Gravel Seeks
Libertarian Nomination, Promises LGBT Focus

Former senator Mike Gravel of Alaska, the erstwhile Democratic presidential candidate, announced last week that he is leaving his party and will run for president as a Libertarian. Skyler McKinley, a spokesman for Gravel, told The New York Times that Gravel would seek the Libertarian nomination at the party's convention in Denver, which begins May 22.

In an e-mail message sent to supporters on Wednesday, Gravel expressed disenchantment with the Democratic Party. "The fact is, the Democratic Party today is no longer the party of FDR," he wrote. "It is a party that continues to sustain war, the military-industrial complex and imperialism -- all of which I find anathema to my views."

A vocal supporter of marriage equality, Gravel also criticized his Democratic opponents' opposition to same-sex marriage at a Human Rights Campaign debate in August 2007. Gravel has urged the LGBT community to stand behind his candidacy and plans to refocus national attention on marriage equality.

"On gay marriage, there's no difference between the presumptive Republican and Democratic nominees," Gravel said in a press release. "Neither of them believes you are worthy of equal rights. This disgusts me, and it should disgust you."

About 15 hopefuls are vying for the Libertarian nomination. Andrew Davis, a spokesman for the Libertarian National Committee, told The New York Times that it won't be easy for Gravel: Party members might disapprove of Gravel's support of universal health care, funded by a national retail tax.

"Whether or not some of our delegates will accept Mike Gravel with some of his positions, that has yet to be seen," Davis said. (The Advocate)