A few weeks ago I addressed the fallacy of the "elf factor". Now I think we should discuss Kucinich’s tenure as Mayor of Cleveland from ‘77-’79. Many people here claim that he was a terrible mayor and the people of Cleveland abhorred him.
It all stems from him standing up for what was right. He took a lot of shit for it. While his public persona took some lumps for it, he was right and he fucking saved the city of Cleveland hundreds of millions of dollars in the end.
Let's drop the talking points and preconceived notions to see if we can take an honest look at Kucinich's Mayoral career.
Why again did the people dislike him? Because he voted not to sell off the publically owned "Munny Light" power company to a private competitor.
Why did the city default? Because the banking interests called in all the debt that the city accrued buying electricity from the power company. They called in all the debt all at once and the city couldn’t afford to pay it.
People were a little pissed. They initiated a recall and he managed to stay in office by 246 votes (so I guess the people didn’t hate him enough to expunge him from office).
In the end, even when it made him extremely unpopular (perhaps even to the point of an alleged assassination attempt) he stood up for what he believed in his heart was right and fulfilling what he pledged to do while running for office.
And now people realize it:
In 1993, then-Cleveland Mayor Michael White cited Kucinich's "wisdom" in not selling the utility, and in 1998 the council honored the deposed mayor for having the "courage and foresight" to stand up to the banks. The utility, now known as Cleveland Public Power, provides low-cost electricity that saved the city an estimated $195 million between 1985 and 1995. One of the new buildings in its expanded plant is named for Kucinich.
"You come to certain moments in your life, which are key and defining moments, which tell a lot about who you are," Kucinich told Cleveland magazine in 1996. "And for me, everything came down to that moment. Who I was. Where I'd been. Who I grew up with. How I grew up. What my aspirations were. What I hoped to do. What I hoped to be.... And it all came down to my saying, 'No, I'm not going to sell that electric system no matter what the consequences are to me personally.'
So, though he was loathed at the time, he saved and continues to save the City of Cleveland tens of millions of dollars a year. He accomplished this by standing up for a campaign promise and a personal conviction.
How would you feel if you were a 16 year old shop-a-holic and your mom or dad burst into your room and cut up your credit cards? You’d probably get real pissy, scream at them and storm out of the house.
But later on, you might think to yourself "you know what, they were right to do that. I was an irresponsible jackass."
Ok, the analogy’s not perfect, but I think it gets to the heart of the matter. We Americans need some tough love. We’ve been ignoring an entire room full of elephants for way to long. Don’t we need someone who won’t kowtow to political pundits, pollsters or the tyranny of the majority?
Wake up you metaphorical spoiled brats: the K-man is standing up for YOU.