Dennis Kucinich, seriously, it's time for you to stop

I've really admired Kucinich's message. I even attended one of his rallies when he went through Gainesville FL... he was asked then when he planned on conceding and rallying to John Kerry. Kucinich said that the convention is in Boston, and until then, he's continuing his campaign.

That worries me. If he really wants to have any influence by 2005, all he has left is his own congressional seat. Ohio. 10th District.

I looked at his Web site, and he's still acting as if there's a Presidential campaign to win. There isn't, of course. However, he has a Representative position to lose if he doesn't go back home and start paying attention to his constitutients. Sure, he won the 2002 race by a wide margin (garnered about 74 percent of the vote), but even if he can take the election for granted (he shouldn't), Ohio needs all the support it can to go to Kerry, who at this point all but officially holds the nomination.

Besides, Kucinich knew very well even before the primaries began that he wasn't going to go far in terms of winning votes, otherwise why the hell did he come up with a "Department of Peace--"oh wait, as he said himself at the Gainesville rally, quoting John Lennon, "I may be a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."

He had that right, but it's time for him to wake up.

Pols have serious ego problems...they go to Washington, & decide they are very important people.

No ego there. Not like an outsider who quit.
Winners never quit ,quitters never win.
They never say stupid shit like "I'm the only candidate from a farm state". You can't make up a blow up launch and call it a sexy pig.

He would rather fight the people's fights and forfeit his Mayorship. As a result, he had years in the wilderness to live the life of an ordinary guy. Living w/o medical insurance.
Pols invited to speak with the likes of the Dalai Lama do not have ego problems...He is the post Wellstone, wellstone..The cause is supreme....
In fact on DK's website his supporters are invited to the national convention..We feel quilty..To go to the national convention..W/o DK getting the nomination..We have better things to do.
DK had better be there fighting for us...tho...DK has rooms for 3,000 of his supporters..We his donors/workers demand he stay to fight our fight to the end..Until Kerry gets some cojones.
Zinni says we are going over Niagara Falls. yet, Kerry says stay the course..Anyone in the know, knew the military opposed Iraq venture from the beginning.. yet, Kerry voted for this disaster.
Kucinich's actions...His action is needed to make us think Kerry might come around to support his once held supposition that
"who will be the last to die for a mistake."

I still do, to some degree. The political process is driven by ego.

Dennis Kucinich is a first, unique among politicians, in my experience.

He is the most humble public figure I've ever met, and ever expect to meet. At the same time, he does not back down from his positions.

The reason he is still campaigning has nothing whatever to do with ego.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

Why would you say that?.The poster makes a very relevant point.

I'm just suggesting Kucinich fight for his Rep. seat now since that's all that's left. I doubt Kerry will give Kucinich any position in his administration, so it's either from his seat in Ohio or from the outside, and the longer his presidential campaign goes, the more likely he'll be left out and the more likely Kerry might be as well.

So how is my opinion stupid?

Oh... and stop posting lame posts you say? You know me or something?

or you'll go nuts. you made a valid point.

Dennis has brought round almost everyone to the thinking that the only way to solve this problem is for USA and UK to quit Iraq. If anyone watched Dateline on BBC World yesterday, almost all the correspondents were of exactly the same opinion.

And Dennis has never said that there should be a vacuum. He put forward an exit strategy which would help Iraqis come to terms with the presence of troops to control the situation. Jordan and other countries from Asia and Africa, who are non-aligned, having understanding of Islamic culture and traditions are far better geared to handle the situation than anyone else.

However the Americans want to control the oil and that is why they are finding excuses, Kerry included, for staying there.

At least people are talking about an Exit Straegy - which was talk initiated by Dennis.

I do not see that this thread is meaningless, and also hope Dennis will carry through right up to and even after the Convention. His voice on Iraq needs to be heard continually.

