Former Democratic senator Mike Gravel spoke to a crowd of roughly 50 students Thursday in one of the earliest stops on his presidential campaign. The event, which took place in Hinman Forum at 6:30 p.m., was hosted by the College Democrats.
Gravel addressed a range of political issues over the course of the evening, at times asserting stances that, at times, were received with incredulity by certain audience members. His remarks called for overhauling the American legislative process by instituting national initiatives as a means of policy-making.
Gravel's remarks were also peppered with lacerating criticisms of the Bush administration, including his damning accusation that "George Bush committed a fraud on the American people" by misrepresenting the case for the war in Iraq. He decried Bush's motivations for invading Iraq as "a messianic initiative," and called the president's televised address on Wednesday night "a disjointed step away from reality."
"The people who run for office ought to start telling people the truth," Gravel said, jabbing the air with his fingers. "[America] is blessed. And we are squandering our blessings."
After a ten-minute opening speech, Gravel fielded questions from audience members, many of whom sought specifics on the former senator's plan for legislating through national initiatives. The recurring theme of his answers was a move toward voters themselves deciding directly on policy issues in order to streamline the legislative process.
"You can do a better job than your leaders. You just don't realize it," he said.
In response to an audience member's question about how he would have responded to Hurricane Katrina's aftermath, Gravel refused to put forth a plan of action, saying instead that the means for solving national crises must come directly from American citizens.
"I don't have a magic answer to [Katrina]," he said. "But if the people are given the power, they'll do a better job than I could ever imagine."
One of the most contentious questions of the evening came from an audience member who cited Gravel's recent address to members of the Barnes Review, a conservative magazine known for denying the Holocaust. Gravel responded by saying he knew nothing about the nature of the publication, going so far as to claim that he thought he was "speaking to the American Free Press."
"I was onstage, and one guy standing next to me had a big cowboy hat," he said. "I took one look at him, and thought, 'I don't want to be standing next to this guy.'"
Though he denied sympathy with the views of the Barnes Review, Gravel was quick to add that he was not shy about exposing his past history to the public eye.
"If I rise in the polls, you're going to see my whole life spread out before you," Gravel said. "And I think parts of it are going to be pretty interesting."
After listening to Gravel's remarks, Todd Kawakita '10 said he was skeptical of Gravel's legitimacy as a candidate.
"I probably wouldn't vote for him," Kawakita said. "Realistically, I don't think he'll be elected. He's too extreme."
Another student who expressed doubts about Gravel's political platform was Andy Reynolds '09, the president of the College Democrats, who sponsored the event.
While Reynolds conceded that Gravel "has some interesting ideas," he said he does not support the national initiatives plan, which seems to form the cornerstone of Gravel's political philosophy.
"It's a little impractical," Reynolds said.
Although the evening was centered around a Democratic presidential candidate and hosted by the College Democrats, Reynolds asserted that it was intended as "a nonpartisan event."
"This isn't a campaign stop. [Gravel] isn't here to give a stump speech," he said. "Its purpose is educational."
Reynolds explained that because the College Democrats receive funding from the Committee on Student Organizations, they have a responsibility to put on events that are nonpartisan in nature.
"We have to be sure we don't step on anybody's toes," he said.
