I met Dennis Kucinich the other day

[The Blue Knight]

I don't mean to brag guys..well...I guess I do, lol. But this story was just too awesome for me, and I feel I have to share it with fellow DUers, as I know Kucinich has quite a bit of fans here.

I went to this youth conference in Washington DC, called LeadAmerica. It was on Foreign Affairs and International Diplomacy. However, the one thing I was looking forward to was Congressional Appointments.

I had requested that I meet Dennis Kucinich instead of my rep in Congress, Mike Oxley. However, I got denied, and I had 3 appointments with Oxley, Mike DeWine, and George Voinivich...all Republicans.

I was rather disapointed, but I was still happy that I was going to meet 3 US Congressmen.

Well, the thing was....I didn''t meet any of them. DeWine was meeting with lobbyists (go figure), Voinivich was in committees, and Oxley was in his hometown, Findlay. I met with like...their "Assistant to Legislative Affairs" and the guy described his job as "watching a lot of CSPAN."

So, I felt pretty pissed. I mean, the appointments had been scheduled for 3 months, and 80% of the congressmen blew us off. And they wonder why kids don't get involved?

So, after walking out of Oxley's office, I decided I wanted to redeem my day by going to find Kucinich's office. I just wanted a picture of his plaque outside his office and I'd be exstatic.

Well, I went to the building, found a directory, went to the seventh floor, turned left, and there his office was. I felt like I won the lottery. I took a picture of his plaque, his office, and I walked in and was talking to his staff. (His office is so cool).

His staff was wayyyy frendlier than DeWine's, Voinivich's, and Oxley's. I was talking to them about how I'm a loyal Kucitizen, signed his guestbook, and grabbed one of his business cards.

Then, I hear the words, "Well, look who's here!"

I turn around and there's Dennis. I had a mental orgasm. I shook his hand, and we talked for a bit about different issues and stuff. I thanked him for staying in the presidential race until the end...just like he promised...and told him that he was the President in my book.

I just found it funny, how our appointments had been scheduled for 3 months, and 80% of the Congress people blew us off. Like, some kids from Pennsylvania went to Santorum's office....and they told them that he was "caught in committees and couldn't be there although he wanted to" ... then about 10 minutes later he walked out of his office, said hi to the kids, and left. They had been lied to...which showcased their good Christian values.
But, Dennis takes 20 minutes out of his day to talk to a 17 year old who showed up at his office without an appointment, and completely out of the blue. He truly made my week.

Thank you, Mr. Kucinich.

Anyway, here's a picture of him and me outside his office. It was my LAST picture on the LAST roll of film I had...I was so lucky.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

1. You got extremely lucky

You just happened to hit him at the right time. Congrats!

[LittleApple81]

4. You are the cutest! (You are getting all the moms going oooooh)

And he is the nicest guy... I would have voted for him but our system is so screwed up.

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. I have three things to say to you about this

a) Thanks for sharing all this. :)

b) You lucky dog, you!

and c) You are so adorable! *g*

~Jen, fellow Kucitizen and mom of two other adorable boys

[lovedems]

3. He came to Illinois in March just before our primary.

We went to downtown to Springfield to see him and then drove over to Decatur.

In Decatur he was at the library and there were maybe 40 people there and he just talked. He was so close I could smell his suit. He took questions, shook everyone's hands, looked us in the eye, the whole nine yards.

It was a very small, intimate session that lasted about an hour. It was great! Needless to say, my entire family voted for him in our primary! My kids have his Kucinich for President posters hanging up in their bedrooms.

[redqueen]

5. What a wonderful experience!

Can't say I'm not jealous... 20 minutes! You lucky dog!

He's so great, I'm not surprised his staffers reflect his REAL values. Also not surprised to hear the way the other politicians treated their young visitors who DO care. Way to start 'em off cynical!

I still call his office about a lot of issues simply because I know other politicians just don't give a damn. At least with him you have a *chance* of having an issue seriously considered. (Such as holding children prisoner, for example.)

Glad to hear you had just a pleasant serendipitous encounter, and got a photo too! I'm so green!

:D