Mar 09 2008
Old Man Democrat wants some attention
Presidential hopeful Mike Gravel isn’t interested in getting votes during his campaign. Instead, the 77-year-old former Alaska Senator wants his idea to save the country to get some recognition.
The plan is called the National Initiative and involves passing a constitutional amendment that would move the U.S. from a representative democracy to a direct democracy by having all laws voted on in federal ballot initiatives. Apparently Gravel is thrilled that his candidacy for the Democratic nomination is giving his ideas a wider reach.
Another plus? He is bigger than J-Lo. “The day I filed for office I got more attention on the initiative than I had in 15 years,” Gravel told me. “I was getting off a plane and Jennifer Lopez was getting her bags — I didn’t recognize her, someone told me — and no one came up to her, but three people came up and pumped my hand,” Gravel told Time reporter Joel Stein.
But the Christmas light-bulb sized spotlight might be making Gravel a bit conceited. During a speech at Harvard, Gravel told a crimson crowd that he had more charisma than front-runner challenger Barack Obama. That’s like the Beatles saying they’re bigger than Jesus. You just don’t do it unless you’ve been officially declared insane or you are God.
Moreover, the little attention Gravel procured has made him more paranoid than usual. He fears he’s such a threat to the military industry complex that he wants to dismantle a sign that says his campaign headquarters in Virginia is on the third floor of a building.
Poor Grandpa Gravel even thinks teachers are after him:
The ex-Alaska Senator’s campaign got a blip of national attention over a surreal campaign YouTube video in which he stares at the camera, throws a rock in the water and walks away. “Two young teachers said I’d like to shoot a video. I said, ‘What do they want me to do?’ They said, ‘Throw a rock in the water.’ I said, ‘Great. I’ll give them an hour.’ So I look in the camera for a full minute and all I can think is I look dumb as s–t,” Gravel says.
Regardless, Gravel plans to stick with the campaign through November. He even said he’d consider running on the Libertarian Party ticket or as a member of another third party. What an attention whore.