I'm afraid! Dennis Kucinich is WAY better than what the country deserves right now

[Mind_your_head]

Dennis is a good, honest man who speaks the truth....addresses the BIG questions....WANTS to address the BIG issues of today....If YOU believe in America, if you believe that America is a 'leader'.....why wouldn't this guy be your VERY FIRST CHOICE for the Dem nomination???

[lonestarnot]

1. I don't know.

x(

[Mind_your_head]

5. What don't you know? Why your reservation? eom

[lonestarnot]

48. I don't know why Dennis isn't everyone's first choice!

Maybe they have just not heard his proposals.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

53. Because, as I said downthread...

...he's a pretty lousy politician.

[lonestarnot]

65. # of post?

I'm lazee.

[JeffR]

2. He IS my very first choice

:thumbsup:

[More Than A Feeling]

3. Because he's never won statewide.

If he can't successfully convince an entire state that he can represent all of them, its practically a foregone conclusion that he isn't seriously trying to convince an entire nation. The last representative to get elected to the presidency straight from the House was James Garfield in 1880.

If Dennis Kucinich was serious about trying to become president, he would have challenged Mike DeWine or Kenneth Blackwell, or Voinovich the last time he was up, and then, if successful, run for president.

I could say the same things as Dennis, but that doesn't qualify me to be president. Resume matters too, and Dennis' is seriously deficient when it comes to being presidential.

[southerncrone]

7. Past history doesn't necessarily dictate the future.

That is just a statistic. Eisenhower never was in congress or governor or mayor! Granted he had the nations respect as a military leader, but had no political experience.
That argument just doesn't hold up for me.

We need to build a new future. Relying on the past will not get us there. America needs to make changes NOW!

[More Than A Feeling]

16. Then let Dennis become a general.

I would have listed "general" along with senator or governor, but the odds of Dennis Kucinich becoming a general are probably about as good as those of him winning the presidency without being a senator or governor first. Slim to none.

We can make changes now, Dennis Kucinich just isn't the person to make it so right now. He could become that person, if he won statewide.

[Mind_your_head]

8. I lived in Ohio "back in the day"......

Voinovich isn't any 'saint'.

I think that's part of the problem.....people are only given a little blurb (a ten-second/minute sound-bite) about a candidate). These MEN (and some women) have spent their whole lives in politics....and the millions and millions of voters have scant information about the history/ "what really goes on" ;-)

*sigh* I'm tired (but not giving up)....

For tonight I'm off to bed soon.....

[More Than A Feeling]

15. Who said Voinovich was a saint?

He's one of those spineless fakers who calls himself a "moderate Republican," and I wish somebody would beat him for his seat. I'd be impressed if it was Dennis Kucinich who beat him.

[Breeze54]

17. WTF? He was a Mayor, Ohio State Senator and now is a Congessman!!

About Dennis Kucinich

Having been elected to Cleveland's City Council at age 23, Dennis J. Kucinich was well-known to Cleveland residents when they chose him as their mayor in 1977 at the age of 31. At the time, Kucinich was the youngest person ever elected to lead a major American city.

In 1978, Cleveland's banks demanded that he sell the city's 70 year-old municipally-owned electric system to its private competitor (in which the banks had a financial interest) as a precondition of extending credit to city government.

When Mayor Kucinich refused to sell Muny Light, the banks took the unprecedented step of refusing to roll over the city’s debt, as is customary. Instead, they pushed the city into default. It turned out the banks were thoroughly interlocked with the private utility, CEI, which would have acquired monopoly status by taking over Muny Light. Five of the six banks held almost 1.8 million shares of CEI stock; of the 11 directors of CEI, eight were also directors of four of the six banks involved.

By holding to his promise and putting principle above politics, Kucinich lost his re-election bid and his political career was temporarily derailed. But today, Kucinich stands vindicated for having confronted the Enron of his day, and for saving the municipal power company. "There is little debate," wrote Cleveland Magazine in May 1996, "over the value of Muny Light today. Now Cleveland Public Power, it is a proven asset to the city that between 1985 and 1995 saved its customers $195,148,520 over what they would have paid CEI." He also preserved hundreds of union jobs.

