The following piece was produced by the Huffington Post's OffTheBus.
Philadelphia, PA -
When NBC excluded Mike Gravel from its October 30th Democratic Debate, the former senator did not take things lying down. Support videos sprouted up on YouTube, and Gravel's campaign organized an alternate debate one block away. He began the evening by listing NBC's criteria for his exclusion, presented to his campaign on October 19th, and refuted them. NBC cited that he had not visited New Hampshire and/or Iowa at least 14 times, which Gravel countered with 20+ campaign-verified visits to New Hampshire, more than most other candidates. Another requirement, polling at 5%, was voided by the fact that numerous candidates are below that margin (Chris Dodd, Joe Biden & Dennis Kucinich). The final, and only irrefutable requirement, was that the campaign had yet to raise $1 million. That was part of yesterday's agenda, in addition to fighting censorship and raising visibility of Gravel's candidacy.
The ensuing event contrasts starkly with the impression most probably have of Gravel, especially if they base it solely upon his debate performances. Typically given the least speaking time, Gravel's responses could be characterized as Bulworth meets Howard Zinn meets Peter Finch in "Network". Exasperated candor, sincerity, and moral urgency all wound together. But here Gravel was master of ceremonies, able to speak to his heart's content and the crowd's delight. Whenever a candidate's response or debate topic merited commentary, he'd call out "pause," talk freely with the candidate frozen on-screen behind him, and offer his take on "politics as usual." Gravel's campaign broadcast the event live from its website for supporters to tune in.
Gravel sat on stage by his lone podium, watching the debate with supporters, totaling around 250. Attendees included a team of NYU filmmakers, Drexel and UPenn students, kindred Kucinich supporters, and a generous handful of Ron Paul supporters, curious to hear more about the maverick Democrat with some similar views to Paul (ending the Iraq war and US militarism, ending the Drug War, eliminating the IRS & income tax, and Constitutional integrity). Even a handful of Students for Hillary were present, although they left nearly as soon as Gravel pounced on statements made by the former First Lady.
While Hillary-bashing has become de rigeur as of late, Gravel referenced last month's debate, during which he condemned Clinton's vote for the Kyl-Lieberman Amendment. Before candidates were really making noise about its implications for war with Iran, he turned to Clinton point-blank and said "I'm ashamed of you, Hillary, for voting for it." Though received with little fanfare at the time, since then many supporters, and Gravel himself, feel this may have cost him attendance at Tuesday's debate.
He warned of the incessant "drumbeat to war and saber rattling" in light of no evidence that Iran is developing nuclear weapons, and the consequences of invading Iran. "Worldwide recession, oil $150+ per barrel. Minimum." As president, Gravel promised to unilaterally reduce America's nuclear weapons stockpile by one half, "as an example to the rest of the world." He noted that every permanent member of the UN Security Council has violated the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which obligates other nations to feel "if you don't have it [the bomb], you want it."
Against sanctions and wanting instead "to start treating the world as equals," Gravel condemned Bill Clinton's sanctions against Iraq that caused the deaths of 500,000 Iraqi children. "The innocent of the innocent," he intoned. He blasted the US mindset of "policing the world" as code for American Imperialism. Later, exasperated by Clinton's repeated "carrots and sticks" foreign diplomacy soundbite, he exhorted "Talk to them like the equal human beings that they are!" Strong applause greeted this comment, as did other adages shared throughout the evening.
On how politicians learn their lessons--"Their lessons are not measured through loss of human life and suffering."
Evoking his military voice: "If you truly value your troops, you protect them from harm's way."
Speaking out against censorship: if any candidate was missing, the first thing Gravel would have done is point to the missing podium and demand, "Why isn't this person here?" He mused that the very fact that no one spoke up shows that they may not recognize the gravity of censorship (or they don't want to be excluded themselves).
On his fellow candidates: "The more I look at them, the more I want to be president!"
Gravel described words like change as "meaningless code that do well in focus groups." Addressing Obama's rhetoric of hope, Gravel offered that "hope without substance means nothing," and that it won't withstand Clinton political machine. He blasted the Clintons for "hijacking the Democratic party in 1992 with Wall Street." To that end, he also took exception to Chris Dodd's comment that "electing a Democrat is the single-most important thing," condemning party-first compromises of "power over substance."
The event was not all punditry. Gravel and the audience cheered Edwards' call for Democrats to stand up for party values, and Biden's crack that Rudy Giuliani's vocabulary consists of "a noun, a verb, and 9/11." The audience burst into giddy applause, with Gravel giving a thumbs up and offering, "best line of the night!" Many viewers were annoyed by the UFO-sighting question to Kucinich, immediately followed by Clinton's "will you pledge to fight cancer" softball.
Before taking a final round of questions for the night, Gravel laid out the cornerstone of his campaign, the National Initiative. He lights up when explaining this legislation, which he's spent over a decade crafting. Once enacted, it would empower citizens to propose ballot-initiatives at the federal level and supersede the partisan stalemate often found in Congress. This would bring Americans out of "political adolescence", and empower them as lawmakers. To those that felt unqualified to make laws, he quipped, "Congress doesn't read 95% of the legislature they vote on!"
Two large projection screens flanked the stage, prominently featuring contact information for General Electric. GE, who owns NBC, is one of the primary profiteers in the Military-Industrial Complex, and Gravel says the reason behind his exclusion. He was also shocked that the DNC did not stand up to NBC, for his rights as a candidate. Rather, they deferred that "it's a private company's decision." Gravel had similar trouble finding a place for the event, with some venues declining once they heard he would mention GE. Signs with the slogan "No Corporate Media Censorship, Support Free Speech: Mike Gravel for President" covered the walls of the venue and neighboring street posts. As the only candidate with military service pre-Vietnam, Gravel often evokes Dwight Eisenhower, the first (and last) president to address the threat of the Military-Industrial-Complex. Gravel has said: "Someday the American people will want peace so badly that they will push the government aside and just seize it." With the National Initiative and his leadership, Gravel believes that the American people will be able to make those steps.
While NBC may have excluded Gravel, if his debate was any indication, he knows the political brain well. For those in attendance, he gave a candid look at its mechanics. He's currently invited to next month's debate, and if this event was any indication, he won't mince words.