Dennis Kucinich

Dennis John Kucinich (born October 8, 1946) is a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, for the 10th District of Ohio (map). He also sought the Democratic Party's nomination in the 2004 presidential election. Though he won no primaries, he continued campaigning for months with the goal of influencing the Democratic Party to shift its platform in the progressive direction, especially on the issue of withdrawing from Iraq. On July 23, 2004, Kucinich ended his campaign and endorsed Democratic Senator John Kerry for President.

2004 presidential campaign

His platform included the following:

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• Immediate withdrawal from the WTO and NAFTA.
• Moving U.S. troops out of Iraq and replacing them with UN peacekeepers.
• Ending the drug war.
• Abolishing the death penalty.
• Preventing the privatization of social security.
• Ratifying the ABM Treaty and the Kyoto Protocol.
• Introducing reforms to bring about instant-runoff voting.
• Creating a single-payer system of universal health care.
• Creating a cabinet-level "Department of Peace"
• Legalizing same-sex marriage.
• Repealing the USA PATRIOT Act.
• Full social security benefits at age 65.

Kucinich has been criticized for flip-flopping on the issue of abortion. He has voted for restrictions on abortions for most of his congressional career; however, he is quick to note that he has never supported a constitutional amendment prohibiting abortion altogether. Press releases have indicated that he is pro-choice but also wants to initiate a series of reforms, such as ending the "abstinence-only" policy of sex education and increasing the use of contraception in hopes of making abortion "less necessary" over time.

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Ralph Nader and most Greens were friendly to Kucinich's campaign, some going so far as to indicate that they would not have run against him, had he won the Democratic nomination.

Related Topics:
Ralph Nader - Greens

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Supporters

Prominent supporters in his 2004 presidential campaign (most of whom joined him in supporting Kerry in the general election) included:

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• Patch Adams
• Ed Asner
• Ed Begley, Jr.
• Jello Biafra
• Ben Cohen of Ben and Jerry
• Irwin Corey
• James Cromwell
• Ani DiFranco
• Granny D
• Barbara Ehrenreich
• Hector Elizondo
• Arun Gandhi (grandson of Mahatma Gandhi)
• Danny Glover
• John Hagelin
• Winona LaDuke
• John Marty
• Thurston Moore
• Willie Nelson
• Sean Penn
• Pete Seeger
• Michelle Shocked
• Richard Stallman
• Studs Terkel
• Alice Walker
• Howard Zinn

Polls and primaries

In the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination race, national polls consistently showed Kucinich's support in single digits, but rising, especially as Dean lost some support among peace activists for refusing to commit to cutting the Pentagon budget. Though he was not viewed as a viable contender by most, there were differing polls on Kucinich's popularity.

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He placed second in MoveOn.org's primary, behind Dean. He also placed first in other polls, particularly Internet-based ones. This led many activists to believe that his showing the primaries might be better than what Gallup polls had been saying. However, in the non-binding D.C. Primary Kucinich finished fourth (last out of candidates listed on the ballot), with only eight percent of the vote. Support for Kucinich was most prevalent in the caucuses around the country.

Related Topics:
MoveOn.org - D.C. Primary - Caucus

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In the Iowa caucuses he finished fifth, receiving about one percent of the delegates from Iowa, despite the 15 percent threshold. He performed similarly in the New Hampshire primary, placing sixth among the seven candidates with 1 percent of the vote. In the Mini-Tuesday primaries Kucinich finished near the bottom in most states, with his best performance in New Mexico where he received six percent of the vote. Kucinich's best showing in a Democratic contest was in the February 24 Hawaii caucus, in which he won 31 percent of caucus participants, coming in second place to Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts. He also saw a double-digit showing in Maine on February 8, where he got 16% in that state's caucus.

Related Topics:
Iowa caucuses - New Hampshire primary - Mini-Tuesday - New Mexico - February 24 - Hawaii - Senator - John Kerry - Massachusetts - Maine - February 8

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On Super Tuesday, March 2, Kucinich gained another strong showing with the Minnesota caucus, where 17 percent of the ballots went to him. In his home state of Ohio, he gained nine percent in the primary.

Related Topics:
Super Tuesday - March 2 - Minnesota

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Kucinich campaigned heavily in Oregon, spending thirty days there during the two months leading up to the state's May 18th primary. He continued his campaign because "the future direction of the Democratic Party has not yet been determined" http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/05/17/a1.or.kucinich.nyt.0517.html and chose to focus on Oregon "because of its progressive tradition and its pioneering spirit." http://www.theworldlink.com/articles/2004/05/18/news/news10b.txt. He even offered http://www.kucinich.us/pressreleases/pr_051404.php to campaign jointly with Kerry during Kerry's visit to the state, though the offer was ignored. He won 16% of the vote.

Related Topics:
Oregon - May 18 - Primary - Progressive

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