Two days on the road with Kucinich

Just saw the article, which seems to have been around for awhile--

http://www.folkmusic.com/archive/z_kucinich.htm

Tim started with a song, DJK spoke. He was in rare form…quoting Shelley, Yeats, Decartes, Emerson…drawing in the crowd with wide-ranging references to physics, metaphysics, literature, history and art. Having listened to him, in order, address a union audience that morning, a religious audience that afternoon and a college audience that evening I was struck by his ability to present ideas that were intelligent without being elitist, compassionate without being corny, bold without being batty and spiritual without being sectarian. He answered complicated questions directly and clearly, drawing roars of appreciation even from those who expected him to be evasive. In fact, a group of Bush/Cheney supporters lamented near the end of the Q&A that they weren’t registered to vote in the primary because they would have liked to have cast theirs for Kucinich.

All in all, I’ve never…in my many years of following elections and voting…witnessed a candidate with the kind of expansive intelligence, with the ability to focus attention on issues common to all the citizenry while at the same time proposing solutions that are radical only in their uniqueness, not in their audacity. Kucinich is the rare candidate that is actually more humble than you’d like him to be. He mentions past victories only to prove that thinking and acting “outside the box” means there’s enough room for success for all. He challenges us to be courageous enough to believe that we can accomplish things. That we are more than we seem. That we are hampered not by inability but by fear. A cynic would decry his speeches as radical politics masquerading in the guise of self-help cheerleading. But the fact remains that our nation and this world is crippled by a sense of hopelessness and fear. We believe our problems are too great, our resources are too limited, our numbers are too small, our opponents to powerful, our time too short. We are sold a bill of inevitability and we are paying with not only our pocketbooks but with our souls. Unless and until we are able to wrestle our demons…be they personal or communal…we will never have peace. It requires a kind of reshaping of the national dialog and the courage to reject old paradigms for what they are: out-dated, divisive and unsuccessful.

I didn't know he campaigned for Dennis, although it doesn't surprise me at all. He's been a favorite of mine for decades. Most recently, I appreciate his song "The List."

He voices why we support Dennis so well. No wonder he's a songwriter!

I’m not merely tilting at windmills here in my enthusiasm for Dennis Kucinich. I know he’s not going to get the Democratic nomination. I also know he’s not going to mount a third-party candidacy. But in this primary season we have an opportunity to shape the arc of the election campaign. The first attack ads are already out and the salvos back and forth do not bode well for intelligent debate. Unless we have a rallying-point to bring pressure to bear on the major candidates they are not going to discuss the issues of primary importance to Americans. We all want to live in peace. We all want live without the fear that we’re going to get sick and our savings is going to vanish. We all want to live without fear for our personal and collective safety. We all want to believe that our children can go to school and receive a good education and are safe in that environment. We all want to feel as though we are doing meaningful work and are able to support ourselves and our families. We all want to feel as though our older years are not going to plunge us into poverty.

These concerns are Common. They are not limited to any single class, ethnic group, gender or political persuasion. We can continue to live in the polarized, fear-based Us-vs.-Them mentality. It’s easy: the media and the current political paradigm all base their approaches to social debate on it. Or we can look with clear, new vision at the problems that we face together and begin to believe that we have the power to change our condition.

Some would believe this season is all about deciding where to assign your small, single voice. You are “one in a million.” True, but you are also “one in a million”…capable of joining with those thousands and millions of others who are ready to take back our democracy. It’s time to be courageous. It’s time to believe. It’s time. It’s time.

Might be the only leader we have that would actually be able to really fix it if we'd just give him a shot at it.

Too bad so many LOVE the status quo. Corporatists are happy though!

I have seen SO MANY Republican voters state their support for the man. The disintegration of the Democratic Party may well begin with this election when (if?) Kerryite strategies to humiliate the real left fail to entice the "moderate" middle to choose the other pro-war, pro-PATRIOT Act candidate. If Kerry doesnt embrace the Kucinich platform to some extent there will be widespread disaffection. If that happens, I believe it will only be according to plan.

David Sarasohn: Kucinich running not to topple Kerry, but to help him
May 4, 2004

Kucinich is hoping that a strong showing in Oregon would send that message to Kerry -- whom he likes and will support in November.
snip---
The Ohio congressman is focusing on four issues: single-payer health care, opposition to free trade agreements, opposition to the Patriot Act -- and on that issue Kerry is now sounding considerably differently than he did in Iowa and New Hampshire -- and, above everything, the Iraq war.
snip----
The Kerry campaign insists that none of it matters. Kerry respects Kucinich, says campaign spokesman Laura Capps, "but he's running a general election campaign, and voters know he's the guy who's going to beat Bush. We're the ones facing the $170 million Republican onslaught."
snip----
And no matter how well Kucinich does, said a ranking Kerry adviser, the last thing he needs to do is start changing positions. But the campaign recently announced that Kerry would indeed appear in Oregon before the primary.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/4756786.html

I think we all know that mainstream Americans are, in general, pretty brainwashed. They could not even figure out that Bu$h was lying in order to get us into the war in Iraq, and most were gung-ho about the war before it began. Kerry has to take into account the mentality of mainstream America while campaigning, and may be banking on the fact that that many "liberals" are generally pretty informed and understand this and will vote for him with the knowledge that campaigning is often necessarily directed toward the misinformed or uninformed voter, whose opinions are warped by RW media. This way he gets the votes of many "liberals" and more of the mainstream.

Like Dennis, I am a "liberal" that is going to support and vote for Kerry. The Republicans, all of them, are nothing but modern day American Nazis. Either we vote them out, or we will suffer very grave consequences. Anyone with half a brain can see that this is a given.

Kerry has a good legislative record on many issues. Maybe Kerry will "re-examine" some of the positions that we disagree with him on, because of learning new information after he takes office.

"From the moment I take office, I will stand up to the special interests and stand with hardworking families so that we can give America back its future and its ideals." John Kerry

Many mistake what Kucinich is doing as being an alternative voice to Kerry and don't get that he is actually acting as an ADDITIONAL voice.

Kucinich is as thrilled as anyone that Kerry, with his lifetime record of liberalism, is the nominee. Who would have thought that a liberal would EVER get to be the Democratic nominee in our lifetime?

What a fantastic article! I saw it first thing this morning over my coffee and danish! It does a very good job of summing up why Dennis is still in the race, despite the fact that he won't be nominated.

2004 may not have been his year, but I'd expect to see him on the national stage some time in the future. He truly is the conscience of the party, and is much more relavent than most Dems realize.