For all those who have written off Kucinich I suppose any thing written in his favor just seems like satire or snark. I have such a weird view of politics, I'm wondering how others look at the serioucness of running in the primaries and seeking delegates for the convention. When the other so-called 2nd tier" candidates have left the race, Kucinich will show his determination, sincerity, and seriousness by continuing on to the convention.
Is this a factor at all in your equations of what makes a "serious" candidate? I don't see any candidate who isn't willing to go the distance and finish every primary as a serious canidate and since I know Kucinich is the only candidate who has that level of determination I see him as the most serious candidate. But I assume some people would see that kind of determination as just "silly".
I'll vote for the longshot who hits the target 9 out of 10 rather than the shortshot who can't hit the bulls eye but 3 out of 10 tries.
"It's not enough to bemoan this terrible tragedy after the fact," said Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich today. "The American people have every right to demand that the candidates for President be answerable for the war-and-peace decisions they have made over the years and prove that their policies and positions won't plunge this nation and the world into even greater dangers."
Kucinich continued, "Senators Clinton, Edwards, Biden and Dodd voted to give the President the authorization to go to war in Iraq. Their judgment was wrong. They and Senator Obama have voted to continue funding that war. Their judgment was wrong. They have repeatedly said 'all options' are on the table with respect to Iran. Intelligence reports revealing that Iran abandoned its nuclear weapons program four years ago again demonstrates that their judgment was wrong. They have failed to offer substantive approaches to address continuing tensions and hostilities among Israelis, Palestinians, and the Lebanese people."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Democratic Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich, who has been the runaway winner in polls of the Party's progressive, grassroots base in recent weeks, scored a landslide win yesterday by capturing almost 77% of the vote in a nationwide poll sponsored by a coalition of Independent voting groups across the country.
Of the more than 80,000 votes cast for Democratic candidates at http://www.independentprimary.com by self-described independent voters, the Ohio Congressman received 61,477 - more than three times the combined total of all the other candidates. Former Senator John Edwards came in second with only 7,614 votes, or 9.5 percent. Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were third and fourth respectively.
Nationally, more than 40 percent of voters are not aligned with any political party, and, in 29 states, including New Hampshire, "Independents" have the option to select either the Republican or the Democratic ballot in a Presidential primary. In Iowa, only Democrats can vote in the Jan. 3 Democratic caucuses, and the total turnout there is expected to be less than 10% of the eligible voters statewide (Washington Post).
AFTER the Iowa Causus
Frankly, last night I heard Obama say in his victory speech that he would get the troops out of Iraq, but I don't believe he will do that. I beleive he would maintain the four giant military bases in Iraq with so-called "non-combat" troops.
Under realpolitik conditions Obama may be the best we can get, but that doesn't mean I'm going to delude myself into thinking he is not committed to the beltway worldview and the mainstream in politics. His call for change is incremental change not systemic change. As the above analysis of his pro-worker voting record at 67% shows, Obama is a centrist liberal and is neither a profressive nor a populist.
I hope I am wrong about him, but where I know Clinton can't be trusted, I doubt Edwards can be trusted, I have a sneaking suspicion that Obama can't be trusted either.
The only one I continue to trust is Kucinich since he is the only one with a proven progressive record of having supported workers, opposing the Iraq war, being against using war as an instrument of foreign policy, and supporting health care for all, none of which Obama has been consistent on.
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