The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : How to Grovel, And How to Not

Text Size

I’ll have an entire column on the Teamsters BBQ here in Chicago come Monday, but here are a couple of my favorite moments from the two Dem presidential candidates who spoke. First is watching once-supposedly-proud-moderate Bill Richardson try to ingratiate himself by exaggerating popular left-wing conspiracy theories, take a few whacks at standard bogeymen and further enable Kossacks already lively delusions of grandeur. Hence, “The blogosphere is the last free medium in this country. Everything else has been gobbled up. And we have to keep the internet free.”

Huge applause. Then Gravel took the mic and got absolutely nothing from them when he said he wanted to make the tax code “fair” across the board with a national sales tax. And it was definitely the message they were under-whelmed by, not the messenger. Say what you will, he brings the passion:

“I want to change our tax code,” Gravel said. “Our tax code sucks. Our tax code is corrupt. It’s corrupt! And the people who carry the load are the ordinary citizens and they don’t really know how bad they’re getting screwed.”

Oh, and here’s my second favorite Gravel bit: “I had a trucking business in Alaska for about four months—and then I sold it. So I was a Teamster boss, I was a Teamster employee and so I know what it’s like to drive a big truck like that. Many of you don’t realize I drove a checkered cab in New York City when I was at Columbia University. Been there, done that, and I identify with you.”

I love this guy, but—Republican, Democrat, independent, Green—it is never good for a candidate when I identify him. Unlike the Kossacks, I actually recognize how far outside the mainstream my views are. (An sometimes…well, it’s a badge of honor.)

topics:
Business, Alaska