Dennis Kucinich: the real soul of the Democratic Party?

"The best-kept secret on the Democratic presidential campaign trail ignited St. Paul’s Central High School auditorium August 16, bringing the almost 1000-strong crowd repeatedly to its feet, cheering. Supporters of Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) defy definition, spanning independents, Greens, veterans, students, peace activists, consumers and environmentalists. Doubts about his “electability” are greatly exaggerated—Kucinich won by 70 percent in 2001 in a traditionally Republican district. Willie Nelson is recording campaign ads for him and doing concert fundraisers with Ani DiFranco in Des Moines, Iowa, in early September. Grassroots campaign organizations are spreading like smoldering prairie fire across the country."

<snip>

"While other Democrats tinker with cosmetic changes, Kucinich is the only candidate proposing universal, single-payer healthcare, including dental, vision-care, mental health and long-term care. JAMA’s study announced last week that 8,000 doctors agree that Kucinich’s plan is the only solution for both containing costs and alarming health disparities."

<snip>


“This continued military build up will be the DEATH-knell for our democracy. They’re SUCKING OUT THE OXYGEN that’s needed for the economy!” he concluded. Kucinich is ranking Democrat on the National Security Committee. Vowing to cut military spending, “I’ll correct this direction. We’ll have a strong defense, but we ALREADY had that before 9/11. My concern is that we understand that education is part of national defense, Healthcare is national defense. Having good jobs and full employment is national defense. Making sure veterans have the full benefits we promised them when they said they’d serve is national defense. This is a moment for fundamental and deep change and my candidacy represents that."

<snip>

"Historical perspective also challenges pundits’ premature judgments: At this point in the campaign process, Bill Clinton had 6 percent and Jimmy Carter didn’t make the polls at all, yet, both won the White House. Kucinich is polling 7 percent in Iowa, even without media coverage. Some call Kucinich the "Seabiscuit of 2004."

<snip>

"Deeply ethical, hard-working, informed by facts and empathy, impishly humorous: These are some impressions of the livewire Congressman from Ohio who’s kept the courage with which he began his political career. Burned through war-induced despair and Bush-generated fear, Dennis Kucinich inspired hundreds of people to imagine victory."



http://www.pulsetc.com/article.php?sid=583

.

How exciting that more are finally listening.

Nice work!

;-)

Dan Brown
Saint Paul, Minnesota

Those opposing his candidacy have lost touch with what the Democratic Party is all about.

I'm a Dean/Clark with a touch of Kerry guy myself but NO candidate gets me as genuinely enthused and excited as DK.

Even if he were somehow elected he would never serve his full term. The military-industrial complex has a way of making Presidents like him well... dead.

Kucinich’s depth on issues was further revealed in his pro-choice position, which included preventing unplanned pregnancies with access to contraceptives and sex education—both of which are under right-wing Christian attack. Unlike anti-choice politicians pushing “welfare reform,” Kucinich sees supports for mothers and children as critical to women having real reproductive rights. Many feminists don’t act beyond upholding Roe, so, I was utterly convinced of Kucinich’s sincerity. His record is consistently courageous on controversy. {emph. added}

I think that's the key to turning the nation around: he doesn't knuckle under. He kisses no rings.

I was unaware being the soul of the Democratic party required you to be anti-choice and voting for Clinton's impeachment.

He's not anti-choice, and he didn't vote for Clinton's impeachment.

cuz if ya don't...we'll set you straight!

:evilgrin:
Thanks Mairead!


:hi: and thanks AnAmerican!
Great post!

DK justs keeps on doing what he needs to do to get the word out while the other candidates dance around...yup...I'd agree with that!!
More & more people are discovering Dennis...

Peace
DR

Choice

During the period of time when Rep. Kucinich received the worst rating by groups that monitor pro-choice votes he:

1. Voted against requiring counselors to notify parents and impose a five-day waiting period when minors entered family planning clinics to buy contraceptives.

2. He voted to force federal health care plans that include drug coverage to include coverage for contraceptives.

3. He voted against creating a new crime of assaulting a pregnant women based on causing harm to a fetus.

4. He voted against a measure that would have banned the use of US Population funds to advocate abortion as a family planning measure.

5. He voted against banning "partial birth" abortion when the health of the mother is not specially protected as an exception to the ban.

