Reply #50: This is real. [View All]

[LWolf]

I have no clue whether or not Kerry is "brilliant." I'm not holding my breath to see any signs of "brilliance." While he has my vote in November, I am uneasy with many of his positions, and won't pretend that I agree with them. I've seen and heard "brilliance" regularly from Dennis Kucinich. He's the only politician I know that need to footnote his speeches.

Kerry has some military honors. I honor him for that. Military heros comprise a fraction of the collection of heroic people serving others across the nation and the planet. Military action is not the only way to serve in heroic ways. In my opinion, Dennis Kucinich is also a "hero." For championing peace, social and economic justice, and civil liberties as a public leader in the current political climate; for doing so with a steadfast consistency, for the country and it's citizens rather than for personal gain.

Kucinich is not running for "dog catcher." He's a member of Congress, and regularly wins elections:

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

If any Democrat has a history of attracting swing voters and "Reagan Democrats" in winning elections against better-funded Republican opponents, it is Dennis Kucinich. He has repeatedly defeated entrenched incumbents. He beat a Republican incumbent for mayor in 1977, for state senator in 1994 (overcoming the national right-wing tide) and for Congress in 1996.

His Congressional district includes the suburb of Parma, Ohio, described as "one of the original homes of the Reagan Democrats." An Ohio daily calls it a "conservative Democratic district," which he carried by 74% in 2002. Being a success there may be a better predictor of national success than holding statewide office in a liberal stronghold like Vermont or Massachusetts.

Kucinich is a winner because he builds Wellstone-like grassroots campaigns against bigger-spending opponents. He is a winner because of his blue collar roots and populism, reflected in his battles for heartland voters against unfair, corporate-friendly trade deals.

He is an unabashed progressive who wins because swing voters who don't agree with him on every issue still see him as a fighter for their interests, as someone who will put the interests of workers and middle-class consumers ahead of big-money interests. No Democrat is better positioned in 2004 to attract 'Reagan Democrats' and swing voters with a frontal attack on how Bush policies hurt them and favor the rich.

He's not going to win the nomination. At this point, he is not campaigning to win the nomination. Which anyone who checked out what he stands for, and what he is doing, would know.

A couple of other "realities:"

Incivility does not make contacts and influence voters. "Shouting" an irrelevant point does not make reality go away...or go your way. Here is a reality that doesn't go away faced with incivility:

There are democrats who are unhappy with Kerry's campaign and his stance on the issues. They are voters. They will vote in November. Ridiculing them does not increase the odds of their vote going to Kerry.