OT: Where did so many people get the idea that Dennis Kucinich was some sort of liberal deity?

[rox63]

I don't get it. :shrug:

I like Senator Kerry as much as any of us. But I don't think he's perfect and I don't think everything he does or says is right.

[Mass]

1. Not sure it is different from anybody else.

The level of support is directly proportional to the strength of the attacks.

[karynnj]

2. Good point

Not to mention, there are many Kucinich supporters on this board, especially in GD. So, when he is attacked, even if a moderate % of them respond it looks like the threads Rox is referring too. I'm sure that we have looked the same when we all descended on threads where Kerry was attacked, though there is no recent example of anything like all the people against Kucinich this week. When you are responding, you don't mention all the things that you are not happy about in the face of people calling him worthless - which is true if "him" is Kuchinich or Kerry.

[beachmom]

3. The thing with Kucinich is he apparently is not an effective legislator.

He just stands up, expresses a left wing position (which in principle I sometimes agree with, sometimes not), then refuses to compromise EVER. Until now. Good for him to change his vote, but he is kind of held up as a gold standard of pure liberalness when in reality he has voted against the majority of Pres. Obama's agenda. He is pure because he never actually takes risks, always voting no when something isn't perfect. Incidentally, you know another member of Congress who was well loved by the lib blogosphere as a purist? Eric Massa, who also voted no on HCR from a supposed "left wing" pole position (suspicious since he rep'd a red district). Now look at the guy. Truth is pols who are too good to be true .... are too good to be true.

I like Kerry because there are no illusions that he sometimes compromises and disappoints liberals. That is the reality of a real live politician. Since Kucinich was always voting no using left wing reasoning he got away from disappointing liberals with this fail safe approach. Well, now that is over. For one bill anyway.

[rox63]

4. Politicians make deals all the time

It's really what politics is all about. Yet some folks refuse to recognize that.