Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Super Tuesday Thoughts: for Palpable, Positive Change, Support Mike Gravel

Change. According to National Public Radio’s renowned program “Marketplace,” “change” has been a buzzword of presidential campaigns since 1988, the year that Democrats and Republicans alike realized the importance of appealing to independents with vague but powerful rhetoric that could ultimately win them over. However, if Mike Gravel, former Democratic senator from Alaska, were to become elected Commander in Chief, “change” would not be just a choice catch phrase any longer. In the primaries today, vote for Mike Gravel to represent the forward-thinking leftists of the United States as the Democratic candidate of the 2008 presidential election.

Due to the Bush Administration’s unilateral policies, our government and country quickly gained a terrible reputation abroad. In order to reaffirm our alliances with the European Union, African Union and others as well as to improve our image in the Middle East and Latin America, we need a liberal leader who can show the rest of the world that we are not the regressive, ignorant fools they have begun to assume Americans to be. Regarding Mexican immigration, Gravel believes that to displace the 12 million or so illegal Latino immigrants working in the U.S. would not only severely damage American industries and our economy, but would also be equivalent to a second “Trail of Tears” (Blue Star Observer). Unlike Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, Gravel does not believe in having a fence—which he sees as highly symbolic of our lack of empathy for the political and economic turmoil that Latinos are enduring in Mexico—along the U.S.-Mexico border; instead, he acknowledges the roots of illegal immigration and wants to monitor the flow of immigrants into our country, allow Mexicans to participate in guest worker programs, and set up naturalization procedures to get immigrants on the path to becoming American citizens (gravel2008.us).

I believe that one of the main reasons for animosity towards Latin Americans is racism. In the 1920s, Asian immigrants were considered scum and were thus almost completely barred entry to the United States; however, today, Asian Americans are seen as the “model minority” due to their outstanding contributions to American businesses and society, and Asian cultures are fetishized and admired. As the trends of history indicate, attitudes towards Latinos and their culture a few decades from now will be identical, especially thanks to forward-thinking legislation from politicians such as Mike Gravel.

Similarly, regarding the issue of Iraq, Gravel has examined the roots of the turmoil in the civil war-laden country, and he believes that we must assist Iraq as well as improve America’s international reputation by pulling troops out of the country over a period of 120 days. However, he would not simply abandon the region afterwards, causing tensions to fester; according to his campaign website, Gravel will work with Iraqi businesses and neighboring Middle Eastern nations in a collective effort to rebuild and bring peace to Iraq. This may mean aggressive diplomatic action against sectarian violence, but it does not mean maintaining troops in the country. This series of actions will drastically improve America’s approval ratings in Europe, the Middle East and other areas—thus insuring our access to foreign oil sources as well as protecting our country against hateful acts of terrorism—and will end the too-long list of maimed or killed military personnel. Currently, the stagnant, seemingly pointless war in Iraq is one of the most frustrating issues for millions of Americans; in order for a major change to occur, Mike Gravel must be elected President of the United States this year.

As I mentioned earlier, American society becomes more and more accepting of difference with every passing decade. One marginalized group that has gained national attention in the past fifty or so years but has yet to experience the joys of equality is America’s homosexual community. With Mike Gravel as our president, we will finally be able to catch up to the rest of the developed world and legalize gay marriage, allow gay people to openly serve in the military, and block constitutional amendments that stifle gay rights (gravel2008.us). Presidential candidates such as Clinton, Obama and Huckabee exhibit extraordinary cowardice by hiding behind their religious upbringings, ineloquently and illogically deeming gay marriage immoral or claiming that it goes against the teachings in the Bible. Gravel, always a progressive thinker, sees that denying rights to any American is the truly immoral action. Gravel says that he is perturbed by religious people’s claim that marriage is a religious institution:

"Marriage preceded all forms of religion in civilization. Marriage is a commitment between two human beings in love. And understand me, I'm saying two human beings. They can be heterosexual; they can be two lesbians; they can be transgender; they can be two gays (glassbooth.org)."

Even Obama admits in his 2006 book “The Audacity of Hope” that his unwillingness to support gay marriage may be ultimately misguided, stating, “… in years hence I may be seen as someone who was on the wrong side of history." Show your support for the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for every American by supporting Mike Gravel.

Many Democrats in the United States may argue against selecting Gravel as the Democratic presidential nominee because he is not an “electable” candidate. His beliefs are too radical for many independents to swallow, which means that, if he were running against a conservative candidate who made constant appeals to “the middle,” Gravel would probably lose the election. I agree with the logic behind this notion, and I have already come to terms with the fact that, come November, I will be voting for either Clinton or Obama. However, today in the primaries, I am going to support the candidate whose beliefs and ideas are the most progressive, moral, diplomatic and empathetic: Mike Gravel. Knowing that most Democrats and leftists are going to be voting for either Obama or Clinton today, show support for Gravel in order to attract national attention to the growing number of liberal thinkers in the United States. The time for change is now.