Despite failing to top even 1% of the vote in any primary or caucus to date, former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel has announced he is leaving the Democratic Party and registering with the Libertarians. This strikes some as quite odd, since Gravel’s views on socialized health care and other “big government” projects stand in direct contradiction to much of the Libertarian Party’s platform and ideals. Gravel has said that he will be seeing the party’s nomination for President at the upcoming national convention in Denver.
Gravel’s celebrity is a plus, but his path to the nomination is far from clear. Two long-time party activists, Steve Kubby and George Phillies, have been in the running for many months already. Businessman, and self-described millionaire, Wayne Allyn Root launched his campaign last year. Author Mary Ruwart has recently joined the fight, and former Congressman Bob Barr is widely expected to jump in as well. That is a mixture that should make for some entertaining viewing on C-SPAN.