Rep. Kucinich's votes are votes of empowerment. His votes, even during this time, were focused on putting more control over reproductive choice in the hands of the person making that choice, including preventing unplanned pregnancies with access to contraceptives and sex education—both of which are under right-wing Christian attack. Unlike anti-choice politicians pushing “welfare reform,” Kucinich sees supports for mothers and children as critical to women having real reproductive rights. Many feminists don’t act beyond upholding Roe, Kucinich did. Since that time, he's come to a fuller understanding of the gender inequity ramifications involved in the pro-choice movement, and is the only candidate who has declared his intention to make judicial nominations subject to a litmus test on Roe v. Wade.

It should be noted that Antonin Scalia has expounded that judges should "quit" if they're not pro-death penalty, because that is the "law of the land." In just that way, Roe v. Wade is the law of the land, and no candidate has embarked on so bold a policy decision as to plumb from each potential judicial appointee their position on upholding that "law of the land." Rep. Kucinich's movement from personal empowerment to broad, full, and deep support of the positions of the pro-choice movement put him in the unique position of being the best candidate on choice, because he came to his position not through an examination of what would be the politically expedient choice, but through a natural evolution of his deeply held belief in personal empowerment and the responsibility of society and the government to play a healthy role in the development of that empowerment.

Candidate Kucinich is clearly, in my mind, the best candidate on choice.

Impeachment

I think the allegation that Kucinich supported Clinton's impeachment is misleading and dissembling. Kucinich voted to direct the Judiciary Committee to investigate whether sufficient grounds existed for impeaching President Clinton.

AND -

He voted against forcing President Clinton to divulge documents he
was claiming executive privilege over.

AND -

He voted NO on Article I.
He voted NO on Article II.
He voted NO on Article III.
He voted NO on Article IV.

AND -

He voted NO on withdrawing censure as an option.

AND -

He voted NO on appointing the House Managers for the Senate Trial.

So what he really did was vote to "find out" if there were sufficient grounds for impeachment, and, finding none, he voted AGAINST EVERY ARTICLE OF IMPEACHMENT, and voted to uphold Clinton's executive privilege rights, he voted to try to make censure and option, and he voted to try to undermine support for the House managers.

In fact, here's Kucinich's key vote on limiting the scope of Ken Lay's witch-hunt:

__________________________________________________

Key Vote

Impeachment Inquiry -Recommital Motion

Bill Number: H Res 581
Issue: Investigations & Impeachment
Date: 10/08/1998
Sponsor: Recommittal motion introduced by Boucher, D-VA; resolution
introduced by Hyde, R-IL.

Representative Dennis J. Kucinich voted YES.

Vote to require adding language to the resolution limiting the scope
of the impeachment inquiry to Independent Counsel Starr's allegations
relating to the President's relationship with Monica Lewinsky. The
motion would also require the committee to complete its investigation
by December 31, 1998.

H Res 581: Resolution Allowing Impeachment Inquiry
__________________________________________________

So what we have is a man who voted against every Article of Impeachment, voted to uphold President Clinton's executive privilege, voted to limit the scope of the investigation, and voted to undermine the House Managers in the Senate Trial.

There's nothing in Kucinich's voting record that supports the outrageous, inflammatory, and ludicrous assertion that he voted for Clinton's impeachment.

This is just a bogus, ill-thought out, unsubstantiated, non-fact-checked, bitter attempt to smear Representative Kucinich for no good reason but to cause trouble.

Have a nice day.

Dan Brown
Saint Paul, Minnesota

Stop kidding yourself, Dennis the Menace is one of the worst Democrats we have. About the only thing he has accomplished is bankrupting the city of Cleveland. Zell Miller created the Hope Scholarship in Georgia, so for all your Zell bashing, with that one act, he has achieved more for the Democratic cause then Dennis Kucinich ever will.

On October 8th 1998, Kucinich was one of 31 Democrats to vote in favor of moving the Impeachment inquiry forward.

The only Ohio Democrat with a worse rating on pro-choice issues then Kucinich in the last congress was Traficant. You can talk all you want about how he voted on the other matters, but if choice is outlawed like Dennis the Menace would like those issues will be moot. But the worst thing of all is his 11th hour conversion, I can understand if someone is opposed to choice, but to blatantly pander like he is doing is disgusting. I think it shows that he has no convictions what-so-ever.

