Former 2008 Democratic presidential candidate
Mike Gravel will be in Denver this week seeking
the Libertarian Party nomination for president.
On the day of the Iowa caucus in early January,
I found myself in New Hampshire following the
irascible former Alaska senator around.
By the time I met up with the long-shot
presidential hopeful, his 15 minutes of fame had
come and gone and he had faded from the public
scene, having been excluded from the Democratic
primary debates. While the political world was
focused on Des Moines, he started his day
speaking at a Rotary Club in the Granite State.
To my surprise, the room was full with over 100
people. Before the event began, I introduced
myself to Gravel's two 20-something-year-old
staffers. They were excited to see a member of
the press in attendance and they immediately
invited me to join them at other campaign events
throughout the day with the one other journalist
who was there.
By reading interviews Gravel has given and
watching him on television, it is easy to get
the impression that he is bombastic,
loose-lipped, and often angry. His speech to the
Rotary Club didn't do much to diminish this
image.
He condemned corporate control of the media and
of American society itself. Gravel gave the
appearance that he really hates money, likely
because he has so little of it.
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