In addition to being Mayor of Cleveland, Kucinich has served on the Cleveland City Council (1970-75, 1981-82); served as the Clerk of Courts for the Cleveland Municipal Court (1976-77); been an Ohio State Senator (1994-96); and in November 2004, was elected to his fifth term as a Member of the United States House of Representatives (1997-present).

Kucinich was born in Cleveland, Ohio on October 8, 1946. He is the eldest of 7 children of Frank and Virginia Kucinich. He and his family lived in twenty-one places by the time Kucinich was 17 years old. Kucinich graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters in Speech Communications from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio in 1974.

Kucinich has held many jobs outside of politics including being a hospital orderly, newspaper copy boy, teacher, consultant, television analyst and author.

Since being elected to Congress in 1996, Kucinich has been a tireless advocate for worker rights, civil rights and human rights.

In Congress, Kucinich has authored and co-sponsored legislation to create a national health care system, preserve Social Security, lower the costs of prescription drugs, provide economic development through infrastructure improvements, abolish the death penalty, provide universal prekindergarten to all 3, 4, and 5 year olds, create a Department of Peace, regulate genetically engineered foods, repeal the USA PATRIOT Act, and provide tax relief to working class families.

Kucinich has been honored by Public Citizen, the Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth and the League of Conservation Voters as a champion of clean air, clean water and an unspoiled earth. Kucinich has twice been an official United States delegate to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (1998, 2004) and attend the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa.

In his district, Kucinich has been recognized by the Greater Cleveland AFL-CIO as a tireless advocate for the social and economic interests of his community.

Kucinich led the effort to save Cleveland's 90 year-old steel industry and the thousands of jobs and retiree benefits it provides. While hundreds of community hospitals have been closed throughout the country, Kucinich led a community-based effort to reopened two Cleveland neighborhood hospitals.

Kucinich worked with the nation's largest railroads to create a merger agreement that improved rail safety while diverting a heavy volume of train traffic away from heavily populated residential areas of his district.

In Cleveland, Kucinich has been honored by the Cleveland AFL-CIO, the Ohio PTA, the NASA Glenn Research Center, the Salvation Army, the United States Post Office, the Department of Veterans Affairs, Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services, Ohio’s Boys Town, and the Human Rights Campaign.

Kucinich is a current member of The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States (IATSE), an AFL-CIO affiliated union.

http://kucinich.house.gov/Biography/

[More Than A Feeling]

18. All of that is true, and it is also true that he has never won statewide.

Nor has he been VP, or a general.

[Breeze54]

19. And your point is......? So what? Has any of the other candidates?

He, by just scanning his resume, is an experienced and dedicated worker FOR THE PEOPLE!!!!

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

40. Has any other candidate won statewide?

Let's see...


Hillary - check.
Obama - check.

Fuck, even Gravel's done something.

[Breeze54]

50. What the H are you talking about?

Kucinich has been winning elections since the 70's!


Read and learn... http://kucinich.house.gov/Biography

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

52. Do you have trouble reading?

We were talking about whether he'd ever been elected to a statewide office.

[Breeze54]

54. No, I wasn't. I was talking about the fact he has won many elections.

You and one other mentioned statewide.

Are you always so fucking rude and uncivil?

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

55. Let me go really slow this time.

1) Heaven & Earth points out that Kucinich has not won a state-wide election, which is a valid point to make about a potential Presidential candidate's experience.

2) You list a lot of things that aren't stat-ewide that Kucinich has won.

3) H&E points out that these things are not state-wide.

4) You ask if any of the other candidates have won state-wide.

5) I point out that basically all of them have.

6) You ask me what the hell I'm talking about and once again miss the point that Kucinich has not won a state-wide election and all of the other candidates (at least the serious ones) have.

After all of that, I'm fairly certain that you wish to remain willfully ignorant of H&E's original point, that winning a state-wide office is a useful indicator of electability on the national stage. That is why I was "uncivil" with you.

[Breeze54]

61. Did you forget to take your Prozac today?

[More Than A Feeling]

63. Look, your candidate has a large weakness.

(Actually, he has several, but the one I've noted is the most rationally defensible.)

No candidate is perfect.

