Episode 59: Mike Gravel's Twitter & The Gravel Teens

This latest episode of Across The Margin : The Podcast features an interview with David Oks, the campaign manager of Democratic presidential nominee Mike Gravel. Mike Gravel is a former U.S. Senator from the state of Alaska and is most famous for being a fierce critic of the Vietnam War and who was responsible for reading the Pentagon Papers into the Congressional Record, a bold act that put his career at risk. Gravel is also remembered for his 2008 presidential run where he famously challenged his peers at the debates by championing an end to the Iraq war and advocating for increasing direct democracy. Initially not interested in running for president again, Oks, a senior in high school, approached Gravel and urged him to run, eventually earning himself a role as campaign manager. He then was given the keys to Gravel’s Twitter account which has been employed aggressively and shrewdly to take other presidential candidates to task for their policy record and to provide poignant thoughts on the state of progressive politics in general. The Gravel campaign’s goal, fascinatingly enough, is not to win the presidency but to push the democratic candidate's policies further to the left and to hopefully get Gravel on stage for the Democratic Party debates to challenge candidates about the issues. Throughout this episode host Michael Shields and Oks discuss his motivations to work with Gravel, the specifics of Gravel’s progressive platform, the concerns and shortcomings of Centrism in America, the candidates that Gravel hopes to propel towards the presidency through his campaign tactics, and the ways in which you can contribute to Gravel’s campaign if so inclined.

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