Two days ago, I decided to actively support Kucinich for Democratic presidential nominee. My support had been growing for him since he brought forth the Impeachment resolution: listening to him read it, I felt for the first time in my life, a sense of leadership from a politician, regarding such grave matters. Never before had I felt so uplifted by the courage of a public man and the straighforwardness of his words. Strange to hear the truth at all from high places.
But by now you're all mostly sayin', yeah, yeah, spare us the Patrick Henry moment, the guy thinks he saw UFOs and he can never get elected. True. And probably. But here's why I support him anyway:
- Supporting Kucinich Promotes the Likelihood of Impeachment
Its hard for a sensitive guy like me, prone to exaggeration and flights of spiritual fancy, to avoid falling for the idea that BushCheneyCo has been leading us toward WWIII. Remember 9/11? Regardless of what anybody thinks, we saw how vulnerable we are. Now with this stupid Iraq war, with at bare minimum 10s of thousands of innocent people dead because of us, not to mention God knows how much irreplaceable culture and history destroyed, we have planted a little "time bomb" virtually assuring that within 10 years, given a similar standing, the terrorist threat we will face will be 400-fold. To put it bluntly. We have fucked up badly, and the world is owed a BIG apology. Only thing I can think to even to begin to demonstrate our sincerity is to kick out of office the people who caused this mess. Not only that, but if by some miracle the situation isn't as bad as we think, it definitely will be if we engage in war with Iran. Then the world will be really fucked. So, if only to sidetrack the administration from this royal fuckup, we MUST impeach, and starting with Cheney is especially relevant because he's the one pushing it the hardest.
Imagine this - Kucinich gets a 5-10% bump in the polls. That will get noticed, as Impeachment has also gradually been gaining notice. Politically, right now, Kucinich and Impeachment are inextricably linked. If you are one of the ones who don't like the looks of the upcoming presidential election, and want something meaningful to change in the debate....Kucinich and Impeachment both come to mind. So if you want impeachment, publicly support Kucinich and send him money.
- He's a Democrat
This isn't like supporting Nader in 2000. Though it might seem to splinter the left-leaning vote even further among the primary candidates (this will be addressed below, so hold off on that one), he's in OUR party, and support shifting to him will bring out his differences and thus shift the public debate leftward, to even be addressed. Hey....even if its all hopeless, and some Bush-lite wins the POTUS....at least we will have at least got to HEAR some genuine liberal sentiment, even if it turns out to be a lie.
- Its Not Boring
Maybe its because I'm a short guy, myself, but I'm starting to see some charisma in him I didn't see before. He is by far the most interesting of the candidates, because he tells the truth!! Nothing is more interesting than the truth, because it is heard so seldom! He has an almost Peter Sellers "Being There" quality...don't you need a good laugh? To support Kucinich is to be mischievous, lugubrious, humorous, gutsy...I'm starting to love the man! If I can feel that way, others could.
- Political Good Will
There is an elusive concept of political good will, which almost no one understands or believes in because it is so seldom scene. Precisely because Kucinich is seen an unelectable underdog, is why we should support him. It would show something Americans haven't shown since...I don't know, when was the last time? The Boston Tea Party? To show that we stand for something. Not accept how other people tell us we should think. Stick to principles. Live on the edge. Show our colors. May be hopelessly naive and idealistic of me, but I actually believe that if we were to start a movement like that, much good would come of it, that isn't even apparent now.
- We Could Change Our Minds
If coming closer to the primary, DK's numbers are still pretty far down, which according to conventional wisdom they will be, we can still vote for the most politically expedient candidate. Also, if we did manage to shift the debate I think it would actually hurt rather than help Hillary, and someone like Edwards or Obama would actually have a better shot.
Fire at will.