In the Libertarian Presidential Nomination contest I recently watched, two candidates who presented a very strong contrast were Mary Ruwart, a PhD and Libertarian activist, and Mike Gravel, a former US Senator.

Between ballots, the CSPAN cameras went around the convention hall following various candidates. At one point there was a couple who had some issues with Mary’s policy issues or something she had said. Her response was along the lines of, “Well, it seems to me that…” Or, “I felt that…” Very calm, non-confrontational. Like I said, she’s an activist (and a good natured one it seems) and not a politico. Her body language was almost defensive.

I contrast this with Mike. I had heard of Mike only because of the “rock” video. In it he stands motionless for over a minute, then throws a rock into a pond, and walks off. I figured he was mentally ill, but he didn’t come off that poorly at the convention. After he had lost, he fielded questions from people on the floor during one of the breaks. Again and again he said, “I’m retired from politics now, I’m done with the party. I’ve written four books and I’m going on a book tour for them, and I have more books in me.”

And when I say again and again, I do mean again and again and again and again. When I’m his age and senile and being recorded throwing rocks into a pond, even though my mind will be gone I’ll remember one thing: Mike Gravel wrote four books and is going to go on a tour and has more books in him.

Mike stayed on message, which is now apparently promoting his writing career. Mary didn’t. I actually found Mary to be quite endearing. But if there’s something you need to bang into someone’s head, nothing succeeds like repetition. Mary needed to stand toe to toe with the people criticizing her and get back to whatever it was she was trying to say.

Did I mention that Mike has written four books, that he’s going on a tour, and has more books in him?