It's All About the National Initiative
I'm just back to Pennsylvania and see that there is more news out regarding the Obama campaign. While I was away, Senator Bob Casey decided to endorse Obama, Casey quickly changed tune on endorsement. Now, Mike Gravel has made a surprise announcement.
Hal of Blue man in a Red district notes the news that Gravel is dropping out of the race and the Obama has agreed to adopt his National Initiative:
Former Democratic Presidential Candidate Mike Gravel has announced his intention to drop out of the presidential race after meeting with Democratic frontrunner Barack Obama. Gravel, who switched parties to run as a Libertarian on March 26th, stated that his decision was the result of a pledge from Obama to adopt the National Initiative for Democracy. The National Initiative, which would allow citizens to propose, alter, or nullify laws in conjunction with traditional legislative bodies, has been the cornerstone of Gravel's presidential run.I'm not too sure where things will go with the National Initiative, but it will be interesting to see how this impacts the campaign.
During his run for the Democratic nomination, Senator Gravel had accused Obama of being beholden to "corporatocracy" and "the military-industrial complex". While downplaying his previous denunciations as water under the bridge, Gravel did admit that strong disagreements still exist between him and the Senator from Illinois. This apparent chasm was highlighted by Gravel's insistence that he would turn down any offer to be in Barack Obama's cabinet should he become president.* * * *
Before announcing his intent to bow out of the race for the presidency, Senator Gravel discussed his meeting with Barack Obama. "Stop and think," Gravel told reporters. "This is a real chance to empower the American people by giving them the ability to make laws. 24 states already have ballot initiatives that give the people the same power as their representatives without dramatically changing the way our government works."
Senator Barack Obama was unavailable for comment, but the meeting was confirmed by a spokesperson for his campaign, who said that Obama was "looking forward" to working with the former senator in order to "show that Americans are serious about democracy".
UPDATE (4/2): For the follow up to this story, see my post And Who Got Fooled?
4 comments:
I called Mike Gravel yesterday (I worked with him in 2002 and helped finalize the National Initiative language at his Democracy Symposium in 2001) and he confirmed this is a hoax. His wife said "If only!"
For REAL info on the National Initiative and easy things you can do to make it REAL, see http://Vote.org.
The National Initiative has been voted the #2 idea for the next President's agenda, so Obama might yet REALLY have to deal with it. You can vote for it at: http://www.ondayone.org/ideas?sort=votes
Just click the rightmost star where it says "rate this idea."
Who knows where to download XRumer 5.0 Palladium?
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