I can't find a candidate that I like for 2008. Wesley Clark is not in. Al Gore is not in. When I look up and down the list, I don't see a next President of the United States. Then I see Mike Gravel. Who is this guy? Is he seriously running for president? Does he have a shot in hell? No. But don't you think that every candidate deserves our attention and we shouldn't always go with what the mindless hordes think? I do. Let's take a look...
First of all let me start with one premise. Here it is: The Democratic Party should choose the BEST candidate to represent us in 2008. That's right, the BEST. That means the most competent, the one with the best ideas, the most honest, etc etc. I'm not going to go into detail about each candidate, but I have problems with Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Chris Dodd, Dennis Kucinich, Bill Richardson, and Joe Biden.
Damn.
That doesn't leave me with much choice, right? Well. Not exactly. There is Mike Gravel...ummm...yah. It's funny and sad that no one seems to think he has a chance so no one seems to consider him. This is clearly wrong. Because it is us, THE PEOPLE, who decide our nominee. Look at how much of the candidate's money raised was from individual contribuitions in the first quarter -- a vast majority. Even Hillary Clinton raised $26 million of her $36 million from individuals. So do we think that Gravel won't be able to soak up the "big money" that's out there from PACs? Well only 1% of Hillary's money came from PACs so obviously the "interest groups" don't have as much influence as we'd like to imagine. It's US and it's OUR decision, so let's look at each candidate equally.
In the April Staw Poll, only 89 brave souls of 20,890 participants (that's .4%) cast their support for Mike Gravel. He only raised $15,534 in the first quarter, which is ridiculously pathetic and it probably came from his family and close friends. But why is it that even Dennis Kucinich was able to raise 22x more money than Gravel? Well...we all know Mike Gravel exists, don't we? We just don't know anything about him. So let me take a brief moment to fill you in on several of his ideas, which are very interesting and different.
The National Initiative: We have statewide initiatives, so why not have the same direct democracy at the national level? Gravel is the only candidate calling for a National Initiative and I personally think it could be an interesting idea. A majority of people in America support gun control, but because of the radical and influential minority, the Assult Weapons Ban, for example, was allowed to expire. With a National Initiative, gun control advocates could use their majority support to, for example, renew the assult weapons ban. This is just a hypothetical, but it sure is an interesting and different idea that sets Gravel apart from the field.
National Sales Tax: This is the idea I like especially coming from Mike Gravel. He believes that because there are so many loopholes in the income tax system, it is unfair. Also, those with the most money are able to work the system better to get exemptions, etc. Gravel says that the only truly fair way to tax is to eliminate the income tax system and instead institute a National sales tax system on goods and services. Doesn't it make more sense to tax on what people SPEND rather than what they MAKE? That way those millionaires that just have to have their yaught are paying a fair amount of tax instead of a smaller percent than the middle class, which they pay now. Obviously a Progressive Tax is the ideal system of taxation in my view, much like we had under Clinton, but this certainly is a very interesting idea from Mike Gravel.
Whether you agree or disagree with these ideas, my point is that you should consider them. I look at the latest democratic poll from Rassmussen Reports, which shows Hillary Clinton at 32%, and I get to wondering: who are all these Hillary Clinton supporters?? I certainly can't find them where I live. Are they really considering who are best candidate is? Or are they jumping on the oh yeah she rocks Hillary's cool bandwagon? My challenege to you --- Research the POSITIONS and IDEAS of each candidate for 08 and make YOUR OWN choice, not the most popular choice. Next time that straw poll comes around and I don't see Clark or Gore, I just might have to vote for Mike Gravel.