Evan Ravitz, an advocate for direct democracy, recently posted a video of Ralph Nader endorsing the idea of national ballot initiatives in the United States.  He does not explicitly say that he supports former Senator Mike Gravel’s National Initiative for Democracy plan, but he does say that he supports a “binding national referendum.” Other third [...]

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Former Democratic Senator and Libertarian presidential candidate Mike Gravel is on a trip to South Korea, trying to bring about a national ballot initiative system there.  He was interviewed recently on the show “Let’s Talk Pusan.”  You can listen here – the interview itself is in English, just click play on the player underneath the [...]

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As the few stragglers left on Mike Gravel’s website have noticed, he has taken a strange interest in South Korea lately.  For those of you who don’t know, he ran as both a Democrat and Libertarian for president in 2008, and was a Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981.  Gravel apparently believes that it [...]

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In Illinois’ fifth congressional district there is currently a special election underway to fill Rahm Emanuel’s vacant seat, since he is now the White House Chief of Staff.  Matt Reichel is the Green Party candidate, running against a heavily favored Democrat and a Republican, after winning the primary. The Matt Reichel campaign recently announced that [...]

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Mike Gravel served as a Democratic US Senator from Alaska from 1969-1981. In 2008, he ran a campaign for President in the Democratic and Libertarian Parties. Since then he has endorsed Independents, Greens, and Libertarians who endorse his National Initiative. Those people have included Neil Keirnan Stephenson (L-MI) and Jesse Johnson (G-WV). Now Gravel has endorses Eric [...]

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The follow is from Congressional Quarterly. For those of you wondering how this relates to third parties, Mike Gravel was a candidate for the Libertarian Party’s nominee for president this year. Gravel Could Still Get Federal Matching Funds By Alex Knott, CQ Staff Democratic candidate Mike Gravel could apparently get federal matching funds for his [...]

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Michael L. Soha’s thesis that “fringe” candidates do not get treated fairly in the media will not come as a surprise to many readers here. In fact, much of the book Rejected: How the Media Excluded Alternative Candidates in the 2008 Primary will not be a surprise to our regular readers, especially the ardent Ron [...]

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From Virtualization.sys-con.com: National Experts, Oklahoma Initiative Leaders Discuss Ways to Reform State’s Initiative Process With No Initiatives on ’08 Ballot and Legal Battles, Reform Needed OKLAHOMA CITY, Nov. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Oklahomans for Initiative Rights (http://ok4ir.org/) is hosting a half-day conference this Saturday, November 15, from 8:30 am until 1:00 pm at the Renaissance Convention [...]

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From the Contra Costa Times: Mt. Diablo Peace and Justice Center — “After the Election – What’s Next for Democracy?” 7 p.m. Nov. 18. Speaker: Mike Gravel. Mt. Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church, 55 Eckley Lane, Walnut Creek. Suggested donation: $15. 925-933-7850.

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In a press release, Socialist Party candidate for president Brian Moore announced his first picks for cabinet members “if lightning strikes.” The diverse group of people included Mike Gravel for Secretary of State, Howard Zinn for Secretary of Labor, and the infamous Jeremiah Wright for UN Ambassador, among others. The press release: SPRING HILL, FLORIDA, [...]

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In a recent email to his supporters, independent congressional candidate John Murphy made a desperate plea for help. He is trying to put out newspaper ads to reach 106,000, radio ads, and automated calls to reach 50,000 voters, he said. And it would all cost $8,000, with close to $0 currently in the bank. Plus, [...]

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Splice Today, an online magazine with about the same readership as Independent Political Report, recently interviewed former Democratic Senator, Democratic presidential candidate, and Libertarian presidential candidate Mike Gravel about his failed bid for the presidency and other pressing matters (such as Sarah Palin porn and the video “Rock“). Gravel talked about his national initiative proposal, [...]

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This post is the first in a short series of posts that will be written from now until election day. They are a basic guide on how to utilize the great opportunity that is Election Day (or early voting, depending on where you’re from). The posts will mostly pertain to third party activists, although you [...]

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Free and Equal, the group that originally planned to have an alternative Presidential debate in New York City on October 19, has now confirmed Ralph Nader and Chuck Baldwin for a debate on October 23 in DC. Contact: Christina Tobin, 312-320-4101 This morning, Christina Tobin, Director of Free and Equal, announced an Independent/Third Party Presidential [...]

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The following press release was sent to IPR from Free and Equal Free & Equal Elections Coalition 230 E. Ohio St., Ste. 212 Chicago, IL 60611 Attn: Politics Editors, Campaign 2008 Editors, National Editor Third Party Presidential Debate to Take Place on Thursday, October 23rd Contact: Christina Tobin, 312-320-4101 The Independent/Third Party Presidential Debate to [...]

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UPDATE @ 1706 Central Time We received another call from Christopher Thrasher, quoted in the story below. There will not be a debate at Columbia University, and he is no longer with Free and Equal. He will be releasing a statement and providing details later. An NY Times article quoted at Free and Equal indicates [...]

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Ballot Access News reports The proposed Baldwin-McKinney-Nader debate that had been planned for Sunday evening, October 19, is very unlikely to happen. It seems that none of the candidates who were originally invited (including Bob Barr, and on a theoretical basis, the major party nominees) had really committed and really wanted to participate. McKinney and [...]

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On Sunday, October 19th, at 4 AM EST, former Libertarian presidential candidate and Democratic Senator Mike Gravel will be appearing on CSpan 2. He will be on the show Book TV discussing his book The Kingmakers, and will appear with his co-author David Eisenbach. This will most likely appear on CSpan in the future as [...]

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Writing for an Ohio newspaper, Michael Medved asked the question, “Why the Third Party Bust in 2008?” His answer is a combination of reasons: Democratic and Republican primary contestors who zapped the excitement from third parties, major party candidates who are marketed toward “cantankerous independents,” and more. The opinion piece begins: Final returns are still [...]

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In today’s Charleston Gazette, former Senator and Libertarian presidential candidate Mike Gravel wrote an Op-Ed piece supporting a gubernatorial candidate. That candidate is Jesse Johnson, of the Mountain Party, the West Virginia affiliate of the Green Party. Gravel had previously endorsed Johnson and campaigned for him. You can read the article here. Here is an [...]

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