|holistic health care]].<ref name="Q&A" />


== Awards and honors ==
== Awards and honors ==

Revision as of 18:02, 31 May 2020

Mike Gravel
Mike Gravel cropped.png
Personal Details
Education: Assumption College
American International College
Columbia University (BS)
Party: Democratic (before 2008; 2010–present)
Libertarian (2008–2010)
Media
Website: https://mikegravel.com/
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Maurice Robert "Mike" Gravel (born May 13, 1930) is an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981. A former member of the Libertarian Party, he ran for U.S. president in the 2008 election.

Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, by French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel served in the U.S. Army in West Germany, and later graduated from the Columbia University School of General Studies. He moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1967 and also became Speaker of the Alaska House. Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968.

As a senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful but unsuccessful attempts to end the draft during the War in Vietnam and for putting the Pentagon Papers into the public record in 1971 at some risk to himself. He conducted an unusual campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972 for Vice President of the United States, and then played a crucial role in obtaining Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was reelected to the Senate in 1974, but gradually alienated his Alaskan constituents, and his bid for a third term was defeated in a primary election in 1980.

Gravel returned to business ventures and went through difficult times, suffering corporate and personal bankruptcies amid poor health. He has been an advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative.

In April 2006 Gravel began a run for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States to promote those ideas. His campaign gained an Internet following and national attention due to forceful, humorous, and politically unorthodox debate appearances during 2007, but he found very little support in national polls or the 2008 caucuses and primaries. In March 2008 he left the Democratic Party and joined the Libertarian Party to compete for its presidential nomination and the inclusion of the National Initiative into the Libertarian Platform. At the Libertarian National Convention of 2008, he failed on both counts. He subsequently became an executive for a marijuana products company and continued to speak out about various political issues and candidates.

Launching his bid in April 2019, Gravel ran for president again in the 2020 election, in a campaign designed as a democratic project rather than with the intent to win. He met the donor threshold to qualify for the second of the Democratic Party debates, but was not invited. His campaign ended four months after it began.[1]

Biography

Gravel was born on May 13, 1930 in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of five children of French-Canadian immigrant parents, Alphonse and Marie (née Bourassa) Gravel.[2][3][4]

Gravel "decided to become a pioneer in a faraway place,"[5] and moved to pre-statehood Alaska in August 1956, without funds or a job, looking for a place where someone without social or political connections could be a viable candidate for public office.[6][7] Alaska's voting age of 19, less than most other states' 21, played a role in his decision,[8] as did its newness[6] and cooler climate.[7]

Seeing Alaska as a wide-open place with no political establishment or entrenched interests,[9] Gravel quickly became part of the civic scene there.[10][11]

By early 1958, Gravel was running as Democratic Party primary candidate for a Third Division seat in House of Representative of the territorial legislature[12] (this was one of the four judicial divisions into which Alaska was sectioned at the time). Using the slogan "Gravel, the Roadbed to Prosperity", he ran but lost.[7][9] At the same time, he was also an advocate for Alaskan statehood.[11]

Career after leaving the Senate

Of his 1980 defeat, Gravel later recalled: "I had lost my career. I lost my marriage. I was in the doldrums for ten years after my defeat,"[13] and "Nobody wanted to hire me for anything important. I felt like I was worthless. I didn't know what I could do."[6] By his own later description, Gravel was a womanizer, and had an affair while in the Senate, and in December 1980 he and his wife Rita separated.[14][15][16] They filed for divorce in September 1981;[16] she would later get all of his Senate pension income.[7]

Return to politics

In 1989, Gravel reentered politics.[7] He founded and led The Democracy Foundation, which promotes direct democracy.[17] He established the Philadelphia II corporation, which seeks to replicate the original 1787 Constitutional Convention in bringing direct democracy about.[18]

Gravel led a quixotic effort to get a United States Constitutional amendment to allow voter-initiated federal legislation similar to state ballot initiatives.[7][19] He argued that Americans are able to legislate responsibly, and that the Act and Amendment in the National Initiative would allow American citizens to become "law makers".

