ACLU Rating: Gravel served in the U.S. Senate from 1969 to 1981. While I have not yet been able to obtain his ACLU rating for that period, it is worth noting that Gravel played a central role in the release of the Pentagon Papers (1971), a collection of confidential documents detailing U.S. failures in Vietnam.
Abortion and Reproductive Rights - Strongly Pro-Choice: According to NARAL Pro-Choice America, Gravel had a consistently pro-choice voting record during his last four years in office. His voting record for the years 1969 through 1976 has not yet been publicized, but by all accounts it was equally pro-choice. Gravel has stated firm opposition to the Supreme Court's ruling in Gonzales v. Carhart, which upholds a federal ban on live intact D&X ("partial birth") abortions.
Death Penalty - Abolitionist: Gravel has consistently supported abolition of the death penalty since at least 1972.
The First Amendment - Supports Campaign Finance Reform: Gravel has stated strong support for campaign finance reform.
Immigrants' Rights - Moderately Generous: Gravel supports a citizenship path for undocumented immigrants, as well as a guest worker program.
Lesbian and Gay Rights - Full Equality: Gravel is one of only two major-party 2008 presidential candidates to support same-sex marriage on a national level. Like other Democratic candidates, he also supports the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), federal hate crime legislation that includes sexual orientation and gender identity as protected categories, and the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell."
Race and Equal Opportunity - Record Unknown: A detailed analysis of Gravel's voting record while in the U.S. Senate, from 1969 to 1981, would probably reveal a strong record on civil rights--but that analysis has not yet been made.
The Second Amendment - Moderate Position: Gravel supports a mandatory training program prior to gun licensure.
War on Terror - Libertarian: While he was in office, Gravel was one of the Senate's leading voices against executive power. Judging by his current rhetoric, there is no reason to believe that his views on this issue were in any way negated by the 9/11 attacks.
Tom's Take: The reason Gravel is not being taken seriously as a candidate is not because his body is too old; Bob Dole, the 1996 Republican presidential nominee, was only a year younger than Gravel at the time of his nomination. The reason Gravel is not being taken seriously as a candidate is because his candidacy is too old. Gravel is running a Vietnam-era antiwar campaign, not a post-9/11 antiwar campaign; his 26-year departure from the political scene has made him an enigma and a throwback at the same time. We know how he feels now about same-sex marriage, but how would he have felt about it in 2006 if he were serving in the Senate and running for reelection? Gravel is taking bold, courageous, uncompromising positions--but they cost him absolutely nothing, because he is not, and for the bulk of the last three decades has not been, part of the political system. I'm glad he's in the 2008 presidential race because the voice of his political generation, the last truly subversive and libertarian political generation, needs to be heard--but he is not a viable presidential candidate for 2009. In 1973, 1977, or 1981, he would have been amazing. In 2009, he's comic relief--a sad fate for one of the most honest, intelligent, and deeply courageous senators to have ever served.