Jacob Matthan
Oulu, Finland

DK needs to compete in all primaries so those that wish to support him can vote. That is important! Dk has to be able to satisfy those that support him.
I was for Clark,but I really respect DK. He didn't quit. Here is a salute for DK because he needs to get his message out.
Dk has it right but it might take a few years to accomplish.
He shows us a way.

because he didn't have any realistic chance of winning. Then he threw all his support behind the democratic nominee. Clark is truly a class act, he wants what's best for America not what's best for his ego. Kucinich would be wise to do the same.

for unity is great, and I understand what you are trying to get at, Kucinich is getting a message out there -- and this may be the only way to really do so.

For example, he was able to get himself on Meet the Press yesterday. It is hard to say if he would have been invited were he not still running.

While it's true that the nomination process is for all reality over and John Kerry is the nominee, Kucinich's message on Iraq must be heard -- because it's making more and more sense everyday.

he said he wants to do good in the primaries to show kerry that he can get votes by taking certain stands that kucinich is running on.

There is nothing wrong with Dennis sticking it out to the end. He isn't hurting Kerry in any way and he is giving voice to a lot of people who otherwise not be heard from right now.

So to Dennis I say, "More power to ya!" :yourock:

His voting record during the campaign season reflects his continued commitment to those he represents. How many Congressional votes has he missed?

I would suggest you go back and read his website.

I attended the Maine State Convention this weekend as a delegate for Dennis. In his speech of Saturday Dennis acknowledged Kerry's nomination and unity come Nov. His presence is not about winning the nomination but the direction of the Democratic party. As Dennis stated in his speech, "It is, what we want the Democratic Party to stand for,..." And that, in a nutshell is why Dennis is still in the race.
Perhaps you do not understand how the process works(?)
By picking up National delegates Dennis and his supporters will have a voice within the Democratic party on important issues and policy
determination.

It is for that same reason Howard Dean has encouraged his supporters to attend conventions and gather National delegates. He, too, wants to be presented on the National level.

Thank you Cheryl. It's about constructive navigation of the party's direction and getting a few planks in the platform that otherwise may not get there.

To paraphrase Willie, it's not about Dennis, it's about America. Dennis is just the catalyst or the messenger. We the people are the ones who won't drop out of the race, as it were.

couldn't have said it better "We the people are the ones who won't drop out of the race, as it were." Thank You! :thumbsup: :loveya:

We were trying to get DK to come to MN for our convention this weekend, but it turns out we didn't need him that badly after all! We had Dot Maver (his Nat'l Campaign Director) on hand, and she was SUPERB!!!!

The DK folks, along with other progressives from the other campaigns all came together to form a very powerful voting bloc on the floor. You could see who we were by the blue stickers with the Peace dove and the words "Progressive-Peace-Civil Rights Caucus" on them. The P-P-CR caucus was clearly the most organized and most effective on the floor-- so much so that we had other groups coming to US to get our support for THEIR issues!

What you've said is absolutely correct: we're far beyond this election in most respects, as is DK. We're looking to the future: organizing for progressive causes and issues, working within our state parties to nurture and run progressive candidates, and also educating/recruiting other progressives to get active in the political process.

And don't think that Dennis's message is not getting through: just this weekend, at our state convention, Sen. Mark Dayton discussed his plan to get US troops out of Iraq in months, intead of years! He received overwhelming support at the convention and drew the ire of our Repub Senator, too (Norm Coleman, the stooge who got Wellstone's seat after Paul was killed).

More and more Democrats are realizing that Kucinich has been right all along on these issues, and they're paying attention-- especially the Kerry campaign.

Kerry's campaign are not fools: they know then need the folks DK brought to the party to win in November. Even Kerry delegates at state were pleased to have us on board, because they know we're the best ones to get potential Nader/3rd party voters to vote for Democrats.

We may look small, but we are MIGHTY. We don't need big money, big media or big anything because we've got the right message, and big hearts, too.

We want Bush gone just as badly as everyone. Kerry knows this, and he's working with us-- not putting us down at every turn and opportunity. We're here to help, and we will.

Just respect us as you do everybody else. :D

Kucinich came in third in his home district for Christ's sake!

from Dennis staying in.

It may take till the convention for more folks to understand that DK is a greater force for Kerry doing exactly what he is doing now.

