Where in the world is Mike Gravel?

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While most Democratic hopefuls have cleared the path to the White House for the three titans, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards, the blue party has yet to shake the last couple of stragglers.  Most notably former U.S. Alaskan Senator Mike Gravel is still kicking, but fading fast. 

No one has heard much from Gravel in the last couple weeks.  Though he was the first known candidate of either party to enter the 2008 presidential race 2 1/2 years before Election Day, Gravel has since fallen off the map. 

Democrats are not inviting him to debate events anymore.  The most recent comment from Gravel was about how fellow Democratic competitor Dennis Kucinich is hypocritical for complaining that candidates John Edwards and Hillary Clinton failed to mention his exclusion from MSNBC’s Jan. 15 debate when Kucinich failed to mention Gravel’s exclusion during MSNBC’s Philadelphia debate in October.

While Gravel definitely is not making head-weigh in campaigning–he’s dead last in the Democratic race–at least he is making headlines.  On January 6, he told a group of students to choose marijuana over alcohol during a visit to Phillips Exeter Academy.  Gravel said, “I’m sure a lot of you have tripped out on alcohol. It’s a lot safer to do it on marijuana.” Later he told the students, “If you’ve got a problem with coke, go to a doctor, get a prescription and get it filled at a drug store.”

Gravel has not been shy about his support for the decriminalization of marijuana, but perhaps his most recent controversial words are the reason he has been laying low lately.  Then, again, if Gravel can throw out more entertaining nuggets of insight like:

“Go get yourself a fifth of Scotch or a fifth of gin and chug-a-lug it down and you’ll find you lose your senses a lot faster than you would smoking some marijuana.”

I say he is overdue for an appearance.