I don't know why it bothers you, unless you'd like everyone to believe that it was actually Dennis Kucinich who walked on water and fed the five thousand.

[0007]

38. I'll take Dennis Kucinich anyday over any War hawk running

for the presidency.

In fact he is the only one I'll vote for to be president.

[Selatius]

4. He doesn't have the money to buy media air time.

You need the support of money to get noticed. It takes tremendous money to build up name recognition the kind that Hillary has got. It comes down to your ability to raise money and run a campaign, not on the merits of your ideas, ultimately. This is how our political system works. It should be the opposite, but it's not.

[Lindsey]

6. I was incredibly impressed by him and his wife, Elizabeth, on Ed Schultz

I think your original post was correct, he's basically too good for the country now unless we have a major shift.

[Mind_your_head]

9. Well there's something DEFINITELY WRONG when it doesn't

come down to the "merit's of your ideas". What else is there?

[Selatius]

25. It's the golden rule you are left with: He who has the gold, makes the rules.

There's a trade off to everything. If Americans don't want a publicly financed election system, then they will be stuck with the current system, and there are consequences to that. Conversely, if they want such a system, they're going to have to put forth the effort to fight for candidates who favor reform, but it's not easy. Nothing so good ever came so easily. Currently, I am skeptical that the crop of leaders on the Hill have the vision to push forward such a fundamental reform, a necessary reform, and we haven't yet addressed the issue of the gigantic roadblock to such reforms currently sitting in the White House.

[Ian_rd]

35. Kucinich serves an invaluable purpose by simply running

His strong (and true) statements force the other Democrats to address issues that they could normally avoid. They can't stand by while Kucinich earns points from the base on statements about NAFTA, the war, etc. and stick to their shallow focus-tested bullshit. They are forced to co-opt some of his support with similar statements and hopefully promises. Kucinich pushes issues onto the mainstream candidates. His candidacy is vital, even given that he is an extreme underdog.

In Armed Madhouse, Greg Palast theorizes that the New Deal was not a product of FDR as much as it was a product of FDR co-opting the platform of Hewie Long, who pushed issues from the left - issues that had a great deal of popular support. And Long, of course, was never president.

[Breeze54]

51. Then get busy helping to raise the dough!

;)

[defendandprotect]

10. I'd be happy to vote for Kucinich -- -- -- + he's broadening the discussions/responses --

[varkam]

11. I forget the forum...

but the question was posed to all of the Democratic candidates if they would be willing to kill bin Laden in an airstrike even if it also meant that some innocents would also die. Kucinich was the only one who said he would not.

[slipslidingaway]

13. Is that good or bad? Just posted this on the subject...we really

need a new direction IMO.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1796829&mesg_id=1796942

He is not against defending our nation at all and will use military force when needed. He is against aggressive wars that will cause our nation harm in the future, diminish our ability to work with other nations, drain money from the budget needed for other priorities and kill people unnecessarily.

Justice not revenge...makes perfect sense to me. Do you think the Iraqi's now have the right to carry out terrorist attacks in our country for the pain we have inflicted on them, maybe they want revenge as well. I think his message is more for international consumption than domestic consumption.


"Kucinich: Well, Bill, it's nice to see you on Charlie Rose's show. And I know that you'll both help each other's ratings. I want to say that our Constitution has been trashed by this administration. Former President Gerald Ford understood there are dangers when you use assassination as a tool. Assassination is really what's called an extrajudicial killing. Look at the entire way this administration has changed our Constitution and what America's values are. Extrajudicial killings are now licensed. Abu Ghraib, tortures—licensed. Guantanamo—people are not permitted to have a right to a trial. Habeas corpus has been trashed. You're looking at the one person who really understands what this document, the Constitution of the United States, is all about. I want equal justice. I want Osama Bin Laden brought to justice. Now, if he resists in an attempt to arrest him, you know, whatever happens happens. But I think that we as a country need to reinstate this Constitution. This is the basis of our strength, and so I'm going to proceed to—for the whole world to understand the full power of the U.S. Constitution and what our system of justice is really about.

Thank you, Bill, for your question.

Rose: Let me follow up on my friend Bill Maher's question. If in fact Osama Bin Laden is taken out by some kind of airstrike, would you be pleased?