Right now, he's another critic telling Kerry "Take this position, take that position" (even though those positions do not yet garner the votes they're touted for, else DK would be the nominee); and I know that seems bothersome, even if we agree with those positions, because we don't want to jeopardize our chances of winning this election by attacking and interfering with Kerry's campaign.

However, it's okay with me, because (at least as far as I know) there is no "Or Else We Won't Vote For You" tacked on to his rhetoric. Kucinich is a Democrat, he knows what the stakes are, he wants our party to win, and he'll get behind Kerry in the long run. He's getting the ideas out there without holding a gun to Kerry's head, so to speak.

and he is giving many anti-war democrats a sounding board.

First of all Dennis is running for the message. I was at the MN state convention this week. His campaign manager, Dot Maeve was there most the weekend. It was very clear that the plan was to carry the message to Boston... and thats what they WILL do.
As for his house seat. He's worked very hard to continue doing his job as Representative.

Damn, wasn't that a GREAT convention???? The Progressive-Peace-Civil Rights voting bloc really worked hard, and did VERY well!!!

I talked to John Sherman, the Kucinich campaign's "political liaison" with the DFL (i.e., our "political hack") and he said that he even had reps from other groups coming up to him and asking for our support! Pretty amazing, considering how much the Peace people have been underestimated this year!

BTW are you going to Boston? We may have quite a crowd there!

:toast:

in which the columnist said that all the new delegates were going to move the DFL back to the middle. :7

Yeah, right. Where does she think it's been all these years?

until you destroy your axle and lose the car?

Some of us know he was doing this only to spread a message. But the more time he spends on the primaries, the more likely his competition back home will be able to damage Kucinich so that he won't have any power to act on his message.

and he's only missed a couple of votes since he's been on the campaign trail-- more than can be said of Kerry, Edwards or Gephardt.

Dennis will have no problem winning again, after the national convention is done. He is greatly admired in his district, and serves his constituents well.

Quite frankly, I'd be worried less about Dennis winning in November and more worried about Kerry-- especially since he's been so reluctant to stand up against this unpopular war and bring our troops home NOW.

It is the height of vanity to believe that you, and you alone, must 'carry the message.'

Dean and Edwards opted to drop out. No one made them.

And Dean and Edwards, fine gentlemen though they are, do not advocate all the same ideas as Dennis.

During the campaign, DK was the ONLY one advocating:
* single-payer universal health COVERAGE-- not just "insurance"-- for ALL Americans.
* an end to ALL US control of Iraq-- not just economic or political, but militarily as well.
* an end to pre-emptive war as a tool of foreign policy
* an end to Depleted Uranium (DU) munitions-- which have been linked to "Gulf War Syndrome", which has killed over 10,000 Gulf War veterans since 1991. DU after-effects have also afflicted countless civilians in Iraq, Kosovo, Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia too.
* an end to NAFTA and US participation in the WTO.

Dean and Edwards got "close" on several of these, but they were not advocating the issues DK was addressing. And now that Dean and Edwards have dropped out, they certainly aren't addressing these issues today!

If John Kerry were to stand up and fight for these issues, Dennis Kucinich would not have a reason to carry on the message, and would discontinue his campaign. Since Kerry has not shown any indication of doing this, DK is doing it FOR him.

Dennis Kucinich has been consistently and vigorously opposed to the bankrupt policies of the Republicans all through this campaign. He's also one of the few people in the party who can draw in disaffected and Nader-leaning voters to vote for Kerry in November.

Fortunately, Kerry knows this, as does his campaign, and they've been very supportive of Dennis and his organization in Boston. Even at the state level, Kerry's people have been eager to have us at the table. If you don't want our help, I'm sure we can find better things to do this fall than help Kerry win.

it is the message of the People, his supporters that Dennis has dedicated himself and worked hard to carry the message.
He speaks for those who would otherwise be lost in the void.

No One told Edwards or Dean to dropout.

