Despite his many financial setbacks, Gravel continues to campaign around the country. Last week, he gave speeches at Columbia and Yale University, and is heading west this week to speak with students at UC Berkely. Furthermore, Gravel recently posted a lengthy speech on his website, praising Edwards' efforts in the race, and asserting that he was the much more honest and genuine president that Clinton or Obama. Gravel claimed that Clinton and Obama have no intentions of ending the war, and that they are both backed by and therefore in support of corporate-interests. Such rhetoric is quite extreme considering both candidates base their campaigns on the "people's" best interest and "ending the war in Iraq." However, it is not surprising that Gravel, who has received less than 1% of votes in the Democratic primaries, and is running out of funds, will make bold comments to gain media attention. Still despite the cloud of doom that continues to surround his chances of success (he actually can't feasibly win by this point), Gravel insists, "Winning the nomination isn’t the only reason some of us run for the highest office in the country. We persevere because we care deeply for our country, and we subject ourselves to the grueling schedule and the often unflattering media spotlight because we believe in the importance of the issues that we bring to the table." While Gravel's campaign may not be an unpredictable one like Obama's or Hillary's, Gravel's harsh rhetoric is indubitably entertaining!.
sources used: http://www.gravel2008.us/
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
It is very interesting that Gravel has been making speeches in favor of a candidate who has dropped out. One has to wonder what he hopes to accomplish by demonizing Obama and Clinton. They are the front runners and if people don't believe that they can lead, then the Democrats are in big trouble. It seems as if Gravel is trying to break up the Democratic party. To some lengths, I understand that he wants to stand up for his beliefs. But if standing up for those beliefs ruins the Democratic Party's chance in the White House, then Gravel needs to step down and not be so selfish.
Well, in response to Missy's comment, I agree. However, I don't really feel like Gravel has that much influence and therefore can't necessarily "break up the Democratic Party." Also, like Nikki and Cindy suggest and what we learned in the Media chapter, Gravel's only way of getting more attention is through controversial statements. Personally, I just want Gravel to drop out because he is ruining my chances in the deadpool hehe ;-).
Though Gravel is an especially mouthy politician, I think he's purposely waiting until either Obama or Clinton wins the nomination to announce his endorsement; I think his criticism are aimed to pressure Obama and Clinton to take tougher stances on exiting Iraq, but I'd be surprised if he didn't endore the nominee after he or she wins. It's somewhat expected that members of the party will throw their support behind the nominee even if they do have some disagreements, in an attempt to bolster the nominee's chances of winning.
Post a Comment