McGovern ran in the first election I was eligible to vote in! I chose not to vote because while I like his pacifism, I thought he was an idiot. I couldn't bring myself to vote for Nixon because he was too paranoid, and I couldn't trust him. I did appreciate his finally getting us out of Vietnam and opening relations with China. But by that last term, all I heard was paranoid. I believe Watergate proved my point. I don't know if McGovern was really an idiot, but it was kind a single issue comapaign back then, peace in terms of getting out of Vietnam. I knew Nixon would get us out of Vietnam. He was smarter than Bush. He knew when we were licked. I thought of going out to vote and writing in Mickey Mouse (not paranoid, and rather wise for a mouse), but I decided not to bother.

This man sounds interesting. Age has a way of teaching humility or bitterness, and he doesn't sound bitter. We won't have to worry about his strange cigar practises. He isn't compaigning on a religious platform. We can assume his soul is as expansive as it will get before he starts forgetting what's in it. We might want to check into his business affiliations and croneys to be sure, but it sounds good. Peace is good. We like peace, big fat grandiose or humble peace, and someone who can mediate it instead of bombing it.

One of my great greats is William Jennings Bryan. I love a man that doesn't know when to quit. Better to speak with a golden tongue and get voted against, than speak with a forked tongue and make all our lives miserable.

Sen. Gravel was reported to have dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucus results were in. But, not true. Gravel's site explains:

We're Still in the Race!

Once again, the Mainstream Media has not gotten the facts straight.

MSNBC pundit Keith Olbermann has incorrectly declared that Sen. Gravel has dropped out of the race following the January third caucus in Iowa. This is not true, and Sen. Gravel is still an active member in this race. We are requesting that MSNBC and Keith Olbermann retract their statement, and issue an apology to the campaign for promoting blatantly false misinformation.

Again, Sen. Gravel has not dissolved his campaign, and has no intentions of doing so.

It's getting weird now. After endorsing Green candidate Johnson earlier this month, Gravel has decided to bail out of the Democratic Party and join the ... Libertarians.

From his website:

The Libertarians have nominated Bob Barr for President. Gravel made it to the 4th ballot:

Barr: 202
Ruwart: 202
Root: 149
Gravel: 76
NOTA: 2

According to the Associated Press:

Sunday's election also marked the end of the latest chapter in the political career of Mike Gravel, a former senator from Alaska who recently dropped out of the Democratic presidential race.

"I just ended my political career," he said. "From 15 years old to now, my political career is over, and it's no big deal. I'm a writer, I'm a lecturer, I'm going to push the issues of freedom and liberty. I'm going to push those issues until the day I die."

The Libertarians have lost quite a bit of credibilty with me in 2008 by nominating Barr. His past record has been one of total self-righteous nannyism. Anti-Gay, Anti-Choice, pro War on Drugs, opposed to medical marijuana, voted for the "Patriot" Act-- these are not things a true Libertarian supports. His opportunistic switch from being a conservative Republican to Libertarian outdoes even Gravel.

As a long time voter for Libertarian candidates (I have voted for at least one of their folks every election since the 1970s, including for President), I will think twice before doing so in 2008. Gravel would've been a much better choice, as his anti-authoritarian record was more consistent with the Lib agenda.

Goodbye Mike. Thank you for running for President and giving us a choice. Also thanks for making this election year a little more interesting. I'm glad you were in the mix.