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Saturday, August 03, 2019

Thank You For Your Service, @MikeGravel

Well, the only presidential campaign I've donated to so far this election season is over.

Yes, I knew from the start that Senator Gravel wasn't going to be the Democratic nominee or become president of the United States.

That's OK. The last time I voted for a winning presidential candidate was ... well, never.

Senator Gravel and a campaign team of youngsters with fire in their bellies did a great job of pushing an anti-war message just a little further into the public spotlight than it would have managed to get on Tulsi Gabbard's work alone, and he represented the possibility of a more trustworthy anti-war candidate than Gabbard (who was a darling of GOP hawks, neocon think tanks, and the Israel lobby at least as late as 2016). Their work was well worth the pittance I contributed.

Don't get me wrong about Gabbard. She's not all bad. Her kamikaze run at Kamala Harris the other night was a great thing, an act of prospective self-sacrifice for the greater good. She threw away any chance of a cabinet appointment in a Harris administration, as well as support for future campaigns from Harris or the DNC if Harris does go all the way. But in doing so, she probably made sure that Harris won't go all the way, and that's a good day's work right there.

But Gravel was the real deal. Even where I disagree with him (and I do, a lot), there's no doubt about where he stands, or that he'll keep standing right there.

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