In 2001, Gravel became director of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he admired institute co-founder Gregory Fossedal's work on direct democracy in Switzerland.[18] By 2004, Gravel had become chair of the institute,[20] and Fossedal (who in turn was a director of the Democracy Foundation) gave the introduction at Gravel's presidential announcement.[21]

In 2003 Gravel gave a speech on direct democracy at a conference hosted by the American Free Press. The event was cosponsored by the Barnes Review,[7] a journal that endorses Holocaust denial.[22] After some controversy over his appearance, Gravel apologized, saying he did not realize the group's ties. Gravel has said repeatedly that he does not share the group's views on the Holocaust,[23] stating, "You better believe I know that six million Jews were killed. I've been to the Holocaust Museum. I've seen the footage of General Eisenhower touring one of the camps. They're [referring to the Barnes Review and publisher Willis Carto] nutty as loons if they don't think it happened".[24] The group invited Gravel to speak again, but he declined.[23]

Mike and Whitney Gravel lived in Arlington County, Virginia, until 2010 and now reside in Burlingame, California.[25] They have the two grown children from his first marriage, Martin Gravel and Lynne Gravel Mosier, and four grandchildren.[26] Whitney Gravel's income has sustained the couple since 1998.[6] In the 2000s, Gravel suffered poor health, requiring three surgeries in 2003 for back pain and neuropathy.[7] Due to unreimbursed medical expenses and debts from his political causes, he declared personal bankruptcy in 2004.[6][7] He began taking a salary from the non-profit organizations for which he was working; much of that income was lent to his presidential campaign. In 2007, he declared that he had "zero net worth".[7]

2008 presidential campaign

Democratic Party primaries

Mike Gravel at the launch of his Presidential campaign in April 2006

name="salon050707" /> On April 17, 2006,[27] Gravel became the first candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election, announcing his run in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Short on campaign cash, he took public transportation to get to his announcement.[28] (Gravel called for public financing of elections.[29]) Other principal Gravel positions were the FairTax, withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within 120 days, a single payer national health care system, and term limits.

Gravel had opposed the Iraq War from the beginning,[30][31] and in 2006 said that U.S. troops in Iraq, as in Vietnam, had "died in vain".[30][32] He also favored a regional peace initiative, as well as reparation payments for Iraqis.[30][31] Gravel also called for a "U.S. corporate withdrawal from Iraq", with reconstruction contracts held by U.S. companies to be turned over to Iraqi firms.[30][31]

Gravel campaigned almost full-time in New Hampshire, the first primary state, following his announcement. Opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination showed Gravel with 1 percent or less support. By the end of March 2007, Gravel's campaign had less than $500 in cash on hand against debts of nearly $90,000.[33]

Gravel (far left) at an August 2007 candidates' forum; frontrunners Edwards, Clinton, and Obama are to the immediate right of the moderator

Because of his time in the Senate, Gravel was invited to many of the early Democratic presidential debates. During the initial one at South Carolina State University on April 26, 2007, he suggested a bill requiring the president to withdraw from Iraq on pain of criminal penalties. He also advocated positions such as opposing preemptive nuclear war. He stated that the Iraq War had the effect of creating more terrorists and that the "war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis."[34] Regarding his fellow candidates, he said, "I got to tell you, after standing up with them, some of these people frighten me – they frighten me."[34] Media stories said that Gravel was responsible for much of whatever "heat" and "flashpoints" had taken place.[34][35][36] Gravel gained considerable publicity by shaking up the normally staid multiple-candidate format; The New York Times' media critic said that what Gravel had done was "steal a debate with outrageous, curmudgeonly statements."[37] The Internet was a benefit: a YouTube video of his responses in the debate was viewed more than 225,892 times, ranking seventeenth in most views for week and first among news and politics clips;[nb 1] his name became the fifteenth most searched-for in the blogosphere;[38] and his website garnered more traffic than those of frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards.[7] Gravel appeared on the popular Colbert Report on television on May 2,[7] and his campaign and career were profiled in national publications such as Salon.[7] Two wordless, Warholesque campaign videos, "Rock" and "Fire", were released on YouTube in late May and became hits,[39] and eventually gained over 760,000 and 185,000 views respectively.[40][41] "Rock," in turn, was given airtime during an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Some thirty-five years after he first achieved the national spotlight, he had found it again.

Gravel's fundraising efforts for the first three quarters of 2007.

