Southern California Campaign Disaster for Kucinich

[Thomas Jefferson]

Much of the talk around Southern California today is that the Kucinich campaign just appointed Greg Gilbert, an Orange County businessman who is currently registered as a Republican, to coordinate it's Southern California operations. While this might be a good strategy for the general election, a number of Democratic and Green volunteers are discussing resigning from the campaign. The worst part is that the volunteers who are talking of resigning are among the most effective and dedicated that the Southern California campaign has. This will reportedly not cost the campaign their votes but they are saying that they cannot work on a political campaign run by a Republican. I hope the campaign cleans up this mess before it costs Dennis California. Dennis is the best of the candidates and he would make a great President.

[gristy]

1. need a link.

[cryofan]

2. Dennis must have a good reason for this...

....tell those goddamn volunteers to get their heads out of the Demo-vs-GOP sports match, and instead worry about sending this country forward by putting a progressive into office.

[jiacinto]

3. The writing's on the wall

This campaign is going nowhere.

[jenk]

5. it's been clear since day 1

Kucinich is a great guy, but it's time to bow out

[Fixated]

4. ....

Well now Kucinich will surely lose California.

[goodhue]

6. are you sure

What happened to Southern California Coordinator Lila Garrett?
See
http://www.kucinich.us/regionalupdates/california.php

Seems like there are several different volunteer groups going on in So Cal.

In any event, support from an Orange COunty Republican might open some eyes to the fact that Dennis is a common sense, pragmatic politician with ideas that are very timely and practical.

[SeveneightyWhoa]

7. Oh my gosh, this is a travesty!

Now Kucinich's 1% in the polls might drop down to a barely respectable 0.9%! What is he to do?

[Padme Amidala]

8. Dennis probably did not know. Greg said he had re-registered.

On August third this year, Greg Gilbert told Dennis that he had re-registered as a Democrat. I and others heard him say this. He has said this many more times too.

Dennis already has a busy schedule and probably had no time whatsoever to check Greg's registration. Dennis is a Congressman. He does have a job to do.

Some volunteers who did have time, discovered that Greg is still registered as a Republican, as of today.

[Desertrose]

9. Its still disappointing that so many dems here

have their heads up their bums...

Do you guys all get your jollies outta putting down other candidates just to make yourselves and your candidates seem better?? Doesn't say much for your choice I guess if thats what it takes,eh?

So democratic and grownup and fair of you all. No damn wonder so many look at dems with disgust....I have never used the phrase "eat your own" as much as I have on here the past few months....

What a swell bunch.....

and...oh yeah...don't count DK out just yet...

Anybody have a link on this???

Peace
DR

[LWolf]

25. No link so far.

And no outrage expressed from the contacts I have. I think I'll just wait and see what the reality is. ;-)

Meanwhile, I'm planning a trip to talk to our striking grocery workers locally about Dennis; should be a receptive audience, don't you think?

:hi:

[Padraig18]

10. Dayum!

And all Gen. Clark did was leave 'undeclared' on his registration! Eek! This looks BAD. folks.

[sandnsea]

11. He draws 50% Republican in Ohio

Somebody said that and I asked how and then I lost the thread. If this guy can get Dennis' message out in a way the mainstream can 'hear', then I'm all for it. Kucinich is running for President, not this Greg person. Do they honestly think Kucinich is going to change because ONE Republican, or former Republican, is involved in his campaign? They need to have a little faith and remember we're all in this country together.

[Padraig18]

12. He doesn't 'draw 50% Republican" in OH.

He's in a solid, pro-Dem District. That stuff about him drawing tons of Republicans is tripe...

[dweller]

14. okay Padraig18

prove it.

Show me the data that he doesn't draw Republicans.

dp

[Padraig18]

18. Read what I wrote.

I said he doesn't draw tons of Republicans; he couldn't, being in a solid pro-Dem district.