Point of fact though, Dean has asked his supporters to continue supporting him and help bring his Message to the National convention.

working and gathering money for many grassroots progressive dem candidates who are trying to take a way some seats from repugs in Congress. He's actually getting more done now then when he was running for President. That's just the way he does things.

Dennis is doing it his way and getting his message out their and it's an important message and this is Dennis' way of doing it. More power too him and anyone who saw him on Meet the Press last Sunday knows he's doing a good job.

Go Dennis !!!

d

he's a huckster motivated soley by his own ambition.

I'm still waiting...

NT

I've seen one of those threads that prompts me to donate $5 to Dennis. I'd better alert revcarol, so she can donate too. :-)

Dennis is one of the most constituent oriented member of Congress....Example..His involvement in saving local hospitals..
He is back there every weekend, I understand...
On his website, he lets it be known voting is more important to him than the campaign...His voing record is far better than Kerry's...Kerrry has missed some pretty important votes as to the peoples business....Not Kucinich.

I'm happy to help fund Dennis' campaign all the way to Boston. And then I'll help fund his re-election campaign, if he needs it.

Our party needs saving and Dennis is working hard to get the party to back its own people. We need him.

sake of spreading his message outside his district?

that Dennis is neglecting his seat and/or his responsibilties.

in my earlier post i asked you check Dennis' voting record etc
if you did, you'd see he hasn't been neglecting anything.

i wonder too, how Dennis' constituents feel about his' presidential
run...

He has made certain to attend to his doties so as not to miss any votes (outside of the one the scheduled at the last minute during a debate last year). His constituents are all proud of him and want him to continue. He is standing up for the issues that polls say the vast majority of Americans support but the Democratic Party is afraid to endorse. Without Dennis's help, the vast majority of Democrats would have no say in the platform.

Though I want to speak well of Kerry, Kerry has missed important votes, such as the one on Negroponte. While Kerry is seen as electable and this is why he is the apparent nominee, he does not agree with the vast majority of Americans or even Democrats on a number of key issues, such as health care and trade. We need the help of Dennis to keep Kerry and the Democratic Party on track.

He has every right to stay in until the vote is taken in Boston; by the same token, the voters have the right to accept or reject his message. The verdict will be announced in July, so there's no need to alienate either him, or his supporters. DK is a loyal Democrat, so his continuing in the race doesn't bother me in the slightest.

he needs to stop so we can remain deluded...

thanks for bringing some laughs to another annoying Kucinich bash thread.

:)

TWL

http://www.kucinich.us/faq.php

With the nominee pretty much a done deal, why is Kucinich still in the race?

Dennis Kucinich is aware that John Kerry has the 2,161 delegates needed for the Democratic nomination. “While the question of who is going to be the nominee may be a foregone conclusion,” Kucinich says, “what we stand for as a party is yet to be determined.” It's no longer a question of who is going to run against George Bush, the question is what do we stand for as a party? The Democratic Party needs to create a platform that is consistent with the broad-based aspirations of millions of Americans—a platform based on principles of peace and universal health care, a platform that eliminates unfair trade policies that are costing us millions of jobs while diminishing workers rights and environmental protections everywhere, and a platform that puts an end to the PATRIOT Act and provides for the protection of civil liberties. The Democratic Party has to be able to reach people who may otherwise be disaffected, and the Kucinich campaign reaches out to the broadest group of people and says, 'Look, stay inside the Democratic Party and direct it toward change.”

and stopping the debate from getting monolithically pro-status quo.

Go Kucinich! :toast:

I'm perfectly happy with him continuing to speak out. :)

He is the one candidate who has consistently spoken on behalf of the people for true progress; and he WILL add some of his ideas which actually benefit people to the platform. And, he has more integrity in his little finger than in Bush's whole administration.

Why on earth would anyone want such a fine and honest man to shut up? Just wonderin........

I say keep going Dennis!!!

When the Repug who was debating him (sorta) swung the conversation around to the photo (look alike I think - it was all beat up and looked like it had been blown up) of the shell casing of Sarin exploded last week, Dennis picked up the photo and said, "You gotta be kidding. This is what why we attacked Iraq?!"