You guys should really get in touch with reality, Lyndon LaRouche is probably going to have a better showing in the primaries then Dennis Kucinich. Dennis the Menace far and away the worst candidate running for the nomination and really isn't all that much better than Bush. And there is nothing progressive about him, at all, he has no ideas to prepare us for the future, his platform isn't forward thinking, they are failed policies from the 70s, he offers no new ideas. THe Democrats need to be the party of the future, not the party of the past like the Republicans and the so-called progressive caucus. Dennis the Menace is the joke that doesn't need a punchline.

Because your blatant smearing is sure indicative of your lack of touch with reality up until now.

The voting record I reproduced is Kucinich's voting record. Check it out yourself, if you like. I'm pretty sure you're more comfortable in your dark cave of innuendo rather than the bright light of reality, though.

Kucinich voted against every single article of impeachment.

You're lying.

But then again you already knew that, didn't you.

Kucinich's "conversion" as you put it wasn't, but you don't care. He voted for making contraception and sex-ed available while being attacked by right-wingers as deluded on the issues as you apparently are.

As to electability, let's be clear here. Every Democratic candidate is electable. It's an overstatement, but not by much: A rock could probably beat Bush in 2004. Electability is not the issue. We are being tasked with choosing the best President we can get from the choices before us.

(Only creeps and cynics want us to believe otherwise.)

We should probably be grateful to George Bush for giving us this opportunity. Bush, the loser of the popular vote in 2000, got something like 50 million votes. Gore, the winner, got closer to 51 million. Eighty million eligible voters sat the election out.

The year 2000 was the neocon Waterloo. The Republican base of homophobes, gun nuts, uterus-enslavers, and corrupt corporatists is tapped. And since 2000 Bush has done his best to alienate every voter who crossed over to vote for him from the Libertarians and from the centrist Democrats.

All Bush has is fear.

All the Republicans have is a hope that their efforts to screw voters will mean they will be able to steal the vote in 2004 through: a) screwing the voters in Colorado through redistricting, b) screwing the voters in Texas through redistricting, c) screwing the voters in California through recall, d) screwing the voters in Florida by refusing to reinstate 50,000 voters wrongfully purged as felons, and e) screwing all the people of the nation by implementing Diebold's "black box" voting system with no paper trail (having eliminated the VNS watchdog and its exceptional record at predicting elections).

The Republicans wouldn't be working so hard to steal, screw, and deprive voters if they thought their message was going to carry them in 2004. They know they're screwed, and they're scared.

(Disruptors, on the other hand, will do and say anything to move forward their agenda - including lying about the records of other candidates.)

We own the issues, but we don't own the media (Podesta - get busy!) and we have to diligently guard against the destabilizing of the electoral process the Republicans have been engaging in with "black box" voting and redistricting and recall mayhem.

It's the overfunded extremist machine and its grip on the lapdog media that we must take care not to underestimate. But it only runs on one thing - fear. There are three constituencies that are mobilized by the BFEE (that's Bush Family Evil Empire): Extremists, the fearful, and cookie-cutter patriots.

(Disruptors use Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt.)

Bush got the highest number of votes he's ever going to get "on issues" in 2000. (Billion dollars a week on military adventurism while the energy grid fails at home - who thinks we need another tax cut?) Since he can't win on issues any longer, that's why we're seeing such a rush to fund-raise, a glut of electoral destabilizing moves from Republicans, and a blind and wholehearted embrace of "black box" voting technology forced on states by federal legislation.

Since Bush has literally driven Libertarians, Reduced Governmentists, Conservative Democrats, and most Independents away with his embrace of neo-conservative extremist positions on nearly everything since being appointed in 2000, and he has no respectable positions on anything that will be attractive to those constituencies or that he hasn't already debunked by his subsequent actions while in office, he'll win absolutely *zero* votes with his "compassionate conservative" hogwash this time around.

Bush has no issues, that's why he's running on extremism, fear, and cookie-cutter patriotism.

What that means, for every one of the candidates, is that all the positions belong to the Democrats. It should also mean that if the "fear" and "cookie-cutter patriotism" legs of the Bush campaign are neutralized, that Bush will be left with nothing to run on but extremism.

I'm not saying it will be a cakewalk (although given our advantage on issues it should be). But what should happen is this: All of the nearly 51 million voters who voted for Gore will reject Bush again this time (unless they're a) immobilized by fear, or b) turned into cookie-cutter patriots by the Evil Fairy Bushmother). Some of the 80 million who didn't vote should be motivated by restrictions on civil liberties or other heinous Bush policies to vote this time around. And Bush definitely won't get as many votes from the 50 million or so voters who voted for him last time, because he's alienated so many of those voters.

