The power of the internet is one that really shouldn't be underestimated. Just sitting in front of your computer at home, while you're probably watching an episode of House while playing Boxhead, you're able to reach hundreds and thousands -- and even millions -- of people. Just recently, the Mike Gravel for President campaign has been able to utilize the internet to coordinate people to help Mike get into the debates, in which he was previously not invited (not excluded, just not invited) to. It really, is an amazing story. Well, you ask, what was my miniscule role in this massive campaign? I signed the petitions, emailed the editors, blogged the links and the many things concerining our crusade, got my friends involved... and all that. But my role isn't really the point of this article is to demonstrate how one person could make a difference... and how we can use the internet to help advance our activist agendas.

 Mike Gravel is the person that America and the rest of the world so desperately needs right now. He's the only one of all the candidates who's really got the picture of how the rest of the world sees America at the moment... He's the only one who's got an idea on how to fix that. The NH debates were held on June 4. A month ago, we got word that Gravel may not be invited to the debates, as he was the "potted plant". He wasn't a top tier candidate. But really. Who gave the mainstream media the right to decide which candidates should be heard, and which shouldn't? So, in the spirit of free speech and good politics, a bunch of internet Gravel supporters began to email Charles Perkins, the NH Union Leader (which was co-hosting the debates) editor and we started a petition. Soon, the campaign was on a roll. The petition became the top Digged Digg post and everything seemed to be on our side. We got thousands of signatures. It should be noted that the campaign got signatures not only from Gravel supporters, but also from people from all over the political spectrum. People agreed that by barring the candidate from participation, it would be political favoritism. Shortly after the campaign began, many of us started to get replies to our NHUL telling usthat Gravel was not "barred from parcipitation". But, as many of the fellow campaigners pointed out, Gravel still wasn't invited. So we continued on with the campaign. After 72 hours since the campaign began, the Gravel camp finally got word from the NHUL that he was invited. This was, in Gravel's press secretary's words: "a direct result of the dedication and work of those of you who have stood up for this campaign". By simply a few clicks and a few strokes of the keyboard, the thousands of us who had participated had managed to get the candidate, who polled at around 1% and was an * in most polls, into the New Hampshire Democratic Presidential Debate. A truly remarkable achievement for people who haven't even met.

 Although this entry is a bit dated (as I failed to upload it some months ago), I thnk it's a pretty good story that ought to be told. Mike Gravel was a US Senator from Alaska. Some of his many achievements include a one-man fillibuster that forced Nixon to end the draft for the Vietnam War and the release of the Pentagon Papers. Before that, he served as Speaker of the House in Alaska and in the army intelligence. He has a BS in Economics from Columbia and four other honorary degrees. Since his retirement from the Senate, Mike has been involved in various advocacy groups. He founded the National Initiative for Democracy -- an organization dedicated to empower the average citizen as lawmakers. He is currently running for President in the Democratic field.... although due to media exclusion and censorship, his campaign never took off... but he may run as an independent in 2008. http://gravel08.us :)