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 Gay Marriage Supporter Gravel Drops Dems For
Libertarians
by The Associated Press
Posted: March 26, 2008 - 12:30 pm ET
(Washington) Long-shot presidential candidate
Mike Gravel told supporters Wednesday he is leaving the Democratic Party to join
the Libertarian Party.
Gravel, a former Democratic senator from Alaska,
said in an e-mail that the Democratic Party "no longer represents my vision
for our great country."
"It is a party that continues to sustain
war, the military-industrial complex and imperialism - all of which I find
anathema to my views," he said in the e-mail in which he also asked
supporters for campaign donations.
Gravel, 77, has been excluded from recent
Democratic debates because he failed to meet fundraising or polling thresholds.
"I look forward to advancing my presidential
candidacy within the Libertarian Party, which is considerably closer to my
values, my foreign policy views and my domestic views," he said.
Gravel left the Senate in 1981 after losing the
1980 Democratic primary. An outspoken critic of the Vietnam War, he was among
the first Democrats to speak out against the war in Iraq while others supported
the president.
He announced his bid for the presidency on April
17, 2006.
Gravel was one of two Democratic presidential
candidates to support same-sex marriage. The other was Dennis Kucinich.
Both Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama support civil unions.
©365Gay.com 2008
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