Gravel becoming online hero Nick Juliano

Published: Thursday May 10, 2007 Print This Email This Mike Gravel isn't going to let miniscule fundraising and poll numbers below 1 percent dissuade him in his quixotic bid for the White House. Building on a compelling performance at last months Democratic debate, in which his impassioned anti-war rhetoric stood out in the crowded field, Gravel and his supporters are organizing online with a grassroots fervor he hopes will put him on par with the top tier campaigns. The swell of support has been enough to secure the former Alaska Senator a spot on another debate stage next month. When the Democrats gather next month in New Hampshire for a debate cosponsored by CNN and the Manchester Union Leader, Gravel will be on stage along with the other contenders, Gravel spokesman Shawn Alexander Colvin tells RAW STORY . Although a representative of the Manchester Union Leader initially told the campaign that Gravel did not meet the criteria necessary to be included, his performance in the South Carolina debate convinced CNN to invite Gravel to participate in New Hampshire, Colvin said. The 2008 elections page on news aggregator Digg.com has been consistently featuring stories on Gravel and his Republican doppelganger Rep. Ron Paul, the Texas libertarian shaking up the GOP field. Several Gravel stories also have been referenced on reddit.com, a similar aggregator, included a link to a petition titled, "Let Gravel speak! Ask CNN to include Mike Gravel in their debate." Gravel's campaign used reddit and Digg to promote its official home page, and traffic to the site exploded after his appeareance at the debate, and in the days immediately following the debate, Gravel-related links occupied the top spots on those sites, according to blog Neomeme. Since clips from Gravels April 26 debate performance became a hit on YouTube, his campaign has used its online supporters to create a virtual staff, Colvin said, adding that around a half-dozen supporters have begun working with the campaign in the last couple of weeks, helping to maintain the candidates Web site and working with his media team. While Gravels antics may be inspiring online activists, his appearance on the debate stage appears to have rankled some in the mainstream media. A Washington Post editorial this week called for long-shots to be swept from the debate stage. When Mr. Gravel says he's not running to win, that ought to be grounds enough to toss him out, the editorial argued. Colvin said Gravels statement that it doesnt matter whether he is elected was taken out of context and should not be used to imply he is running a vanity campaign. Rather, it reflected Gravels support for the national ballot initiative, which he says would empower voters to make more decisions in their government. Campaign fundraising also has grown since the debate, but Colvin would not say by how much. Gravels homepage lists a goal of raising $35,000 this month. Gravel raised just $15,534 in the first three months of this year, and his campaign account is carrying more than $88,000 in debt. Colvin insists fundraising will not decide this election, and he insists that Gravel will be increasing fundraising goals every month to raise at least enough to still be competitive by the time the Iowa Caucuses and New Hampshire Primaries arrive in January. (The top two Democrats, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have each raised more than $25 million, and election experts have predicted candidates will need to have raised at least $100 million by the end of this year to be taken seriously.) Although he may not be able to afford expansive teams or polished advertisements, Gravel will continue to take advantage of free forums to spread his message, as he did in the first South Carolina debate. But it is unclear whether Gravel will be able to translate his current mini-boomlet into the kind of movement that will be necessary to climb into even double-digit support in the polls.



