There is a very nice profile of
Dennis Kucinich in the NYT today. Although his supporters (myself included) tend to focus on Kucinich's policies, since he is the only candidate who really distinguishes himself from the pack in that regard, the NYT article reminds me about the less substantive (but no less significant) reasons that I really like him: his toughness, sincerity, and courage.
I grew up in what is now Kucinich's district (I moved away from Ohio shortly after he was elected to the House), and though I'm too young to remember his days as Mayor, my parents remained loyal to him even after the City went into default, and so I've always heard about his integrity and strength of character. I knew that Kucinich grew up in poverty, but I really didn't appreciate just
how difficult his
childhood was:
If Mr. Kucinich immersed himself in school, perhaps it was because life at home was so difficult. His father, Frank, a truck driver, and mother, Virginia, struggled to make ends meet. By the time he was 17, Mr. Kucinich had lived in 21 places, including an orphanage, where he and his siblings spent Christmas one year while their mother fought post-partum depression. Between apartments, the family stayed in a car.
"The car," Mr. Kucinich recalled, "was parked near a Pepsi-Cola bottling plant. My mother would go down to the store and ask them to heat up a bottle for the baby. We'd go to a delicatessen and buy processed foods and come back and eat. My dad was trying to keep working. It was total chaos."
By virtue of his background, Kucinich is uniquely qualified to speak about issues such as human rights, labor rights, and social and economic justice. This is one of the reasons that I think that his message does not translate particularly well through the written word; it strikes us as flaky to read about Kucinich's "grateful heart and [] desire to be of service to humanity," but these words carry conviction and authenticity when one hears Kucinich deliver them in person, because his gratitude and compassion are borne of experience.
Although he's been criticized for his change of position on the abortion issue, there is not an ounce of guile in Dennis Kucinich. Sure, it'd be nice if he sounded less like Shirley MacLaine sometimes, but this is an easy quirk of personality to overlook (if not admire) once one accepts that Kucinich talks about the "essential interconnectedness of all living things" because he believes it, and won't pretend otherwise simply to make himself a more palatable candidate.
Which is not to call him naive. Make no mistake - Dennis Kucinich is tough as nails. He fought like hell against the Iraq War resolution, much as he fought like hell to preserve a municipal asset as Mayor of Cleveland, in the face of unimaginable pressure to sell out the City and salvage his own political future.
Those who dismiss Kucinich as a "vanity candidate" would do well to read the NYT profile:
[T]hose who know Mr. Kucinich best insist he is a serious man with serious ideas, who believes with every fiber of his being that it is his obligation, his duty, to offer his vision for repairing the world.
Which is part of what makes it so painful to see him dismissed out of hand or ridiculed mindlessly for his looks, particularly on a site like DailyKos where one expects more. Dennis Kucinich represents everything that the Democratic Party should stand for: justice, equality, liberty, and peace. The fact that he ever became Mayor of Cleveland is an inspiration; the fact that he went on to serve in Congress and run for President is nothing short of miraculous.
Disagree with his positions if they don't suit you. Argue that the country isn't ready for his progressivism and populism if that's what you believe. But at the same time recognize that the Democratic Party could use a few more leaders with half of Kucinich's resolve, sincerity, and courage. Be proud of him, and be proud that your Party can embrace his candidacy.