Thoughts on Kucinich (D) Entering Presidential Race
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Cleveland) is in the race:
"Democrats were swept into power on Nov. 7 because of widespread voter discontent with the war in Iraq," Kucinich said. "Instead of heeding those concerns and responding with a strong and immediate change in polices and direction, the Democratic congressional leadership seems inclined to continue funding the perpetuation of the war."Unlike some, I'm very glad that he will join the field. It's not that I think he has a chance to win, it's that his hard-core anti-war stance will force the other Democratic candidates to take seriously the views of anti-war Democratic voters.
The White House and the right wingers are deep into a campaign to undermine the Iraq Study Group report and come up with a "change of course" that is merely a continuation of Bush's Iraq policy in disquise. I'm concerned that as the Republicans pull the debate hard to the right, the mainline Democratic Presidential candidates will shift to some perceived middle ground instead of maintaining stiff opposition to the debacle. We need a Kucinich in the mix to keep shouting about the emperor's nakedness. I don't think his idea of cutting off military funding will happen or would work, but his clamor will keep up the pressure to push for early redeployment.
posted by Jeff @ 8:32 AM
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9 Comments:
Dennis is a joke. No Democrat should take him seriously. He will end up getting about 1% in the primary like in 2004, and I would imagine the real contenders like Clinton and Obama will keep him as far away as possible. Clinton is hardly a dove, and is a polar opposite from Dennis when it comes to national security. Obama I don't know too much about, but having such mass appeal does not lend itself to catering to the 1% that support Kucinich.
I pretty much agree with "anonymous" above. I live in his district, and am trying not to be angry with him for deciding to ditch his constituents so soon after gaining some actual clout in the House (Dems in majority for the first time in Denny's career). Had he made his intentions to waste everyone's time flying around the country sometime before this past November, I would not have voted for him, nor would I have encouraged anyone else to. This whole thing has me wishing that Barbara Ann Ferris would've beat him in the primary. Sigh. Thanks for nothing, Dennis.
He's just gearing up to be Secretary of the Department of Peace...
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ahem.
I don't live in his district, but I feel for those people who do because it seems that, once again, they have an absentee congressperson. It isn't as if we don't have major problems in Cleveland that require serious and attentive representation in Washington - we do. But how will Kucinich flying to California and Florida and New York help in alleviating those problems? It just appears to be more of an ego-driven campaign then one genuinely designed for promoting discussion on the war in Iraq.
Is it also fair of voters in that district to ask Kucinich why he didn't share during the campaign the fact that he was planning to launch a run for President only a little over a month after his election?
Great post, thanks. Don't know if you've seen this David Letterman clip with Our Fearless Leader in it, but its pretty funny--
www.minor-ripper.blogspot.com
I don't live in his district, but I'm glad he's speaking out on the war. Some candidate will run in 2008 and strongly oppose the war. That candidate will get a lot of traction in the Democratic race if we are still bogged down there like today. Could it be Dennis? Who knows.
As long as Dennis is there to cast votes, his involvement in the 2008 race shouldn't hurt his constituent services.
because of widespread voter discontent with the war in Iraq
That's simply not true.
Numerous polls and studies have shown that the invasion of Iraq was NOT the "deal breaker" issue that swung voters over to the Democrats.
No candidate that is as flaky as Dennis, can have any serious impact on the race, no matter what their issue.
He will be, again, a minor sideshow, trading ego strokes for the chance to have some actual impact in the House (for a change!)
His "Flake Factor" trumps any issue.
And, yes, it was dishonest to pull this stunt.
OK, he's against the war.....how's that different from other millions of Americans? Maybe they should run.
Kucinich may mean well but he should focus on bringing jobs to Cleveland within the context of NAFTA instead of trying to rewrite legislation that will never be unwritten. NAFTA isn't the enemy, I live in Detroit and have lived in Ohio, but its the reluctance to work within its framework. Does it make it easy for Detroit or Cleveland? No. But it isn't impossible, it should be the push we've needed for years to diversify away from manufacturing.
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