Kucinich: Again, I think that my position is that, you know, we've already tried that, Charlie. That we've had airstrikes all along the Pakistani border. We've killed a lot of innocent villagers in this search for Osama Bin Laden. Where does it end? Do you nuke a country in order to get one person? I'm saying that we have to follow international law. We cannot get into a kind of international vigilantism. We have to unite this country in the sense of upholding the law. We must join the international criminal court because our officials must equally be accountable to the law. President Gerald Ford understood that you start licensing assassination in any way, shape, or form, that it endangers our own country and our own leaders. So I'm saying that we have to be very concerned about the consequences of our action. That—stop the deaths of innocents, because that's what's been going on..."

[alittlelark]

12. He has my vote (sans Gore)

He is soooo all over it!

[countmyvote4real]

14. Good on you.

I voted for Dennis Kucinich in the 2004 NY primary. In return I got Kerry and Edwards. I was never engaged by Kerry, but Edwards was always my second choice to DK.

I’m not sure that there are enough informed voters to vote our truth. An HRC victory is almost ensured here. My vote for the progressive opposition’s candidate is anybody but Hilary.

[Mind_your_head]

21. Don't give up.....don't give in! The fate of the COUNTRY (not the NWO)

depends upon people like you & me to spread the word. The NWO is not 'healthy' living....it MIGHT be survival, but it's not 'healthy' and it's certainly not 'living'.

Peace,
M_Y_H

[riona]

34. This is the same scenario that keeps popping into my head

Like a screen saver, the MSM is on in our house daily, and I hear little or nothing about Kucinich. Our city newspaper rarely even mentions him. As for as the polls are concerned, he is practically non-existent. (Wonder why the pollsters never call here). Anyway, after the last two elections, I can't get my mind to wrap around the idea of a good man like Kucinich being elected. Imagining the public jumping from a lightweight like * to a true man of the people boggles my mind. Like you, when it comes to primary day, I may be forced to vote my second choice. :cry:

[WA98296]

20. I'm voting for him. He is the ONLY one who truly places PEOPLE over corporations.

What actually have the other candidates done to correct anything?

And Kudos to Ed Shultz for giving candidates a REAL opportunity to talk to Americans.

[Breeze54]

23. He needs money for his campaign. I'm sending $10.00 for now. Will any of you join me?

Dennis for President - Strength Through Peace
http://www.dennis4president.com/home/

DONATE $$ HERE!!
https://services.myngp.com/ngponlineservices/contribution.aspx?X=aDlDFFT9TMGh0ghebdP6VkYKCfcT%2fFNw

[bdamomma]

44. I will donate to Dennis

:hi:

[LWolf]

45. I will join you October 1st,

when I get my first paycheck since June. That's when I sent him my last donation.

[Roland99]

30. The only one who was and is against the Iraq invasion *and* has a clear universal health plan.

And understands how corporations have taken control of power and that the deficit is becoming untenable.

[bdamomma]

43. the only one who wants to impeach Cheney too.

[Roland99]

47. Which has to be done to stop the war on Iran.

[cui bono]

22. He believes he can win, we need to believe we can win too.

[bdamomma]

42. exactly, if all those who seem to say Dennis does not have chance

if each of us who did say that and voted for him he will probably be our candidate. Why vote against our own best interest, he was great on Ed Shultz yesterday, he has done his homework, and he cares about Americans. And what can you say about someone who wants to have a Dept. of Peace!!!!

[regnaD kciN]

24. I always wrote him off as a decent, but minor, figure...

...but, after hearing him on Ed Schultz yesterday, I'd have to think of him as my first choice.

[EFerrari]

27. He learned something from his last run.

He's a much better speaker. His voice has become stronger and clearer. There used to be a slight hesitancy about him that is gone. I've been very impressed by the change.

[trashcanistanista]

26. He is my first choice and has

my primary vote.

[izzie]

28. He is a very good man. Are you sure a good man can make it to the WH?

I guess we can only hope to get a few of those in Congress. Did you hear about that new poll and what Am. think their Constitution tells them? That gives one food for thought. Scary stuff. How can you get some one like this man in if people think like that?

