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Former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel has abandoned his bid to be the Democratic presidential candidate and now hopes to be the nominee of the Libertarian Party.

In an announcement released late Tuesday, Gravel said he is joining the Libertarian ranks because it “is a party that combines a commitment to freedom and peace that can’t be found in the two major parties that control the government and politics of America.

“My libertarian views, as well as my strong stance against war, the military industrial complex and American imperialism, seem not to be tolerated by Democratic Party elites who are out of touch with the average American; elites that reject the empowerment of American citizens I offered to the Democratic Party at the beginning of this presidential campaign with the National Initiative for Democracy,” he said in a statement.

In an e-mail to supporters,  Gravel, 77, wrote, “I look forward to advancing my presidential candidacy within the Libertarian Party, which is considerably closer to my values, my foreign policy views and my domestic views.”

Libertarian Party National Media Coordinator Andrew Davis said he didn’t know whether Gravel plans to run for his party’s presidential nomination, but he is qualified to be a candidate if he is constitutionally able to run, is a member of the Libertarian Party ranks and is willing to accept the nomination.

Davis noted that Texas Rep. Ron Paul is a lifetime member of the Libertarian Party but is running as a Republican presidential candidate. Paul was the Libertarian Party presidential candidate in 1988.

Davis said 15 candidates are on the slate for the Libertarian Party nomination, which will be determined at the May 22-26 national convention in Denver, Colo. He said Gravel isn’t “a perfect libertarian” but he supports essentials of the party — opposing a military draft, empowering the American voter and standing against “the war of American imperialism.”

Last month, Gravel endorsed Green Party presidential nominee Jesse Johnson. National Multimedia Director Sklyer McKinley said at the time that Gravel didn’t see any reason “why not” to offer his backing since “voting party line is not smart” and he agrees with Johnson’s message as well as the Green Party’s approach of “direct democracy, mobilizing at a grassroots level, working with people one-on-one and enabling citizen democracy.”

“He’s a current Democratic presidential candidate who is now a member of the Libertarian Party who has endorsed a member of the Green Party,” Davis said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 26th, 2008 at 10:23 am and is filed under Mike Gravel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.