Wow. Nate Silver really lays it down thick on Dennis Kucinich and why a primary for him shouldn't be out of the question. Contrary to the article on the rec list, Dennis Kucinich is a purity troll pure and simple. He won't accept compromises except for HIS compromises. He's one of 255 democrats in the House and his compromises should not be made just because of that, much like Stupak's (assuming he acts by himself) shouldn't be as well.
Dennis Kucinich Least Valuable Democrat
Nate Silver points out that Kucinich is probably worse than Artur Davis, who is running for Governor in AL and notably, has to take stands that his party would not like. In fact, Artur Davis is coming back from the campaign trail to vote AGAINST HCR. Kucinich's actions are worse than Artur Davis'.
But what if we don't build in an exception for the so-called "liberal no's" -- that is, simply take every vote at face value? It turns out, then, that Davis is no longer the least valuable Democrat. Instead, it is Dennis Kucinich, who voted against health care, the hate crimes bill, the budget, the cap-and-trade bill, and financial regulation -- all ostensibly from the left -- in spite of coming from from the strongly Democratic Ohio 10th district near Cleveland.
In Fact Kucinich is worse that all except 22 republicans in the House:
Kucinich's score of -4.22 is not only worse than that of any other Democrat: it is also worse than that of all but 22 Republicans.
Further, he won his district by 18 percentage points in 2008. Barack Obama, on the other hand, won his district by 20 percentage points. Kucinich is doing an extreme disservice to his district for a reason that no one really knows. The only conceivable option is that he's gearing up for another run at the Presidency. Of course, he would lose, but that's the only thing that makes sense.
To make matters worse, should he vote against HCR, he would also vote against SAFRA or Financial Aid for Students reform, as that is going to be included in the reconciliation plan.
Loan Package would be put in reconciliation fixes
The only solution is to primary Dennis Kucinich until he better represents his district.