All this did not improve his performance in the polls; a May 2007 CNN poll showed him with less than 0.5 percent support among Democrats.[42] Gravel was in the next several debates, in one case after CNN reversed a decision to exclude him.[43] Like some of the other second-tier candidates, Gravel did not get as much time as the leaders; during the June 2, 2007, New Hampshire debate, which lasted two hours, he was asked 10 questions and allowed to speak for five minutes and 37 seconds.[44]

During the July 23, 2007, CNN-YouTube presidential debate, Gravel responded to audience applause when he had complained of a lack of airtime and said: "Thank you. Has it been fair thus far?"[45] Detractors began to liken him to "the cranky uncle who lives in the attic,"[46] or "the angry old guy that just seemed to want to become angrier."[47] Berkeley political scientist David Terr found that moderator George Stephanopoulos directed roughly five percent of his questions to Gravel;[48] in a poll asking who did the best in the debate, Gravel placed seventh among the eight candidates.[49] National opinion polls of contenders for the Democratic nomination continued to show Gravel with one percent or zero percent numbers. By the end of the third-quarter 2007, Gravel had about $17,500 in cash on hand, had collected a total of about $380,000 during the 2008 election cycle,[50] and was continuing to run a threadbare campaign with minimal staff.[6]

Gravel in Manchester, New Hampshire on January 6, 2008, two days before the state's Democratic primary.

Beginning with the October 30, 2007, Philadelphia event, Gravel was excluded from most of the debates, with the debate sponsors or the Democratic National Committee saying Gravel's campaign had not met fund-raising, polling, or local campaign organizational thresholds.[51][52][53] For the Philadelphia exclusion, Gravel blamed corporate censorship on the part of sponsor owner and alleged military-industrial complex member General Electric for his exclusion[54][55] and mounted a counter-gathering and debate against a video screen a short distance away,[56] but he had lost his easiest publicity. In reaction, supporters organized "mass donation days" to try to help the campaign gain momentum and funds, such as on December 5, 2007, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition.[57]

Gravel did not compete in the initial 2008 vote, the Iowa caucuses,[58] but was still subjected to a false report from MSNBC that he had pulled out of the race afterward.[59] Gravel did focus his attention on the second 2008 vote, the New Hampshire primary. There he received about 400 votes out of some 280,000 cast, or 0.14 percent,[60] before taking time off to improve his health.[61] He resumed campaigning, but fared no better in subsequent states. By the end of January 2008, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Gravel were the only remaining Democrats from the initial debates still running;[62] Gravel vowed to stay in the presidential campaign until November.[63][64] On March 11, 2008, Gravel continued to remain in the Democratic race but additionally endorsed a Green Party candidate for president, Jesse Johnson,[65] saying he wanted to help Johnson prevail against Green Party rivals Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader.[66] By late March, Gravel had almost no fundraising and was only on the ballot in one of the next ten Democratic primaries.[67]

Switch to Libertarian Party

Main article: National Convention 2008

On March 25, 2008, Gravel announced that he would leave the Democrats and join the Libertarian Party,[68][69] saying: "My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy."[68] The following day Gravel entered the race for the 2008 Libertarian presidential nomination,[70] saying that he would have run as a third-party candidate all along except that he needed the public exposure that came from being in the earlier Democratic debates.[70] Gravel's initial notion of running as a fusion candidate with other parties was met with skepticism[71] and not pursued.

As a Libertarian candidate, Gravel faced resistance to his liberal past and unorthodox positions;[72] nevertheless, he garnered more support than he had as a Democrat, placing second and third in two April 2008 straw polls.[73] In the May 25 balloting at the 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver, Gravel finished fourth out of eight candidates on the initial ballot, with 71 votes out of a total 618; he trailed former Congressman and eventual winner Bob Barr, author Mary Ruwart, and businessman Wayne Allyn Root.[74] Gravel's position did not subsequently improve and he was eliminated on the fourth ballot.[74] Afterwards he stated that "I just ended my political career," but he vowed to continue promoting his positions as a writer and lecturer.[75]

2008–early 2019

Gravel speaking about the National Initiative at Ball State University in February 2010.

