I just interviewed Dennis Kucinich and attended a fundraiser for him.I was impressed.

[saracat]

I am not a Kucinich supporter.I interviewed Dennis in 2004 and was underwhelmed.He is different now.He has a true spark, and instead of anger, seems motivated by a very positive force. He speaks beautifully and can touch the heart of his audience.He used to be annoying and monotone. Dennis has come a long way and I for one congratulate him for it and no longer consider him just a "vanity" candidate.He is certainly a Democrat to be proud of! Thank you, Dennis for stepping up for what is right, and thank you for being the gracious interview you are! !

[blm]

1. I'm glad you see it - and hope more Dems do - he has always had a sizzle

about him. It's just not the conventional sizzle that society pushes, so they attack it - the way they have done to Democrat who speaks out against the conventional wisdom crowd.

[saracat]

3. I think his marriage may have improved him.He seems so happy!

This was not the case in 2004.Then he struck me as an irritating barking dog! Seriously.But now, he is almost charamatic! And it isn't me that has changed.It is his phrasing , delivery and demeanor that are different.If more media saw this guy, he might not be written off so fast!

[IndyOp]

5. The passage of time has revealed how right he has been about Iraq -

and the corporate media are just beginning to respond to him with respect. Last week the debate on "Faith" included just Clinton, Obama, and Edwards -- until Kucinich contacted CNN and got them to do an additional hour and include all of the other candidates. Gravel was the only one who did not appear.

I believe that Dennis could be our Huey Long -- the candidate who MOVES the leader(s) WAY OVER in the direction of progressive populism. FDR was a moderate until he had to start promising Americans what Huey Long was promising them...

In 1927, the Democratic Party had died and was awaiting burial. As depression approached, the coma-Dems, like Franklin Roosevelt, called for balancing the budget.

Then, as the waters rose, one politician finally said, roughly, "Screw this! They're lying! The President's lying! The rich fat cats that are drowning you will do it again and again and again. They lead you into imperialist wars for profit, they take away your schools and your hope and when you complain, they blame Blacks and Jews and immigrants. Then they push your kids under. I say, Kick'm in the ass and take your rightful share!"

Huey Long laid out a plan: a progressive income tax, real money for education, public works to rebuild Louisiana and America, an end to wars for empire, and an end to financial oligarchy. The waters receded, the anger did not, and Huey "Kingfish" Long was elected Governor of Louisiana in 1928.

At the time, Louisiana schools were free, but not the textbooks. Governor Long taxed Big Oil to pay for the books. Rockefeller's oil companies refused pay the textbook tax, so Long ordered the National Guard to seize Standard Oil's fields in the Delta.

Huey Long was called a "demagogue" and a "dictator." Of course. Because it was Huey Long who established the concept that a government of the people must protect the people, school, house, and feed them and give every man or woman a job who needs one.

Government, he said, "We The People," not plutocrats nor Halliburtons, must build bridges and levies to keep the waters from rising over our heads. All we had to do was share the nation's wealth we created as a nation. But that meant facing down what he called the "concentrations of monopoly power" to finance the needs of the public.

In other words, Huey Long founded the modern Democratic Party. Franklin Roosevelt and the party establishment, scared senseless of Long's ineluctable march to the White House, adopted his program, called it the New Deal, and later The New Frontier and the Great Society.

America and the party prospered.

America could use a Democratic Party again and there's a rumor it's alive -- somewhere.

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0902-32.htm

[saracat]

14. He is still and is a much better speaker. He is also dressing better.

Maybe it is chauvinistic of me, but I suspect a women's touch!

[riverdale]

21. ineluctable

Function:
adjective
: not to be avoided, changed, or resisted : inevitable <an ineluctable fate>

[eridani]

17. He's also had more practice on the national scene

Probably some of the mannerisms you regard as "barking dog" are regarded as how eastern city politicians are supposed to be.

[saracat]

19. Nope.I am an Easterner myself and what I called "barking dog" was sustained monotone yelling.

Kucinich is now moderate spoken, varies his pitch and knows how to evoke emotion. He is a much better speaker.

[venable]

2. He is my second favorite, after which there is a huge drop-off n/t

[AtomicKitten]

4. I organized 2 fundraisers when he spoke in my city in 2004

and had dinner at his table both times (hey, being in charge has perks doncha know!). The problem I see for Dennis - and saw then - is that he speaks in terms that are foreign to middle America, i.e., talking about karma, etc. That inability to connect with all of America is the reason he isn't supported enthusiastically on the left.

[blm]

6. Tell that to all the blue-collar Catholic voters in Ohio who've known him almost his entire life.

.

[AtomicKitten]

9. No doubt there are pockets of support -

I'm not denying that, but in my statistical studies, I've found that he fails to connect for the reason I cited above with much of those in the center - right, and even with some on the left who don't believe in that metaphysical kind of existence. It is what it is.

His talents would be better suited for a cabinet position, say perhaps a Department of Peace.

http://www.thepeacealliance.org/content/view/181/147/

[IndyOp]

7. I agree with what you are saying about Dennis & his terms...

I think, though, that he can moderate his language depending on his audience - he knows how to speak working-class.

Also, while I find some of his affectations off-putting -- like his spinning to show he has "no strings" and his tendency to burst into song during/after a speech -- at least we know the geek we're getting.

Of course, Al Gore is talking these days about "truthforce" and we KNOW what a geek he is -> :D

:hi:

[AtomicKitten]

10. that's the Catch-22 of politics

Modify your spiel, and you are attacked for being a hypocrite. But candidates must speak to different audiences and should try to speak to them in terms that resonate with them but still within the confines of their own belief system.

And, yes, Gore is one of those book-learnin' geeky types .... :rofl:

[welshTerrier2]

8. what questions did you ask him?

what were his responses?

[saracat]

13. Wetalked about the media and his lawuit against Glenn Be4ck about which he wouldn't comment

and the direction of the Democrtatic Party , which he would like to be towards the rule of law and peace.Not much !could disagreee with!

[welshTerrier2]

15. thanks!

not really sure what he means about having the Democratic Party move towards "the rule of law" ...

[saracat]

16. WEll, He talked about repealing the Patriot Act.! I think he wants to brimg back the Constitution!

[area51]

11. k&r

I <3 DK.

[Cleita]

12. Let's hope he keeps it up. I have

heard from other former Kucinich supporters that they were disappointed in him in the previous election. I am supporting him in this election with what little I can.

[eridani]

18. In my state, at least half his supporters were 3rf party or independent

They aren't interested in trying again, but those of us who decided to stay with the Dems are up for pushing the party in a more progressive direction.

[NotGivingUp]

20. Dennis is the only Democrat that I will vote for. The rest of them work for the corporations. nt

[LWolf]

22. I met, and got to speak, to DK a few times in 03/04.

I didn't interview him, I just talked to him about issues.

What I remember is that he was REAL. He had depth, not just surface polish. He wasn't performing, he wasn't playing a role. He listened to me. Really listened, quietly, and took a moment to think. Then he responded, not with talking points, rhetoric, or his plans, but with a personal response to what I'd said. I could see him looking, through my perspective, for commonalities that would bring us together. He was calm, matter-of-fact, and completely empathetic. He responded to the SOURCE of the issues we discussed, not skimming along surface symptoms. He brought an incredible range of thinkers', philosophers', and writers' perspectives to our conversation. I was amazed at how well-read he is, and how well-informed even on issues that aren't hot political topics.

I gained respect for this man that "politics as usual" cannot undermine.