[DemBones DemBones]

29. He can if enough good men and women support him

with donations and votes and door-to-door canvassing.

I think the only way most people will ever hear about Dennis Kucinich is for his supporters to do door-to-door canvassing.

The media will continue to marginalize him and show polls that show Hillary in the lead, Barack close behind, John Edwards a trailing third, and everyone else ignored.

But what do the polls really reflect? Name recognition. Clinton, Obama, and Edwards get the most media coverage so it's a no-brainer that they get the highest poll numbers. I don't have much confidence in any of them being elected. Hillary will lose a lot of votes because she's a woman, Barack will lose votes because he's black, and John will lose votes because "he gets $700 haircuts."

Most people are not following the debates and won't be until the primaries are closer.

(Our election seasons are about a year and a half too long but that's another story!)

[izzie]

31. People change their minds but it is so slow

It will be years before many will see he is right. You should know this after all look who we have as a President. My God we have gone back a 100 years. It is like these people in the govt. GOP do not see how the world is working at all. Times are not with them but they do not see it.

[bos1]

32. Good point. Clinton wasn't the best

but he was maybe the best the US system could do, I always said.

[Name removed]

33. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Perry Logan]

36. You mean, if Dennis isn't our first choice, we don't believe in America? Thanks for filling us in.

[AuntPatsy]

37. People cannot handle the truth.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

39. Because he's a fucking lousy politician. n/t

[MadHound]

46. Yeah, darn it, he's so bad that he winds up being right on the issues time and again

What a lousy politician:eyes:

Frankly I would much rather have Kucinich in office rather than any politician who voted for the IWR. I don't care what their excuse was, it boils down to two options: A. They were fooled by Bush for heaven's sake. If that's the case, then they are too dumb for the highest office in the land. B. They actually support the war, which means that they're either too bloodthirsty or too far in the back pocket of corporate Ameria to be President.

Thanks, but no. I'll take a "lousy politictian" who is consistently right on the issues than somebody who is either stupid enough to be fooled by Bush, or is just a power hungry corporate whore.

[Breeze54]

49. Very well stated!!

:applause: :applause:

:)

[riverdale]

56. Kucinich and Nader are always right on the issues

Yet I do not understand why people here hate Nader and love the Kooch. Neither one has a realistic shot, so if the right ideas are really important to y'all, why all the Nader hating?

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

60. Because Nader was a spoiler and Kucinich isn't.

Nader is, to many people here, partly responsible for our lovely Years of The Shrub.

[Breeze54]

62. This thread is about Kucinich

How did Nader and who loves him get in this mix? :shrug:

[LeftCoast]

58. I'd rather have an effective politician rather than a lone voice in the wilderness

Has DK gotten a single thing accomplished since he's been in Congress?

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

59. That's not the point at all.

And this is something that I find amongst a lot of Kucinich supporters - a total disregard for the difference between opinions and political acumen. It wouldn't matter if Kucinich and I agreed on every damned issue of the day, he'd still be a lousy fucking politician. He has no major accomplishments from his time in Congress. He is a charisma-free zone. And I swear to God, those long-winded have-pity-on-little-ole-me press releases his campaign churned out over ABC's refusal to give coverage to that stupid online poll his supporters freeped was, from a pure tactical standpoint, the sorriest goddamn thing I've seen on our side of the aisle in the race thus far.


Thanks, but no. I'll take a "lousy politician" who is consistently right on the issues than somebody who is either stupid enough to be fooled by Bush, or is just a power hungry corporate whore.

And you will lose because he is unelectable. Not because the media hate him, or because the corporations sabotaged his campaign, but simply because he is not a particularly good politician, simple as that. I make no judgment on him as a human being. Honestly, the fact that he sucks at politics makes me think he's probably more decent than a good pol.

[southerncrone]

64. RIGHT ON, MadHound!!!!

[no_hypocrisy]

41. Bobby Kennedy never would have gotten his campaign off the ground with that attitude.

He had ideals like DK.

[Individualist]

57. DK is my first choice.

If voters refuse to be influenced by MSM propaganda and DLC talking points and instead vote for the candidate who best represents the people, he will win.