In June 2008 Gravel endorsed the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative, saying the measure would create a "citizens commission rather than a government commission" with subpoena power against top U.S. officials to "make a true investigation as to what happened" regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.[76][77] He later said, "Individuals in and out of government may certainly have participated with the obviously known perpetrators of this dastardly act. Suspicions abound over the analysis presented by government. Obviously an act that has triggered three wars, Afghan, Iraqi and the continuing War on Terror, should be extensively investigated which was not done and which the government avoids addressing."[78]

In August 2008 Gravel was speaking to a crowd of supporters of Sami Al-Arian (who two years earlier had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to prison for a charge of conspiracy in helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a "specially designated terrorist" organization)[79][80] when he was caught on tape saying of Al-Arian's prosecutor, "Find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school, find out where his office is: picket him all the time. Call him a racist in signs if you see him. Call him an injustice. Call him whatever you want to call him, but in his face all the time."[81] Gravel was criticized for potentially involving the children of the prosecutor, and Al-Arian's family disavowed the sentiments.[81][82]

Gravel defended Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after she was chosen as Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate in September 2008. He praised Palin's record in standing up to corruption among Alaskan Republicans, thought her national inexperience was an asset not a detriment, and predicted that the "Troopergate" investigation into whether she improperly fired a state official would "come out in her favor."[83] Gravel made clear he would not support or vote for either McCain-Palin or Obama-Biden in the general election.[83] The following year Gravel said that Palin's politics were "terrible, but that doesn't detract from the fact that she's a very talented person". He predicted that Palin would run for president in 2012 and that "she's going to surprise a lot of people"[84] Palin did not run, but Gravel's prediction about "TrooperGate" was accurate as Palin was found not to have violated ethics laws.

From mid-2008 through October 2009 Gravel gave several lectures at South Korean universities about the Korean National Initiative, a Korean adaption of the National Initiative Gravel has proposed in the United States.

In 2013 by the invitation of Hamed Ghashghavi the secretary for international affairs of the 3rd International Conference on Hollywoodism in Tehran, Iran, Gravel attended that event as an Iranian government-organized anti-Hollywood conference.[85] Gravel noted that the conference was attended by "various elements of extremes" but said it was necessary to discuss how the U.S. film industry portrayed Iran in order to prevent "an insane war" between the two nations.[86]

In May 2013 Gravel was one of several former members of Congress to accept $20,000 from the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy group for UFO disclosure, as part of holding what they termed a Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, modeled after congressional hearings, regarding supposed U.S. government suppression of evidence concerning UFOs.[87] Gravel said, "Something is monitoring the planet, and they are monitoring it very cautiously, because we are a very warlike planet,"[88] and, "What we're faced with here is, in areas of the media, and the government too, an effort to marginalize and ridicule people who have specific knowledge."[87]

In December 2014 Gravel was announced as the new CEO of KUSH, a company which makes marijuana-infused products for medicinal and recreational use, and a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc.[89] He also became an Independent Director of Cannabis Sativa.[90]

During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Gravel praised Bernie Sanders and his campaign, saying "Bernie is one of the most gifted politicians I have ever observed. He's a person of great integrity and very clever." Gravel predicted that Sanders would be elected president but would be unable to get his key reforms through Congress, and thus that Sanders and his supporters should back some of the proposals of the National Initiative.[91]

Gravel has gone further in conspiratorial thinking in relation to the September 11 attacks, saying in 2016 on a conspiracies-oriented radio program: "We killed 58,000 American servicemen in the Vietnam War and all they did was die in vain. What's so unusual about killing 3,000 more in order to develop the grist for the mill to empower into infinity the military industrial complex?" The remarks were later disavowed by even Gravel supporters.[92]

By 2019 Gravel was living in Seaside, California.[93] He was working on a book, at the time titled Human Governance, about his principal idea for direct democracy, a U.S. Constitutional Amendment to create a "Legislature of the People" that would circumvent the existing Congress.[93][94] The book was self-published at the end of the year by AuthorHouse under the title The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution: A Legislature of the People.[95]

Awards and honors

In 2008 Gravel received the Columbia University School of General Studies' first annual Isaac Asimov Lifetime Achievement Award.[96]

Writings

Notes

  1. ↑ "p. Mike Gravel at the Democratic Debate". This video has been removed due to terms of use violation. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gMlHv2lDqA.  The YouTube debate clip was also ranked #7 top rated (for week), #23 top favored (for week), #25 most discussed (for week), #4 most linked (for week), and #1 top rated – news and politics (for week).

