No Respect for Kuncinich, Though many agree with him

[illinoisprogressive]

Rep. Dennis Kucinich opposed the Iraq war from the beginning, voted against the Patriot Act and has drawn up articles of impeachment for Vice President Dick Cheney.

Compared with his rivals, he’s been far closer to the views of his party’s base, and on issues that matter, he’s been years ahead of his competitors, who are frequently dragged along — kicking and screaming — by the grass roots.

And yet Kucinich, who ran in 2004 and is campaigning in Las Vegas today, is more often viewed as comedy fodder than party leader or contender.

The mockery extends from highbrow — a New Yorker cartoon depicting Kucinich winning the Mars primary — to lowbrow — with jokes about his height, ears, veganism and so on. “Snicker and Kucinich” returns 50,000 hits from Google, with a Web site or two tracking the mockery. (Mockery that’s no stranger to the pages of the Sun.)

At a spring Culinary Union event for candidates, a union official ducked her head inside the press room and said, mockingly, “Dennis Kucinich is shaking hands outside.” The assembled press snickered, and continued writing.

http://politics.lasvegassun.com/2007/09/no-respect-for-.html

[sailor65]

1. Right now

I see him as the only worthy candidate.

[BlueJazz]

2. He is the best person for the Job.

[Tellurian]

8. a quote from the OP:

"What does Kucinich make of all this?"

"Well, the Sun tried to reach him. But Kucinich, who drove Cleveland into bankruptcy as mayor, who disappeared to New Mexico during the ’80s, who received 1 percent of the votes in the 2004 Iowa caucus, and whose wife has her tongue pierced and was born three decades after her husband, wasn’t available because he was busy campaigning in Hawaii.

That makes him the first candidate to campaign in Hawaii, which will certainly be important in the race to secure the all-important South Pacific states.

For a campaign with so little money, it seems like an odd use of resources.

The Sun priced out a round-trip ticket from Cleveland to Honolulu, and it seems it can’t be done for less than $500. He could have driven to Iowa for much less."

[Lydia Leftcoast]

9. Typical of the type of snark the MSM heaps on Kucinich continually

It's even factually wrong.

But that never stopped the DK bashers.

[Tellurian]

10. make the corrections..

e-mail it to the author.. ask for an apology and a reprint..

[superkia]

3. The sheeple ignore facts and follow their leader the media!

When you look at what he stands for and how he speaks out and doesn't hide what he is about. He is fighting for Americans but the sheeple are too blind to see it. The agenda driven media has done its job well, ignore him and they will follow! If he was the nominee, his message on a national stage would make any republican look like a dishonest money hungry crook. The democrats would win in a landslide!

[MonkeyFunk]

4. it really is possible

to not support Kucinich and not be a brainwashed sheep.

[superkia]

7. Its not the supporting other candidates, its the ignoring him part.

[MonkeyFunk]

15. I disagree with the assumption

that if only people knew about him, they'd support him.

He's on his second run for President. A lot of people know about him - they don't support him. Of Democratic primary voters, who one presumes tend to be a little more knowledgeable than the average citizen, only about 2% support him. I can't believe 98% of such people just don't know enough about him.

[AZBlue]

5. The Las Vegas Sun? Consider the source!

[saltpoint]

6. The other farm animals tormented and teased the ugly duckling in the folk tale

but turns out we only honor the duckling who grew to be a swan and the rest of those fascist asshole farm animals sank into oblivion so fast it would make your head spin.

I don't think Dennis Kucinich will be our next president. I'd like to see him stay inthe race and pressure both parties into a more vivid model of public service, which is a gift he has shared with many for some time now, from the Cleveland days to this evening.

The prophet and visionary is not honored in his own land in his own time. Kucinich may be a component of that archetypal circumstance.

Nevertheless, he's a true heart and mind and is owed respect and thanks.

[ossman]

11. And the ugly duckling has a hot wife.

[saltpoint]

13. Indeed. A lucky man is this Mr. Kucinich.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

12. I'm sure he knows what will happen, or won't...

Nonetheless, this is a serious bid for the presidency...

I hope that at least his ideas will have more influence as time goes on...

I'm still going to vote for him.

He is my candidate.

[cobalt1999]

19. How is this a serious bid for the presidency?

I've yet to figure out what his strategy is. How is not setting up any offices or staff in the early states going to help him win? Why is he spending his limited funds flying all over to places like Hawaii? Where is he concentrating resources to have a good showing in order to build momentum and get that media exposure? How will be compete once the early primaries are over?

IMHO, it's one of two things...

1) He is serious about winning but is trying to do it in the most screwed up way possible, or
2) He isn't serious and is just trying to get his message out.

[Prince Paul]

14. The only reason people don't respect him is because the mainstream media doesn't respect him

Can't you guys see this ? They do not want him to win. So they just ignore him and pretend he doesn't exist, that or insult him. The American people are a very feeble minded group, keep telling them who to vote for and they'll listen. Imagine if DK got the same exact attention from the media that Obama is getting now. He'd be a sure shot to win the whole election.

[MonkeyFunk]

16. I disagree

I don't think anybody in the mainstream media loses sleep over the thought of Kucinich winning.

He gets little attention because he has no chance of winning. If he started winning primaries, I guarantee the media would cover him.

[Ron Green]

18. Perhaps the corollary is true.

If the media would cover him, he'd start winning primaries.

[MonkeyFunk]

21. He gets as much media time

as he deserves. Good lord, he's been in a ton of debates, he's been on all the news networks and all the late-night talk shows. He still gets 2%.

And no, he wouldn't start winning primaries. People DO know him already and don't want him to be president.

[Mind_your_head]

17. "First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win."

"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi

[JTFrog]

20. They mock him as they mock us.

He is a representative of the people and that is not allowed. Only those that represent consumers will be heard.