Mike Gravel: last in the polls, first in our hearts

Ever since John Kennedy's makeup technician won a hard-fought victory over Richard Nixon's counterpart, television has assumed an increasingly important role in the campaign cycle. Witness, for example, Ronald Reagan's famous "bear in the woods" ad (which, to be honest, makes no sense to me), Michael Dukakis's hilariously unwise tank photo shoot in 1988, and Lloyd Bentsen's "You're no JFK" retort to Dan Quayle in the VP debate. Adding his name to this illustrious list is former senator Mike Gravel, who has composed a brilliant Brechtian vision of the American political landscape. Witness his masterpiece, "Rock." This video resists our urge to categorize it--indeed, like Whitman, it contains multitudes.