References

  1. ↑ http://www.washingtontimes.com,+The Washington Times. "Gravel meets donor threshold to qualify for Democratic primary debate" (in en-US). https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/jul/13/mike-gravel-2020-candidate-meets-donor-threshold-n/. 
  2. ↑ Mike Gravel genealogy, Wargs.
  3. ↑ Current Biography Yearbook 1972, p. 182.
  4. ↑ Gravel and Lauria, A Political Odyssey, pp. 69–70.
  5. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named nyt022776
  6. ↑ Jump up to: 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named wapo090907
  7. ↑ Jump up to: 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 7.12 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named salon050707
  8. ↑ Warren Weaver, Jr. (July 2, 1971). "Impetuous Senator: Maurice Robert Gravel" (fee required). The New York Times. https://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F20D10FD3A5B1A7493C0A9178CD85F458785F9. 
  9. ↑ Jump up to: 9.0 9.1 Gravel and Lauria, A Political Odyssey, p. 136.
  10. ↑ "Democrats Plan Two-Day Drive For Campaign". Fairbanks News-Miner: p. 10. October 7, 1957. https://www.newspapers.com/image/10383606/?terms=%22mike%2Bgravel%22. 
  11. ↑ Jump up to: 11.0 11.1 "Alaskan Young Demo Tells Conference Statehood Views". Fairbanks News-Miner. Associated Press: p. 3. June 23, 1958. https://www.newspapers.com/image/11709894/?terms=%22mike%2Bgravel%22. 
  12. ↑ "Total of 30 Candidates File For Fourth Division Seats". Fairbanks News-Miner: pp. 1, 3. February 3, 1958. https://www.newspapers.com/image/4530775. 
  13. ↑ Politics1, "P2008: An Interview With Presidential Candidate Mike Gravel" Template:Webarchive by Ron Gunzburger, April 17, 2006.
  14. ↑ Gravel and Lauria, A Political Odyssey, pp. 196–197.
  15. ↑ Leonard Jacobs (July 8, 2008). "Q&A: Mike Gravel". Metromix. http://newyork.metromix.com/events/article/q-and-a-mike/492923/content. 
  16. ↑ Jump up to: 16.0 16.1 "People in the News". Lewiston Journal. Associated Press: p. 14. September 12, 1981. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ygcgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CGUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5116,1717191. 
  17. ↑ "First Democrat to Announce Candidacy for President on Monday" Template:Webarchive, Joe Lauria, CommonDreams New Centre, Published April 13, 2006.
  18. ↑ Jump up to: 18.0 18.1 "Direct Democracy in Switzerland: A Review". National Initiative for Democracy. http://old.ni4d.us/library/fossedal_direct_democracy_in_switzerland.htm. 
  19. ↑ Jonathan Stein (June 29, 2007). "Power to the People: The Democracy Foundation's Plan to Create a Fourth Branch of Government". Mother Jones. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2007/07/power-people-democracy-foundations-plan-create-fourth-branch-government. 
  20. ↑ "Contacting the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution". Alexis de Tocqueville Institutio]. http://www.adti.net/background/contacting.html. 
  21. ↑ "Former U.S. Sen. Mike Gravel Announces His Campaign". Democracy in Action. April 17, 2006. http://www.gwu.edu/~action/2008/gravel/gravel041706b.html. 
  22. ↑ Alex Grobman, Rafael Medoff. "Holocaust Denial: A Global Survey – 2003". David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies. http://wymaninstitute.org/articles/2003-denialreport.php. 
  23. ↑ Jump up to: 23.0 23.1 Alan Tuttle (August 2007). "Interview with Senator Mike Gravel". Philadelphia Jewish Voice. http://www.pjvoice.com/v26/26300words.aspx. 
  24. ↑ Ron Gunzburger (April 17, 2006). "An Interview with Presidential Candidate Mike Gravel". Politics1.com. http://www.politics1.com/blog-0406a.htm. 
  25. ↑ "National Contacts". MikeGravel.us. http://www.mikegravel.us/contact. 
  26. ↑ "Mike Gravel Biography". Mike Gravel for President 2008. http://www.gravel2008.us/bio. 
