[Peace-discuss] Fwd: [IL4Kucinich] Oregon Primary May Be Last Stand for Kucinich

[Chuck Minne]

Claudia Slate <clslate at kucinich.us> wrote:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-kucinich16ma
y16,1,1009815.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
<http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-kucinich16m
ay16,1,1009815.story?coll=la-headlines-nation>


May 16, 2004


THE RACE TO THE WHITE HOUSE
Oregon Primary May Be Last Stand for Kucinich
*He acknowledges Kerry's superiority but hopes to leave a liberal
mark on Democrats.

By Susannah Rosenblatt, Times Staff Writer
THE DALLES, Ore. — Dennis J. Kucinich doesn't believe in
conventional wisdom.

Especially the kind that says with Sen. John F. Kerry as the
presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, it's time for
Kucinich to head home.

Kerry's nomination has been a foregone conclusion since early
March. But that hasn't stopped Kucinich from spending 16-hour
days zipping through the lush river gorges and mountain passes of
Oregon to campaign for votes.

The Ohio congressman has been canvassing the state in a monthlong
blitz leading up to Oregon's presidential primary on Tuesday. The
contest may be Kucinich's best shot to put his liberal imprint on
the Democratic Party's platform.

Kucinich said he had acknowledged that "the nomination was
basically determined." But as he munched on vegan marshmallows
from the backseat of a minivan last week, he added, "I'm staying
in it because the direction of the party hasn't been determined."

If Kucinich has his way, that direction will be hard left. The
former "boy mayor" of Cleveland favors universal healthcare, gay
marriage, more federal money for education, and above all, the
immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

Oregon, whose Democratic voters often display a strong liberal
bent, might be just the place for Kucinich's antiwar message to
find a foothold. It is also home to his campaign's only staffed
office besides the national headquarters in Ohio. And it is where
he has spent $100,000 on television ads promoting his candidacy.

Some are listening.

"To me, he represents a real opportunity for change … the real
voice of the people," said Lloyd Moser, 59 a retired railroad
repairman from The Dalles, a small town east of Portland, who
came to hear Kucinich speak at the community's civic auditorium.
Cheering crowds of 50 to 150 frequently turn out to hear his
detailed Iraq exit strategy and plans for publicly funded
healthcare, with many Democrats saying they are frustrated by the
Bush administration and uninspired by Kerry.

But whether such attitudes and Kucinich's efforts can translate
into a strong showing by him in Tuesday's vote remains in doubt.

Kucinich has amassed only about three dozen of the more than
4,300 delegates headed for the Democratic National Convention in
July. He needs to win 5% of the Oregon primary vote to earn any
of the state's 58 Democratic delegates. His strongest support
came in March's Hawaii and Alaska caucuses, in which he won
roughly 26% of the votes.

Verne Tietjen, 94, a local newspaper columnist, said he was
attracted by Kucinich's unabashedly liberal politics. Even so, he
is undecided about who he will support in the primary.

Hank Werne, 60, a child welfare worker in Pendleton, Ore., plans
to back Kucinich because he thinks his policies are "a lot more
concrete."

Like many Kucinich fans, Werne then intends to vote for Kerry in
the general election. Kerry, he said, "hasn't been that
impressive, [but] this is one year that a protest vote is just
not in order."

Indeed, interviews found that many of the Kucinich faithful plan
to steer clear of Ralph Nader, the independent presidential
candidate who won 5% of Oregon's vote as the Green Party nominee
in the 2000 general election.

"I adore Ralph Nader but I want to support the Democratic Party
because I don't feel right now … that a third party is going to
be a major challenge to the Bush administration," said Judy
Talley, 53, a family therapist and health food store owner from
Pendleton

A few have labeled Kucinich, like Nader, a Democratic spoiler.
But, said Kucinich, the last thing he wants to do is siphon votes
away from Kerry in the general election.

He has said he planned to support Kerry in the fall. In the
meantime, his campaign hopes to bring 2,000 supporters to cheer
Kucinich on at the national convention in Boston.

Winning delegates is central to why Kucinich and his supporters
keep the campaign alive. As Bush and Kerry struggle to capture
the narrowing margin of undecided voters, he is striving, he
said, to light a fire in Kerry's belly.

Kerry, Kucinich said, "needs help."

"He needs to be encouraged to take stronger and bolder stands,"
Kucinich said. "It's not like in sports where you can sit on a
lead and figure you can wait out the clock. He's going to have to
be bold, challenge the [Bush] administration where they are most
vulnerable — and that's the war … politics as usual isn't going
to win this election."

A skilled orator, Kucinich can command an audience's attention
with extemporaneous policy riffs. His speeches, which he tailors
to each audience without notes, tend toward a stew of poetry,
references to world religions and occasional mentions of his
Croatian grandfather.

He'll interrupt himself during an interview in his campaign van
to marvel at the delicate whitecaps breaking on the gray-green
Columbia River, whizzing by his window, and call his 22-year-old
daughter, Jackie, to tell her how beautiful it all is.

"You know, if we don't get a single vote, you can't beat the
scenery," he says with a belly laugh.

Pundits label him a political oddity, when they bother to mention
him at all. But neither an indifferent press corps nor his
grueling schedule can ruffle Kucinich's Zenlike composure.

"I come from a spiritual perspective on this, seeing the world as
one … I guess you could say when that happens, there's no
exertion … I just have a real sense of joy about what I'm doing."

Kucinich, who also favors withdrawing from the North American
Free Trade Agreement and the World Trade Organization, fears that
the Democratic Party has diluted its message in its effort to
attract moderate voters.

There's a tendency among Democrats to try to "blur the
differences on a whole range of issues," said Kucinich, who has
cited Kerry's initial support of the Iraq war and the Patriot
Act.

"I think it's really important to stake out clear differences."

Actor Sean Penn, one of Kucinich's most high-profile supporters,
arrived in Portland last week to campaign for Kucinich, braving
the clamoring crowds that clearly make him ill at ease.

Penn said he considered Kerry too much of an establishment
figure. The Massachusetts senator "is maintaining a solid inch of
difference from his opponent in the Republican Party," Penn said
at a Portland house party for campaign volunteers Tuesday.

Kucinich's challenge to conventional politics is what gets him
out of bed every morning, eager to explain to anyone who will
listen just why they should give peace a chance.

"I've been ready every day to be an overnight success," he said
with a laugh.




"The mass media is little more than a public relations industry for the rich and powerful. The media's job is to 'train the minds of the people' to believe in the virtue of the powerful goons who rule them." Noam Chomsky--“arguably the most important intellectual alive” N.Y.Times ..... My Web Site ..... ClickMeToo





		
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