Issues will be the key, because Democrats own all the issues, except for, as I mentioned, fear, extremism, and cookie-cutter patriotism (but we *will* own or neutralize them by offering a candidate with a clear vision). Because Democrats own the issues, I believe we'll be in the best position to pick up all those votes (those of the 51 million Gore voters, the 80 million nonvoters, and the disenchanted from Bush's 50 million), by offering the candidate who is the best on the issues.

So, in my opinion, while the ability to competently elucidate coherent positions on the issues is and will be a means by which to distinguish the Democratic potential nominees from one another, to the extent that electability is an issue as it relates to Bush, the only thing that will matter is that the nominee is sufficiently *the opposite* of Bush's position on all the things that count.

Other than whether the candidate is "like Bush" or "not like Bush" on issues that resonate with voters (other than the three I mentioned: fear, extremism, and cookie-cutter patriotism) I still think the whole electability bugaboo is a red herring when used as a tool to distinguish one potential nominee from another.

We should nominate the candidate who is the best on the issues, and the election will take care of itself, the money will flow, and we'll evict the Poseur Prince from Al Gore's house.

The key for Bush will be to convince enough of the Gore voters, Independents, non-voters, and Democrats to a) vote for him because they're afraid, or b) give up their duty to think for themselves and buy into the cookie-cutter patriot hype machine.

I think it's a shame that this Fortunate Son and his sick cabal of neo-conservatives have been able to reduce the national dialog to these essentially ignorant and disrespectful issues (fear and fake patriotism), but as long as our candidate neutralizes one or both of these neo-conservative pathways to power, we win.

That's why whomever we nominate is going to be the next President of the United States.

Has Lyndon LaRouche won many elections? I didn't think so. Dennis Kucinich, on the other hand, beat a Republican incumbent to become Mayor of Cleveland at age 31, beat a Republican incumbent to become Ohio State Senator, and beat a Republican incumbent to become US Representative. He was re-elected last time with a 70% take of the vote

Dennis Kucinich is the best candidate, he's a pragmatic politician who wins the fights he gets into, and he'll make the best President of the United States.

No matter what disruptors who prefer to lie about the candidates choose to say about him.

Dan Brown
Saint Paul, Minnesota

I was about to tell the guy what I "really" think. Of course that would have meant the mods deleting my post. :evilgrin:

Thankfully, your post defused some of my irritation at the blatant bashing employed by the prior poster.

But I couldn't resist adding my own blow-by-blow destruction of this one's claims. It's just too easy and so much fun!:evilgrin: :toast:

I wish I lived in your fantasy world.

Kuncinich is not electable, Bush would wipe the floor with him. Him along with Dean, Mosley-Braun and Sharpton cannot win.

Despite your insane ramblings, going on forever and ever, this election is not in the bag, in a large part because a few extremists weak on what will be one of the top issues in 04 are weak on defense. They are bringing the party down with them, you really think people like Dennis Moore, Ken Lucas, Charlie Stenholm, Scott Matheson, etc. are going to want to be down the ballot from Dennis Kucinich? You can kiss any opportunity at getting the House or Senate back in the next decade if any of the unelectables were to get the nomination.

This is a serious game. Any of the unelectables would set back the Democratic party years. Any ideals you and Dennis the Menace have, will be crushed for good. Look what Nader did in 00, we wouldn't have this problem if you ultra-liberals understood the game.

It's insane to believe otherwise.

Our Defense is the strongest in the world many times over. He was the first to reveal that the armed services can’t account for a TRILLION dollars for allocated budget money. He is also fighting for a fair living wage for the service men and women and their families. As an ex-military brat (dependant) I full support his position on what we need to do to reform the military to make it more responsible to their own and America.

Is called that because he scares the bujeezus out of the Right Wing and Republicans.

A.) About the only thing he has accomplished is bankrupting the city of Cleveland.

BZZZZT. The City of Cleveland was never Bankrupt, it went into default. There IS a difference. Take a census of Clevelanders now and see just how many of them are pretty damned glad he opted not to sell Muny Light.

B.)On October 8th 1998, Kucinich was one of 31 Democrats to vote in favor of moving the Impeachment inquiry forward.