It was funny as hell and I couldn't stop laughing.

Who cares if he keeps running. It keeps his ideas out there and discussed and that's cool with me. Jeez it really makes me wonder when all you got to do in the DU is complain about Dennis Kucinich still running for President?

Who cares,




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i attended the Maine convention this past weekend.

i missed Dennis' Meet the Press appearance, i'm sure it was as good as you say.
if you really wanna see something though,
watch the video (accessile through DK's site)
of the speech Dennis gave at the convention on Saturday. :thumbsup:
He had the place on their feet, everyone; Kerry and Dean supporters included.

(check your inbox) :hi: :hug:

Kerry is far too moderate for millions of liberal progressive Democrats taste...Kerry is the choosen one by the power boys and he will be the Dem. nominee for Bush to steal the election from.

Kucinich isn't going to be available to collect your vote and you and I know it.
Nader doesn't have a chance in hell, either.
So if you want to go and keep bitching about Kerry being too conservative for you, I don't want to hear you complain if Bush gets re-elected, because people like you are partially responsible.

Really now, why? This is how campaigns have worked before, always have worked and probably always will work, at least as long as we hold onto this two party system of government. Read your history, look at 1980, 1972, 1968. Progressives ALWAYS run, and that is a good thing, it is what keeps the conscience of the party going, keeps reminding all of us that we're compassionate, caring humans who should apply what is the best of ourselves to society and government. Sometimes we win, sometimes we're the noble loser, but at all times we keep the message of hope, peace and justice alive. Now more than ever, that message needs to be woven deep into the fabric of the Democratic party, and that is what Dennis is doing.

Don't fret about him somehow harming the Kerry campaign, he won't. We all know that Dennis and his supporters will be pulling the D lever come November, that is not an issue. And there is no way the 'Pugs can use any of Dennis's positions against Kerry, honestly, do you see Bushco calling out Kerry over universal health care or bring the troops home? Hardly. And the media have already called this as a two man race, so the vast majority of the voting public will not be confused.

No, look at this as a cross country education trip. Dennis is teaching us all what this country could become if we would just listen to our own conscience, and vote for what we hear.

How is this race any different from 1988, for example? We had a hotly contested race for the nomination that ended with only the nominee-apparent (Dukakis) and the message-oriented LOYAL progressive opposition (Jesse Jackson, and "Keep Hope Alive") going into the convention. Jackson and his supporters came on board to help in 1988, despite the awful campaign Dukakis wages (I should know-- I supported the man beginning in the primaries all the way through the general-- what a disappointment he turned out to be).

As a matter of fact, those same Jackson voters in 1988 are the same ones who helped Clinton get elected in 1992 by turnout out large numbers of African-American voters in the south and urban areas, offsetting any Republican strengths down south and in the 'burbs.

Dennis Kucinich is doing nothing different than what other progressive Dems have done before: he's keeping the party honest, and keeping progressive issues on the table. He's the one who's speaking about how great this party can really be going into the future, and not just about one election victory in November.

But, apparently, this diminuitive man from Cleveland scares the bejeebers out of a lot of "New Democrats", who seem to think that the fickle 5% in the middle of the political spectrum is worth more than the silent 50% who don't even vote (but lean Democratic).

I don't get it either, but it's amazing how Repub-induced FEAR can even make the most ardent Democrats mess their shorts. :shrug:

good one....I just spit my ice tea all over the keyboard, no name!

DK rocks...and now there is a new website based on what Dennis is trying to make happen...progressive ideals!!

www.progressivevote.org
(see my thread on this forum--->link http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x536702 )


DK:yourock:

Peace
DR

Let me count the ways.

1. Universal Health Care.
2. Department of Peace
3. Living wage, full employment
4. Renewable Energy.
5. Excellent attendance record.

I could go on. And on, and on. What this man brings to the party is invaluable, and I'm inspired by the way that he is working so tirelessly for the direction of the democratic party and the nation.

He has my vote, my support, and my contributions whenever he needs them.

Go, Dennis, Go!