  27. ↑ "Washington: A 'Maverick' For President". The New York Times. April 18, 2006. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A01EED8173FF93BA25757C0A9609C8B63. 
  28. ↑ Elliot, Philip (April 17, 2006). "Ex-Alaska Sen. Gravel Runs for President" (fee required). Associated Press. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-122070086.html. 
  29. ↑ The Candidates: Sen. Mike Gravel: Democratic Candidate for President, Former U.S. Sen. (D-Alaska), Washington Post (October 16, 2007).
  30. ↑ Jump up to: 30.0 30.1 30.2 30.3 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Pew
  31. ↑ Jump up to: 31.0 31.1 31.2 How Mike Stands on the Issues Template:Webarchive, MikeGravel.us (accessed September 7, 2016).
  32. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Kim
  33. ↑ "FEC Form 3P for Mike Gravel". Federal Election Commission. April 15, 2007. http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/dcdev/forms/C00423202/285065/. 
  34. ↑ Jump up to: 34.0 34.1 34.2 No Breakout Candidate at Democratic Debate, ABC News, April 26, 2007
  35. ↑ "Clinton edges ahead after first Democratic debate", The Times, April 27, 2007.
  36. ↑ Hillary Clinton shines in Democratic candidates' debate, Ewen MacAskill, The Guardian, April 27, 2007.
  37. ↑ Alessandra Stanley (May 4, 2007). "A Show Where Candidates Are More Prop Than Player". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/04/us/politics/04tvwatch.html. 
  38. ↑ Mark Memmott, Jill Lawrence (April 30, 2007). "Mike Gravel, soon to be a household name". USA Today. http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2007/04/mike_gravel_soo.html. 
  39. ↑ Lisa Tozzi (June 18, 2007). "Mike Gravel: Behind the Music". The New York Times. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/06/18/mike-gravel-behind-the-music/. 
  40. ↑ Template:Cite video
  41. ↑ Template:Cite video
  42. ↑ Bill Schneider (May 7, 2007). "Poll: Liberals moving toward Clinton; GOP race tightens". CNN.com. http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/07/schneider.2008.polls/index.html. 
  43. ↑ Template:Cite press release
  44. ↑ Template:Cite press release
  45. ↑ "Part I: CNN/YouTube Democratic presidential debate transcript". CNN.com. July 24, 2007. http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/07/23/debate.transcript/index.html. 
  46. ↑ Rick Pearson (January 7, 2008). "Mike Gravel to teens: Say 'yes' to drugs". Baltimore Sun. http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2008/01/mike_gravel_tells_teens_do_pot.html. 
  47. ↑ Dan Harrie (January 22, 2008). "Democratic hopeful Gravel visits Park City". The Salt Lake Tribune. http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_8043044. 
  48. ↑ "ABC News Debate – Unfair for Kucinich and Gravel". USA Election Polls. August 23, 2007. http://www.usaelectionpolls.com/2008/articles/dennis-kucinich-mike-gravel-unequal-time-abc-debate.html. 
  49. ↑ "ABC News Poll" August 19, 2007, ABC News
  50. ↑ "Report for Mike Gravel for President 2008". Federal Election Commission. October 17, 2007. http://query.nictusa.com/pres/2007/Q3/C00423202.html. 
  51. ↑ Alex Johnson (October 31, 2007). "Democratic rivals target Clinton's vote on Iran". NBC News. http://www.nbcnews.com/id/21548813. 
  52. ↑ "CNN keeps Gravel out of Democratic debate in Las Vegas". Las Vegas Sun. Associated Press. November 7, 2007. http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2007/nov/07/110710306.html. 
  53. ↑ "Kucinich booted from Iowa debate". The Hill. December 12, 2007. http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/kucinich-booted-from-iowa-debate-2007-12-12.html. 
  54. ↑ Mike Gravel (October 30, 2007). "Corporate Censorship!". Mike Gravel for President 2008. http://www.gravel2008.us/?q=node/2510. 
  55. ↑ Sarah Wheaton (October 30, 2007). "Gravel vs. MSNBC". The New York Times. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/30/gravel-vs-msnbc/. 