[dweller]

21. I read what you wrote the first time

i want to know where you get the data that he does NOT get solid consevative Republican support. In his initial congressional districts he has solidly beaten R incumbents, in (from what i have read elsewhere) many races.

but i asked where is your data that he doesn't?
You may call whatever you want 'tripe' and i can just as well read what you say as the same.

dp

[Padraig18]

26. Well, for one thing....

I Dennis' district in 2000, the vote totals for President were as follows:

Gore: 53.4%, Bush: 42.9%, Nader: 3.7% ; IOW, 57.1% of his district voted for the Democrat or Green candidate. His district is obviously not a bastion of Republican support.

http://www.ncec.org/redistricting/district.phtml?district=oh108

[OhioStateProgressive]

31. well, again

i remember reading that something like 16% of people that voted for Dennis in 2000 voted for Bush for President in Dennis district...Dennis tried like hell to get Gore the votes...but Gore WASN'T a good candidate

[dweller]

32. Gore/Bush/Nader?

you are either missing your own point, or ignoring it.

Where does DK not pull in conservative Rep. votes? Not Gore v. *moron.
DK is not Nader, Gore or that other guy.

tripe you offer. I want to see your backup facts. Otherwise, it's tripe you post.

dp

[Padraig18]

37. Logic 101:

You can't disprove a negative; all the direct evidence indicates that DK's district is pro-Dem.

[JohnKleeb]

35. I dont think people have said it was a republican stronghold

but have said it has leaned republican somewhat a little.

[Padraig18]

36. Well, John...

... at some point in the past, the 10th may have leaned Republican, especially when parts of it still lay in Sumner County, but since the post- 2000 Census redistricting, it has become decidely pro-Democratic. I absolutely do not mean this as a put-down for DK, but this re-districting is the more plausible reason for his increased margin of victory in 2002 than any inherent appeal he has to Republicans; by eliminating Sumner County from his district, and adding several Cleveland wards to it, it became even *more* pro-Democratic than it was in the past. The 2000 presidential vote totals pretty well back up my characterization of his district as pro-Dem, I think.

PS--- I think he's a great Congressman, and it's obvious that the people in his district love him. :hi:

[sandnsea]

40. Reagan Democrats

According to this Wash Post article. And in 1998 he won with 67%, so that's still good.

"The immediate suburbs have a strong union presence and a Democratic leaning. At the district's western edge, it contains more conservative, white-collar residents who commute from the affluent, gated communities of towns such as Bay Village. Democrats dominate the state legislature from this district, but local offices are split evenly. Although the congressional seat was designed with Democratic candidates in mind, a large population of Reagan Democrats makes it winnable by Republicans."


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/politics/elections/2000/states/oh/house/oh10/

[MuseRider]

15. Personally I see this

as a good thing. Everyone wants us to believe that Clark is a solid Democrat even though he was not officially one until he started running so why is this in question? Why do people not see how the "real oldfashioned" Republicans are horrified by Bush* and feel comfortable changing at this time? It is constantly thrown out here that DK can't get the moderate or the republican vote because he is just too far left. Hmmmm, looks like he is OK with some of them. His campaign has always looked to me like more than a run as a democrat, it is more like a run as a humanitarian.

[OhioStateProgressive]

27. Dennis always has drawn support from Republicans

because of Dennis holistic vision, Republicans are often drawn to him

and when Dennis was Councilman he endorsed an Honest Republican over a big Business Democrat for Mayor, and helped get him elected...and a Republican voter block got him elected mayor the first time

Dennis cannot get a huge bloc of Republican vote...but certain classes of Republican, moralists, etc...Dennis can easily win them over, and has proven this

[Padraig18]

29. Now *that* I will concede

My sole objection was the hyperbole about DK's ability to draw Republican votes. :hi:

[OhioStateProgressive]

30. well

Northern Ohio is littered with those kind of Republicans...republican-populists...and he does draw magnitudes of them...I think he might pick up a few in other states as well

Dennis isn't the California Liberal many want to make him out to be...he is a populist-progressive

but he bases his policies from an ultra left position, on morality, which is something the left doesn't see here often

Democrats should love Dennis Kucinich

deep down most do

[dweller]

33. No it wasn't

but it's an out for you.


dp

[Padraig18]

38. Nice content-free slam.

Have any more stashed away, dweller? :eyes:

[NNadir]

13. Is there any evidence at all Kucinich was even in the running in

California?

I'd guess not. This campaign runs by seance, visions and dreams.

It doesn't matter if he hires Republicans. He isn't going to win anything anywhere anyway.

Actually it's probably good for him to work with Republicans. He'll be working closely when he gets the Green Party nomination.

[MuseRider]

16. He has said

a bunch of times that he is not interested in running as a green. Bad, stupid comment to still be making.

