Perhaps you should tune in and see what Senator Gravel has to say. Having met the man several times, I can tell you he is probably the most qualified of the Democratic candidates to hold the office of POTUS.
The plan for tonight is apparently a huge TV and a TIVO pause button. It sounds like fun.
Gravel's a bit of a kook, but I don't think that he should be excluded from debates.
If the concern is that there are too many people on stage, then we should narrow the focus of the debates to one issue at a time with longer answers by each candidate. So we could have a debate on the Iraq War, give each candidate two minutes to have their say, followed by fifteen minutes of open rebuttal time facilitated by the moderator (with a light touch, avoiding egoistic grandstanding--yes I'm talking to you Wolf Blitzer), and ending with two minutes for each candidate to conclude after open rebuttal. That's 47 minutes, which is only slightly more than a typical broadcast hour with commercials, which could be sandwiched between the three different stages.
Then have a completely separate debate entirely on health care with a similar format. Have another one on constitutional and civil rights. And so on. That's how you get more in-depth answers despite having eight guys on stage, without arbitrarily excluding any candidates.
Funny... After watching some of the debates, Gravel is the ONLY one that struck me as making any sense. And of course, he's the one that doesn't stand a sowball's chance. Maybe VP?
I know it's fun to make fun of Gravel and all, but in the only debate I've watched thus far, he made a lot of sense. Which is precisely why he doesn't stand a chance.
"almost non-existant public support"? why do people express opinions about which they have no knowledge. you think that just because the media hasn't chosen to cover gravel as well as other candidates that he has no public support?stop perpetuating stupidity.
Commenter #5 is not me, for the record.
GE NBC DNC are in panic re: $1,000,000.00 & more people with gravel than IN debate hall... MORE big news tonight -
Gravel is certainly not a kook; I had that impression after watching the debates, but after watching videos of him in other contexts, it is clear I was wholly mistaken. What makes him look that way is the format; his opinions are simply so far off the mainstream that there is no way for him to explain himself succinctly in the time allotted. A common problem for people appearing on the news, etc. But Gravel's ideas are profound and not to be ignored, and he is far and away the candidate with the most integrity and love for the idea of democracy.
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