  56. ↑ Larry Eichel (October 30, 2007). "The debate is on. Here. Tonight". philly.com. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20071030_Democratic_debate_starts_at_9.html. 
  57. ↑ "December 5 Is "Mass Donation Day" For Mike Gravel". The Presidential Candidates. December 4, 2007. http://www.thepresidentialcandidates.us/2007/12/december-5-is-mass-donation-day-for.html. 
  58. ↑ "Second-Tier Dems Hope for Caucus Boost". WHO-TV. January 3, 2008. http://www.whotv.com/Global/story.asp?S=7572270. 
  59. ↑ J. Skyler McKinley (January 4, 2008). "We're Still in the Race!". Mike Gravel for President 2008. http://www.gravel2008.us/content/were-still-race. 
  60. ↑ "Election Center 2008: Primary Results for New Hampshire". CNN. January 9, 2008. http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/state/#NH. 
  61. ↑ "Mike Gravel to campaign on". Associated Press. January 8, 2008. https://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2008/01/08/former_alaska_senator_to_keep_campaigning/?rss_id=Boston.com%20--%20Top%20political%20stories. 
  62. ↑ Sarah Morrison (February 7, 2008). "Candidate Speaks to Political Science Class". The Daily Californian. http://www.dailycal.org/article/100285/candidate_speaks_to_political_science_class. 
  63. ↑ Isaac Arnsdorf (February 13, 2008). "Gravel urges direct democracy at YPU". Yale Daily News. http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/23498. 
  64. ↑ Joel Stein (March 4, 2008). "The Third Democrat in the Race". Time. http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1719305,00.html. 
  65. ↑ "Mike Gravel endorses Jesse Johnson (Green Party) for President". Third Party Watch. March 11, 2008. http://thirdpartywatch.com/2008/03/11/mike-gravel-endorses-jesse-johnson-green-party-for-president/. 
  66. ↑ David Weigel (March 18, 2008). "Several Minutes with Mike Gravel". Reason. http://reason.com/blog/show/125552.html. 
  67. ↑ Amy Hollyfield (March 27, 2008). "Mike Gravel has gone from long shot to no shot for presidency". St. Petersburg Times. http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/elections/article432763.ece. 
  68. ↑ Jump up to: 68.0 68.1 "Former U.S. Senator Mike Gravel joins Libertarian Party ranks". Libertarian Party. March 25, 2008. http://www.lp.org/media/article_573.shtml. 
  69. ↑ Mike Gravel (March 26, 2008). "A Personal Message from Mike". Mike Gravel for President 2008. http://www.gravel2008.us/content/personal-message-mike. 
  70. ↑ Jump up to: 70.0 70.1 Sarah Elkins (March 31, 2008). "Maverick Mike". Newsweek. http://www.newsweek.com/id/129467/. 
  71. ↑ Josh Gerstein (March 27, 2008). "Barr, Gravel Eye Libertarian Nod for President". The New York Sun. http://www.nysun.com/national/barr-gravel-eye-libertarian-nod-for-president/73744/. 
  72. ↑ Philip Klein (May 21, 2008). "Will the Real Libertarian Please Stand Up?". The American Spectator. http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=13249. 
  73. ↑ "Straw Poll Results". Mike Gravel for President 2008. April 8, 2008. http://www.gravel2008.us/content/straw-poll-results. 
  74. ↑ Jump up to: 74.0 74.1 "Press Releases: Presidential and VP Vote Totals – Updated Live!". LP.org. May 25, 2008. http://www.lp.org/media/printer_588.shtml. 
  75. ↑ "Libertarians Pick Barr as Presidential Nominee". Fox News. May 25, 2008. http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/05/25/libertarians-pick-barr-as-presidential-nominee/. 
  76. ↑ Jefferson Siegel (June 18–24, 2008). "'Pentagon Papers senator' calls for new 9/11 probe". The Villager. http://www.thevillager.com/villager_268/pentagonpapers.html. 
  77. ↑ Amy Goodman (June 17, 2008). "Former Senator Mike Gravel Calls for Independent 9/11 Investigation and Prosecution of President Bush and Vice President Cheney". Democracy Now! (Pacifica Radio). http://www.democracynow.org/2008/6/17/former_senator_mike_gravel_calls_for. 