[Tinoire]

19. I'll take seance, visions and dreams anyday over lies n/t

[MR. ELECTABLE]

20. You don't have to be so shitty about it...

Dennis Kucinich and Howard Dean are the ONLY campaigns I've seen out here in San Diego. Kucinich booths were at a couple of the bigger street festivals this fall-- SO YES, HE HAS BEEN CAMPAIGNING OUT IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.

Where do you get off taking such a condescending speech towards your fellow democrats, for no other purpose than pissing them off? Kucinich may not be your pick, but in the end we're all going to have to come together and defeat Bush. Acting like an asshat will only make things more difficult when that time comes.

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[blm]

23. You have no idea about Kucinich. He is as loyal a Democrat as they come.

Why parade your ignorance of the man for all to see?

I've known him since 1972 and he is as loyal to the Dem party as I am.

[no name no slogan]

28. Blather. Rinse. Repeat.

Aren't you tired of trotting out that same old "Dennis will run as a Green" excuse yet?

I know of at least one other Republican who has endorsed Kucinich-- and those are the ones who have bothered to make an endorsement of any sort.

We have a lot of people on our campaign who also worked for John McCain in 2000, because they were sick and tired of supporting "the Evil of Two Lessers®" every four years, and vanted to vote for a man of integrity and honesty for a change.

[goodhue]

39. See post #6

See
http://www.kucinich.us/regionalupdates/california.php

[AnAmerican]

17. How sad......

that most of the posts on this thread are from the likes of NNadir and Jacinto and their like, who I long ago wrote off as having anything to contribute in Dennis conversations. More than likely the original poster is reacting to a rumor. But even if the situation is as described, I see no reason to fret about it. I especially see no reason for the "permanent naysayers" to even type out responses. We all know you guys don't like Dennis. Frankly, that is your issue, not ours.

That being said...everyone have a good Thanksgiving.

[dweller]

24. Well said

especially if you want to add the comments of paidraig, jenk and others that come into just about any DK thread with the stench of Fear about them and the dean avatar and immediately begin bashing...

while i have welcomed some of them in the past to du with an open mind if only to look forward to what they seemed to offer in a calm and conservative approach to this political soundboard, i have sadly slowly began to realize that they are here for otherwise, how should i say this, less than Democratic ideals. As we approach closer to the primaries, i'll likely have to add paidrag, jenk, nnadir and ignored (again) to my list to be ignored. Sad, i may have wanted to hear about their candidate, but damn, i have heard enough from them.

I'll offer 2 perhaps dumb analogies:

Imagine you are a kid on a playground with an overpowering bully that terrorizes the whole area. One day someone stands up to the bully and calls him on his bluff. Others want to rally around and see the bully put in place, but out of the fringe steps a few of the bully's cronies that stomp the outspoken one into the dirt.

Now imagine a day or so later and instead of 1 ready to stand up, 9 stand up and call the bully and the cronies on their bullshit. Many more are willing to step up now and stand behind the 9 and the cronies and the bully are put in their place.

To me, that is what we are dealing with in these pre-primary days. There is more power and truth in the 9, and for any of the supporters that do not want to recognize the power that this group of 9 candidates have in common and instead want to replace 1 bully with another portrays to me their true endeavor. They may as well be one of the cronies.

and for the second:

I see the polls that go on here just about daily for some candidate to 'drop out' and honestly, i was there at first to vote against anyone but my candidate. But i only vote now for the option, 'NONE'. I'm going to have to vote for ANY Dem or dem that is going to get that *moron farce s.o.b. out of office, and will hold my nose for L, D, G, if it means getting our world back to reality. I only wish until then that the members of this board would have the simplest bit of respect to keep the bigger picture in mind, spend more time supporting ANY candidate that will further the removal of the fraud in Al's house, work like hell in their own reality for their own candidate of choice, and cut a damn bit of slack to anyone else who doesn't hold to their own specially selected version of reality.

that said, i have a pumpkin pie to bake, and a poor dead carcass turkey with a superimposed face of * that i'm going to stuff and roast.



happy T-day to all.
dp

[drfemoe]

34. If DK

can get people to change their registration or party choice More Power To Him. I have problem zero with that.

There have been "others" who have slammed my choice with some sort of scorn due to his ability to draw republicans into the dem party (he may even indirectly be partly responsible for Clark's change).
Why would I hold it against DK? Go get 'em ..