Gravel on Romney: 'I'd eat his lunch' Nick Juliano

Published: Monday May 21, 2007 Print This Email This Former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel, who has been filling the gadfly role in the Democratic nomination race, said he wants to create a cash flow to the poor and predicted he'd trounce Mitt Romney in a general election in an interview with his hometown newspaper Sunday. "If he's the nominee, I'd eat his lunch," Gravel said in an interview with the Worcester (Ind.) Telegram & Gazette, referring to the former Massachusetts governor. Gravel, whose support hovers between 0 and 1 percent in polls of Democratic voters, created waves with his bombastic performance in the first debate among the Democratic candidates. He is advocating a series of unorthodox policies including establishing a national ballot initiative that would have Americans voting on most of the country's laws and a replacement of the current tax code with a universal sales tax. The sales tax, which Gravel insists would not be regressive, would provide for cost-of-living assistance to cover food, shelter and transportation for the poor. "Now, the poor person is either on welfare or sleeping under the bridge, Mr. Gravel told the newspaper. This would provide a cash flow to the poor. Much of Gravel's support comes from anti-war activists excited about his calls for an immediate withdraw of all US troops from Iraq. He said US trouble in Iraq is "identical" to the situation the country found itself in during the Vietnam war. "They're identical wars," he said. "It's just unbelievable that we could walk in the footsteps of that terrible debacle." Excerpts from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette: # He called congressional resolutions put forth so far to limit the war Rube Goldberg plans that do nothing to stop the pile of bodies from growing. Do the math, he said. Count the number of seats on planes needed to get the troops out. Leave the equipment. The Army says its all worn out anyway. We can be out by Labor Day. .... Though he won re-election to a second term, he had begun to burn bridges within his party and the Alaska voters. In 1980, he lost a Democratic primary to Clark Gruening, grandson of Ernest Gruening. Had I remained in Congress, I would have been corrupted, he said. I was disgusted with government and politics. # FULL ARTICLE AVAILABLE HERE



