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Old 08-22-2003, 10:57 PM   #12 (permalink)
MuadDib
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Kucinich rocks. He's an honest, progressive, real human being. He may be called ultra-liberal, but he is better described as a populist. Some of his positions are pretty left, like universal health care, but some of his positions are very middle of the road and even a little to the traditional right, such as repealing NAFTA and withdrawing from the WTO in favor of bilateral trade agreements and lowering the retirement age. What Kucinich would do is restore the democrat party to its former ideologies by bringing the middle class as well as the liberals back into the fold. Maybe its time the dems stopped being the academic elite and went back to being party of the working American.

I am, however, so infinitely sick of this Kucinich can't win nonsense. Newsflash... no canidate can win if they don't get votes! Its the ultimate self fulfilling prophecy, you convince yourself it can't happen and then you convince others and so on til all those would be votes are gone. How about instead for once we vote the way our hearts say is right and convince others that if we all voted our hearts then change could actually happen. That is how democracy is supposed to work right? You vote for the people that represent you the most?

Here's few good reason Kucinich could easily put Bush down for his dirt nap if he got the nomination. First, Clinton was at a whomping 6% of the vote until late October of 1991 and he not only won the nomination, but the presidency and his re-election bid. Second, his home state of Ohio carries a whomping 19 electoral votes compared to most of the other canidates states. Also, no republican has ever won a presidential campaign in the history of the United States without carrying Ohio. Third, Kucinich's history of downing republicans is long and distinguished. He ousted deeply entrenched, incumbent republicans when he became the mayor of Cleveland, when he was elected to the Ohio state senate, and when he was elected into Congress. He is strongest and most sincere in his issues and he is the starkest contrast to Bush's corporate attitudes and deceptive tendencies. Finally, he has the power to re-invigorate the democratic party. He pulls in the disenfranchised liberals whose absence cost the dems the last election while at the same time bring the working middle class back into the fold. He is the strongest canidate to avoid another Nader fiasco rather than the most likely to cause one. The fact of the matter that 40% of voters will vote democrat no matter what and 40% of voters will vote republican no matter what. The remaining 20% make and break elections. Lets face it, it isn't the moderates and party regulars that swing away, rather its the extremists that sway and vote third party or not at all. Personally, I'd be fine lossing the 5% of democrats that would vote for Bush over Kucinich if it means bring in the 15% of of democrats that will vote third party or not at all if we bring in a moderate (this includes Dean). Probably, what impresses me most with Kucinich is how he gets to the factory workers and farmers. Traditional democrats that were lost after FDR to the republicans. Kucinch represents their interests by wanting to return jobs to the US and advance farm policy. Kucinich can bring those votes back to the democrats and thats another sizable 15%. Kucinich's policies appeal to the working American as well as the liberal intellectuals, the only ones that stand to lose in his presidency are the corporations that have hijacked this country and her government. Kucinich can win and he will win if people will simply vote their hearts in their primaries. Its a time when we've got nothing to lose. I encourage everyone to vote for the canidate they like the most and who has the best ideas in the primaries, not who they think has the best odds as though the elections are some sort of horse race rather than one of the most sacred institutions of democracy. After that its time for pragmatics and party loyalty. After the national convenction I encourage all democrats to support whoever is nominated no matter past differences. But just for once lets give the democratic nomination committee an accurate representation of what we want in a democrat party and in a democratic president... not some plays ball, but some one who alters the very game.
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