Candidates for Reality TV

I spent 15 focused minutes with Democratic candidate for President, Mike Gravel, on Friday evening. He has served as the comic relief in the debates to this point, mostly taking away precious air time from the better known and better financed candidates. Now I understand why he is running, his basic political philosophy, and why weighing all points of views can potentially strengthen my final conclusions.

One of my regular channel surfing rest stops these days is CSPAN2, particularly a program called "Campaign 2008". It is a classic unscripted reality show, except there is no prize money for the winners, no scantily clad women fighting with other scantily clad women, and drama happens by accident, not by design. Watching "Campaign 2008" can be compared to watching grass grow at times, but remember - even watching grass grow can be interesting if you are a landscaper. And both "Campaign 2008" and grass growing have their fair share of screen time devoted to manure spreading. Sad as it may be to admit, CSPAN2 entertains me. A few days ago, it was a campaign look-in on Mike Gravel.

Most everyone in America has no idea who Mike Gravel is, so I will begin here: former two term Senator from Alaska, he has been out of the Senate since 1981. His claim to notoriety is his 1971 five-month long filibuster that he credits with forcing Nixon to end the draft. He also released the Pentagon Papers, insisting in the country's right to know what was happening in the Vietnam War. He is unapologetic about his confrontational style and his practice of "naming names" during the recent debates (he's been particularly tough on Hillary for using populist rhetoric on the stump while simultaneously wooing entrenched Washington interest groups to exchange contributions for policy input). His most famous expression from the televised debates, which he uses often, is "Follow the money" if you want to know where candidate loyalties lie.

In this "Campaign 2008" episode, Gravel is in Nevada, one of the early caucus states, meeting with a group of about 15 citizens, all wearing matching navy T-shirts with their cause emblazoned in gold on their chests, "I'm a Health Care Voter". The camera follows Gravel into what appears to be a classroom of sorts for the meeting. With the home video style of presentation, I feel intimately connected to the unfolding discussion on the screen. I am there in Nevada, and Gravel is calmly and systematically laying out the health care problem in this country. He does not exaggerate, he does not shout, he praises the plans of competitors and points out flaws in other plans. He doesn't overreach with statistics meant to scare the listeners, and he tells the group that education is a more critical issue for the nation than the cause on their shirts. He was engaging and very stimulating. I could understand why Alaskans would vote for him.

Will Mike Gravel be President? Maybe, but not of the United States - the Anchorage Rotary Club is a better bet. But seeing and hearing him in an unfiltered setting, being himself, educating the small gathering on the issues, making jokes, I came away not so much impressed, but hopeful - hopeful that Marra and I will soon be in a room with a statesman/stateswoman and share in that experience first hand. Give and take with a serious candidate for the Presidency of the United States. Looking at both sides of an issue and finding that achievable common ground. Is this a great country or WHAT?

JS