Jan 12, 2007  |  By: JULIE ENSZNE  | COMMENTS     

IT’S AN ODD political year for the Democrats. More Democrats are declaring that they are not going to run for the Democratic presidential nomination than are. Media outlets are confounded and, without records of many more potential candidates to analyze (and with the two current “frontrunners” having scant records of their own), they are focusing prospective voters on questions of identity. Would you elect a woman president? Would you elect a black president?
 
I can’t be the only person wondering when will we elect an openly lesbian or gay president? No one is asking that question. We’re still obsessed with parsing the difference between a marriage and a civil union. In absence of the openly gay candidate, however, I’m looking for candidates who will open a more progressive dialogue on our issues in 2008.
 
That’s how I came to meet Mike Gravel. Gravel (pronounced Gra-VELL) was a senator from Alaska from 1969 until 1981. Since that time he’s been working on a project he calls The National Initiative, a campaign to bring direct democracy to the United States through initiatives at the federal level.
 
Yep, he wants voters to vote on issues nationally like we do on local bond issues or statewide ballot initiatives. I thought it was a crackpot idea. Then I met Gravel.
 
 
GRAVEL IS A vibrant man in his 70s. I can’t help but think his vibrancy comes from his big vision. He wants to change the Constitution and the fundamental ways that we think about democracy. He doesn’t want the American voters to give over the power of legislating to politicians; he wants them to retain it for themselves. He wants to create an entirely new system of governing in the United States through citizen legislators. Gravel has outlined his plans at www.ni4d.us.
 
The National Initiative, if enacted according to Gravel’s vision, would alter drastically our notions of laws and voting. It would engage us in direct democracy, not the representative democracy that we know today. I still have some misgivings about this idea, given how queer people have fared at the ballot box, but Gravel’s proposal is such a radical departure from the present state of affairs and filled with positive possibilities for change that I cannot dismiss it.
 
Gravel has other ideas that make him a “maverick,” a moniker he embraces. He believes in universal, single-payer health care. He advocates a “fair tax” with a “pre-bate” which involves eliminating the IRS to make our tax system more fair, transparent and equitable. Gravel wants to invest in education and transportation infrastructure and he wants to end the war in Iraq immediately.
 
Mike Gravel is the kind of candidate that we need in this Democratic primary. He is charismatic and committed to a progressive vision of government. He is unafraid to take on big issues and talk about them. He supports gay and lesbian equality unequivocally. He has a vision and ideas that need to be on the table in talking about our future.
 
OUR FUTURE IS what primaries are supposed to address. Primaries are when people and politicians bring forward issues and ideas important to them. Primaries are when candidates listen and learn about what matters to the American people, in general, and to Democratic primary voters in particular.
 
I believe that we cannot concede this Democratic primary cycle blindly to anyone who happens to have a lot of money or good name recognition. To do that would be a disservice to the queer community. We don’t need more politicians towing a particular line on the importance of gay and lesbian equality while pandering to a perceived right wing in the Democratic Party for whom marriage is between a man and a woman.
 
Let’s take our time and look around at all the candidates. Let’s have politicians come to us and make their case about why we should vote for them — and what they will do on behalf of our quest for equality if they are elected.
 
In the meantime, I’ll go on record saying, Mike Gravel is a fellow with great ideas and a passion for public service. I like Mike. He deserves our time and consideration. We need him in this primary, and he just might surprise us.