MIKE GRAVEL
WEB SITE gravel2008.us
LOOK FOR A slim policy sheet, outlining his stances on everything from the Green Tax to Net Neutrality
LAUGH AT One of Gravel’s MySpace friends: “I missed out on the 11/11 fundraising effort, so I chipped in 25 bux instead. . . . Maybe that can buy a burrito or something ;)”
GRADE C |
Mike Gravel will not be our next president, either. Something tells us he knows this. Which is why he can afford to go all out with a super kooky site and some awesomely bad graphics. His name’s rendered in a gargantuan point size, next to a large, vaguely scary photo of him wearing an ill-fitting blue jacket, grinning a bit too intensely. His John Hancock’s scribbled illegibly in the upper-right corner. There’s a blog, of course, presented in clunky Arial Black font. He hits some of the right notes: the requisite social-networking tags are all there, as are links to his YouTube page. Weirdly, click the “Learn More” tab, and most of the information about him is provided off-site. Most remarkable are helpful instructions on how to visit the former Alaska senator in Second Life. One can see why he hangs out there: only in an online fantasy world could a good-hearted, intensely liberal 77 year old who hasn’t held elected office since 1981 expect to win the presidency.
Related:
See spot run, The shape of things to come, Wising up, More 
- See spot run
The roughly 205,000 campaign ads that have run on American TV so far this primary season have undoubtedly played a major electoral role.
- The shape of things to come
The Democratic front-runners and the Republican establishment will be making critical decisions in the coming weeks that will shape the course of the race.
- Wising up
According to the latest conventional wisdom, Hillary Clinton is threatening to turn the Democratic presidential-nomination race into a rout.
- The X factors
Sure, the polls show Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton ahead in their quests for their respective parties’ nominations.
- Profile polling
Facebook and MySpace represent the easiest and most efficient method of assessing compatibility for a friend, a potential hook-up, or a presidential candidate.
- Rallying cries
Though the press focuses on organization, tactics, and fundraising, campaigns are won by unifying ideas.
- About-face time
Conventional wisdom says that debates help everyone but the front-runner in the polls, because they give the pack exposure and face time next to the leader.
- Who’s with whom — and why?
Now that first-quarter campaign-finance reports have been filed, we can see which presidential candidates scooped up money from which Bay Staters.
- Diagnostic politics
It’s an unfortunate fact of American political life that one’s entire personal life becomes public the minute one runs for office.
- Going the distance
So far the media storyline on Campaign 2008 is how extraordinary this year’s race has been, with the process dominated by upsets and a renewed call for change.
- The long-winded, winding road
Politicians have always been prone to clichés and adages.
- On the national affront
Where does one begin to recap 12 months of such willful self-parody?
- Less
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