'Fear has covered this country'

[goodhue]

News : Page Updated: Wednesday, April 14, 2004 1:12 PM PDT

'Fear has covered this country'

By Daniel Schreiber, Staff Writer

Just as President George W. Bush spoke to the press on national television Tuesday night about the recent "tough weeks" in Iraq, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, challenged the Bush administration's war policies in a presentation at the Coos Bay Public Library. Despite the rain, the congressman drew a standing-room-only crowd of more than 150 Bay Area supporters and still more had to be turned away for lack of space.

An excitement permeated the room, Coos Bay having a history of receiving notable presidential hopefuls over the years, including John F. Kennedy in 1959, George McGovern in 1972 and Walter Mondale in 1984. The anticipation confirmed it had been awhile.

Kucinich, one of two remaining candidates of the original 10 in the Democratic primary election, said he was campaigning on the South Coast to influence a change in the direction of the Democratic Party and appeal to Oregon's large independent voter demographic. The crowd consisted mainly of senior citizens, asking questions about health care, pharmaceutical drug market reform and what has been the congressman's primary speaking point, problems with the war in Iraq.

Though small in stature, Kucinich leaned on bulky issues to hold the crowd's attention and maintained complete control of the tone in the town hall meeting-style setting, moving from humorous to gravely serious, sometimes in a matter of only a few words. Coos Bay is a "great place to take my message" and there is "something deeply American about small towns," he said.

(more)

http://www.theworldlink.com/articles/2004/04/14/news/news01.txt