Who is Mike Gravel? Well, he’s only the former Democratic Senator from Alaska who ran for president in 2008. If you don’t remember, it’s fine. He didn’t last long at all, but apparently, he’s considering running for president again after some teenagers filed the exploratory committee paperwork (via Politico):
Mike Gravel, the two-term former Democratic senator from Alaska who left elected office in 1981, is running for president. Kind of.
Late Tuesday night, a Gravel exploratory committee filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission, setting off a cascade of Twitter commentary and accusations that the filing was simply a bit of trolling by teenage students.
The filing was the brainchild of teenagers — but they had the senator’s blessing.
“They asked me if it was okay, I said they could do what they wanted, as long as they were doing it and not me!” Gravel joked in a brief interview with POLITICO.
Gravel and the teens are an odd match at first glance: He has been out of the Senate for roughly double the time his young organizers have been alive.
“When they first approached me, I responded, ‘Do you know how old I am?’” said Gravel, who is 88.
So, is Gravel the next teen sensation? Oh, gee—probably not, and he’s not going to win the Democratic nomination in 2020. What he is doing, however, is trashing the entire 2020 Democratic field. From Joe Biden to Amy Klobuchar, no one is safe. Gravel's Twitter account has been going scorched earth on his party's contenders for a couple of days now. The Gravel Gang is here. Soak it up while it lasts because it won’t be long, but Democrats trashing other Democrats…grab the popcorn.
Hey @MikeGravel, what's your take on the Ilhan Omar controversy. Seems to me the vast majority of Democrats behaved like piddling cowards #YouAskGravelAnswers
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) March 20, 2019
Worse than cowards: dishonest and morally bankrupt. @IlhanMN spoke the truth to power. She's heroic, and I have nothing but scorn for the legions of Dems who attacked her for it.
— Mike Gravel (@MikeGravel) March 20, 2019
.@amyklobuchar it's hard to fight the big tech firms that abuse American workers when you also like to abuse American workers pic.twitter.com/ew4ZAP7ey6
— Mike Gravel (@MikeGravel) March 20, 2019
i sure do hope the faucets at @JoeBiden's house are strong, with the amount of Iraqi blood on his hands#Gravel2020#GravelGang pic.twitter.com/OyQ95fNNay
— Mike Gravel (@MikeGravel) March 20, 2019
#KillerKamalaHarris just came around to supporting marijuana legalization, even though she smoked it herself in college.
— Mike Gravel (@MikeGravel) March 20, 2019
Meanwhile, I've served as the CEO of two marijuana companies.#GravelGang#Gravel2020https://t.co/uj35vUUuKR
If I run, I'd run not to win, but to push great candidates like @BernieSanders and @TulsiGabbard toward more sensible views on political reform and foreign policy through the debates. We need a strong left flank for strong policy.
— Mike Gravel (@MikeGravel) March 20, 2019
.@CoryBooker melodramatically declared releasing inconsequential files on Brett Kavanaugh his "Spartacus moment." This is me, in 1971, reading the Pentagon Papers into the record for hours on end, risking expulsion from the Senate. That's real courage, Cory. pic.twitter.com/DE2gQs3Huj
— Mike Gravel (@MikeGravel) March 20, 2019
The 2020 Democratic field pretends to progressivism, but don't buy the lie. @KamalaHarris kept innocent men on death row. @JoeBiden voted for the Iraq War. @CoryBooker invented a drug dealer friend (and voted with Big Pharma).
— Mike Gravel (@MikeGravel) March 20, 2019
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