Um, yes, the IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY. Again the Inquiry into the articles is not the same thing as the Impeachment itself.

C.)The only Ohio Democrat with a worse rating on pro-choice issues then Kucinich in the last congress was Traficant. You can talk all you want about how he voted on the other matters, but if choice is outlawed like Dennis the Menace would like those issues will be moot.

Prior to about March of 2002, you'd be correct. This 11th hour nonsense is false, but then what else is new. So far you haven't gotten a single fact right inyour entire post. In case you missed it, Kucinich does NOT want abortion outlawed at this time, much like many PCers he wants to solve problems from their root and not at the conclusive stage. As for changing his position, what it REALLY shows, or should to anyone with a functioning brain cell or two, is that he is a man with an open mind, who is willing to step back and re-examine situations which he may not fully comprehend.

D.)And there is nothing progressive about him, at all, he has no ideas to prepare us for the future, his platform isn't forward thinking, they are failed policies from the 70s, he offers no new ideas.

Failed my foot. These are ideas that have NEVER BEEN TRIED IN ORDER TO HAVE FAILED. <sarcasm> And gee let's just look at what a great place we've arrived at without implementing those ideas back in the "70s", eh? </sarcasm>(yet another factual error since the Department of Peace idea has been around since George Washington's time)

I'll tell you what, when you can explain to me why anyone on this board should listen to someone proven to either be a liar or at the very least completely ignorant, over a man who has absolutely NO record of ever telling a falsehood or even making a facutally erroneous statement, then I'll give your claims some thought.

*note to other readers- This is hysterical really. When I first heard of Kucinich and got so excited about him, I honestly hunted for any evidence he'd lied or shown some ignorance publicly somewhere. I thought "Man, this guy is entirely too good to be true! There HAS to be something ugly lurking under there!". Well guess what folks? There isn't, and nobody who claims there is has been able to produce their professed *ugly truth* about Kucinich that people like me couldn't drive a Mack truck through! It still amazes me.

But at the end of the day, you still support Dennis Kucinich, a sure loser.

I can tell from your expert & unbiased posts in this thread that you are obviously the all seeing and all knowing expert on all things "ultra-liberal" (oooh- good one ) & Kucinich , so now I know I should take your word for this....
and after you are presented with all the above facts ...you still choose to believe the lies...

quite impressive....
:eyes:

Oh well, continue on with your own version of reality then...


Peace
DR

Unless they changed what it takes to win the primaries, and getting 1% in every state will get you the nomination, then I can say with certainity Kucinich doesn't have a chance in hell.

Have you ever heard of a Mr. Smith poll? Well lets just say, I know who stands to take off in the race, big time, and it sure as hell ain't Mr. Hypothetically I'm Only Polling 5%.

In any case I think you need to go spend some more time at the library judging from the content of your posts-

"Yeah, well at the ned of the day...."
WTH, are you still in high-school? That's the last time I recall someone trying to get me riled by calling my *team* a "loser". I can't tell you how tempted I was to post back "Yeah, well your guys cheerleaders are ugly!"

You think Kucinich can win and is the soul of the Democratic party and you are telling me to go back to the library. HA!

You're an armchair Democrat and a political amateur, how abot you stop posting on the internet and actually help the party out by supporting a candidate who can win?

Kucinich will never break 5% nationally, and, with me being very generous to him, will never get higher then 10% in any state, not to mention he'll probably lose his congressional seat as well. Kucinich has pretty much peaked, he has no natural constituency, except for internet know-nothings, and he doesn't have a marketable message. I work in the polling industry, I've seen his numbers, he doesn't have a chance.

Heck, when I head back to school in a couple of days...I'm going to form a Kucinich army.

I'm gonna place ads in the school paper(pretty cheap), gonna raise his awareness and appeal to the 200 or so student protesters who came out the day after Bush dropped the first shot of an illegal, unjust, unneccessary war on Iraq.

Yes, I'm going to form an army...and I assume on other campuses across the nation...they're going to form Kucinich armies as well.

You're not going to stop us! Don't underestimate the power of college students...we single handedly make up a key voting block...good enough to carry many precinct caucauses to the state level...where we will combine our forces to get national delegates for Kucinich. We won't lose...we have the numbers!