  78. ↑ Miller, Sean (9 December 2010). "Gravel mulls primary challenge to Obama in '12". https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/132995-gravel-mulls-primary-challenge-to-obama-in-12. 
  79. ↑ "Plea Agreement; U.S. v. Al-Arian". February 28, 2006. http://nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/FeaturedDocs/U.S._v_Al-Arian_pleaagr.pdf. 
  80. ↑ Meg Laughlin (April 23, 2006). "In his plea deal, what did Sami Al-Arian admit to?". St. Petersberg Times. http://www.sptimes.com/2006/04/23/Hillsborough/In_his_plea_deal__wha.shtml. 
  81. ↑ Jump up to: 81.0 81.1 "'Find Out Where He Lives'". Fox News. December 22, 2009. http://video.foxnews.com/v/3911196/find-out-where-he-lives/?playlist_id=87937. 
  82. ↑ Barakat, Matthew (August 8, 2008). "Al-Arian trial postponed as judge questions case". Fox News. http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Aug08/0,4670,AttacksProfessor,00.html. 
  83. ↑ Jump up to: 83.0 83.1 "Interview with Mike Gravel". 2008 Election Center (Pacifica Radio). September 1, 2008. http://election411.org/article/id/3601160/interview-mike-gravel. 
  84. ↑ Martin, Jonathan (December 11, 2009). "Mike Gravel says Sarah Palin will run for president". The Politico. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1209/30468.html. 
  85. ↑ Keating, Joshua (February 22, 2013). "Mike Gravel on movies, sanctions, and what we can learn from Iran". Foreign Policy. https://foreignpolicy.com/2013/02/22/mike-gravel-on-movies-sanctions-and-what-we-can-learn-from-iran/. 
  86. ↑ Erdbrink, Thomas (February 18, 2013). "Stung by 'Argo,' Iran Backs Conference Denouncing 'Hollywoodism'". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/19/world/middleeast/stung-by-argo-iran-backs-conference-decrying-hollywoodism.html. 
  87. ↑ Jump up to: 87.0 87.1 "Out there: Former Sen. Mike Gravel says White House suppressing evidence of ETs". Yahoo! News/ABC News. May 3, 2013. https://news.yahoo.com/blogs/power-players-abc-news/former-sen-mike-gravel-says-white-house-suppressing-112957111.html. 
  88. ↑ Siddons, Andrews (May 3, 2013). "Visitors From Outer Space, Real or Not, Are Focus of Discussion in Washington". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/04/us/politics/panel-convenes-in-washington-to-discuss-aliens.html?_r=0. 
  89. ↑ Kendall Breitman (December 30, 2014). "Mike Gravel to helm pot products company". Politico. http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/mike-gravel-kush-marijuana-113878.html. 
  90. ↑ "The Team". Cannabis Sativa, Inc.. http://cannabissativainc.com/company.php. 
  91. ↑ Gravel, Mike (February 21, 2016). "This is the key to Bernie Sanders' political revolution: Here's how we beat GOP obstruction". http://www.salon.com/2016/02/21/this_is_the_key_to_bernie_sanders_political_revolution_heres_how_we_beat_gop_obstruction/. 
  92. ↑ Harry Cheadle, "Mike Gravel the online left wing sensation is also a ..." Vice.com, March 21, 2019
  93. ↑ Jump up to: 93.0 93.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named nytm-2019
  94. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Atlantic
  95. ↑ "The Failure of Representative Government and the Solution". Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1728339294/ref=rdr_ext_tmb. 
  96. ↑ Pianin, Alix (March 3, 2008). "GS Honors Students, Alum at Annual Gala". Columbia Daily Spectator. http://columbiaspectator.com/2008/03/03/gs-honors-students-alum-annual-gala. 
  • The Pentagon Papers Senator Gravel Edition. Vol. Five. Critical Essays. Boston. Beacon Press, 1972. 341p. plus 72p. of Index to Vol. I–IV of the Papers, Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, editors.
  • Moritz, Charles, ed. (1973). Current Biography Yearbook 1972. New York: H. W. Wilson Company. 

External links

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