Kucinich 04
www.kucinich.us

Have you seen this website...?? There are great ideas for easy ways to grassroots ...low cost yet can make a difference!

http://www.wewantkucinich.com/wewantkucinich.htm

http://www.wewantkucinich.com/resources.htm

Very cool Mp3's...have you heard them?
Ursa Minor's "Kucinich Dub" and Joel Tyner's "Go Go Dennis! "

There is some awesome music out there...I really feel it will make a big diffeerence for Dennis withthe college crowd.

http://friendsofkucinich.com/musicians/#peace

Where are you going to college?? If you need any campaign items ...contact HQ or a local DK group- I hear there are cool Tees & lots of buttons available ...cool stuff to download & print out...also videos available for cheap too.

We can do this together!!!!

Peace
DR

I go to Minnesota State, Mankato. Which is about 70 miles southwest of the Twin Cities and about 70 miles north of Iowa.

Anyhow, the minnesotaforkucinich.com site is a good resource for me, as is Dennis's national site. I've set up a Mankato Yahoo group for Dennis and I'm the only one so far but I think after me putting out some ads in the the paper and setting up a booth in the student union and handing out stuff...I should get a couple of hunred supporters by the end of the year on board to attend the caucuses come march.

My school is about 12,000 students...so I should be able to round up quite a few to support Dennis.

Since we're so close to Iowa...hopefully I can round up some people with cars(I don't have a liscence or a car) and do some pushing for Dennis down there as well...since the Iowa caucus is so important.

I don't think I'll have a hard time getting people to join up to Kucinich's causes. We'll do our part...hopefully everyone else will do theirs.

If you're interested I can get you the links...but a bunch of people are caravanning (or bus?) down to see Willie & Dennis on Labor Day...hey-isn't Dan Brown in your state? Check in with him.

Sure sounds like fun...wish I could go-'Zona is too far away I'm afraid...
but people are coming from all directions.....

If I find all my inof I'll post or email it to ya!!

I bet too you'll get a bunch of youth for DK

Peace
DR

for later in the fall, which is great news for me. We hit a nasty financial hardship last month and are still catching up. I thought I'd have to miss it, but the rescheduling gives me some hope now! :-) :bounce: :party:

He is the most honest candidate running and it's refreshing to see someonein politics who tells the truth. Aren't we all tired of Presidents who lie? Isn't it time we elected a really good guy?

why do you give a rat's ass what we think or post??

If you know what you know then why jump in on our happy little DK threads at all? You seem to have a need to make yourself feel better by dumping on us...too bad it doesn't work ,honey.

Go back to your absolutely 100% accurate polls...now there's reality for ya!
bwa haha haaaa

You are saying Dennis has already peaked? Really?? well...just wait and see...perhaps you spend too much tim eon numbers & not enough with real people....??

good lord- internet know-nothings?? tsk tsk...
do not speak of things you know nothing about...
internet know nothings...
bwa ha ha haaaaaaaaaa

hoo babeee...quite the humorous post there, UpstateNYDem.
:evilgrin:

Peace
DR

guys like this who show up in some-one else's "I love my candidate!" thread just so they can rain on the parade really should go back to where they belong:

www freerepublic com

Hey, I may not be a Kuchinich gal, but I think it's great that you feel enthusiastic enough to support your candidate 100%. Let's show each other some love, people!

Keep up the good work, Desert! :7

Damn I love ignore!

from Wellstone.

He is the "dream candidate" of the Democratic Party, the candidate Democratic progressives and moderates would chose if they didn't give in to their baser instincts!!

Just came back from a county-wide Dem meeting. The buzz was all for DK's ideas and programs. No one else was even on the radar.The FIRST national candidate debate is going to be in Albuquerque on Sept. 4, and at least a thousand Kucinich supporters are going to be there to cheer him on!!

It's not my baser instincts I'm giving into, it's knowing the baser instincts of the rest of the country. I'm guess I'm a weird one, I support Kerry because I think his social policies are closest to Kucinich. I think he hates war and supports diplomatic resolutions like Kucinich. But he has a different approach in speaking to the issues, which makes him more appealing to the masses. The only candidate who wouldn't face a tough liberal label is Edwards which is why I leaned toward him in the beginning, but I just don't like his policies.

And even though I support Kerry, if my state is solid in one direction or another by the time we have our primary, I may well just vote Kucinich anyway.

I worked for Paul Wellstones' campaign, and then Mondale's. I've lived in Minnesota most of my life and followed Paul Wellstone's career closely. I resent anyone being compared to Paul Wellstone.

I realize I am but one person, and this is my opinion. But, I had to speak my peace.

Paul Wellstone was loved by many. Even those who disagreed with his politics. Dennis Kucinich was called "Little Hitler" by those who worked with him. Big difference. Not to mention the differences in voting records...which I won't go into here.

While I understand there are similarities, I have a hard time when people start comparing their guy to Paul Wellstone, sorry gang. :shrug:

I'm out of here, and plan to let you continue with out my big mouth. I also realize many will disagree with me.

Mr Brown for one... ;)

~Peace

No surprise there.

First of all, the "Little Hitler" crack is an adolescent low blow. Are we supposed to dislike Hillary Clinton because some disgruntled people call her "Hitlery?" Didn't think so. :P

Second, I did Wellstone's campaign and I marched in parades with him and I did the State Fair booth, and I personally collected six hundred dollars in one day for Walter Mondale and delivered it to the Kaplans at their house for him, and I knelt down and cried on Paul Wellstone's grave in November, missing him, and fearing no one would ever come to fight for us and for real people and against the corrupt powers-that-be like he did. And then I found Dennis.

Thirdly, Paul Wellstone was the only Senator to be part of the Progressive Caucus, chaired by Kucinich. That's meaningful.

It certainly doesn't foreclose the possibility that Paul Wellstone sought out and joined an important progressive group chaired by Howard Dean, except he didn't.

There are few people I hold in a light even remotely comparable to Wellstone. Russ Feingold. Tom Harkin. John Conyers. Jim McDermott. Barbara Lee. Dennis Kucinich.

Howard Dean? Not even close.

Peace.

Dan Brown
Saint Paul, Minnesota

edit: smiley didn't work

I guess I didn't have that in my subject line.

honor of Paul Wellstone, is working on Dennis Kucinich's campaign. Even children see the similarity between Wellstone and Kucinich. She wrote the following poem in honor of Dennis:

A Hero For America

By Natasha H. (age 12)

Out of Ohio a long shot has come.
Voters greet him with a hearty welcome.
Fearful candidates hope he’ll go away.
“Unelectable” they lyingly say.

Suddenly there’s hope for health care for all.
America soon again can stand tall.
Total equality, he can secure.
For America’s ills, he is the cure.

College for all will be affordable
If we believe our dreams are possible.
Jobs for Americans soon will come back.
Goodbye to W.T.O.’s job attack.

No more arsenic or nuclear waste
Nor cyanide in the water to taste.
Our environment now needs a hero
Who won’t sell us out as his profits grow.

He will help us to restore our liberty.
No more Homeland spying on you and me.
He will save our civil rights from attacks.
He will stop the outrageous fascist acts.

Each of us needs to stand up for what’s right,
Pulling America out of its plight.
We are the ones who determine who wins -
Not some conservative whose lies are sins.

We need a man who is honest and true,
One who will work hard for me and for you,
One who puts people above his campaign,
Who won’t skip out on work for his own gain.

Dennis will make this a great place for all.
He’s the right man. Are you up to the call?
Together we can make this country rich.
By choosing the best leader: Kucinich.


Copyright ©2003 by Natasha H. All rights reserved.

please compare Dennis K to Paul Wellstone on their voting records on going to War and supporting Bush in war.

Oh, and let's not forget the Patriot Act? Feingold stood alone in the senate on that one. Where was Wellstone.

I liked Wellstone. But, I didn't understand his votes on these at all.

As far as I can see, Dennis K is WAY BETTER THAN Wellstone. No disprespect meant to Paul W, but he was no Dennis Kucinich.

http://www.commonwealthclub.org/archive/03/03-07kucinich-audio.html
Worth a listen!

I feel we need as many people on the unapologetic left as the GOP has on the unapologetic right.

That said, given that the man is running at about 1/2 a percent in most Democratic presidential opinion polls, it is also fair to say that he is not the "real soul" of the Democratic party. Rather, he is one of the Democratic party's liberal "idealist idea men". And for that I laud him.

- C.D.

Seriously, I'm not at all convinced of that. I've NEVER been polled about my Presidential candidate in my entire life. I don't even know anyone who has! It just makes me wonder where they're finding their pool of voters to poll.

Conservatives like Lieberman and Dean benefit from this polling bias. This year the liberals will vote for Kucinich and their impact is a complete unknown.