Dare to believe in Kucinich?

[penguin7]

I have been following politics for some time. I have learned to never underestimate the stupidity of the American voter.

I worked for Jerry Brown, clearly not the corporate candidate, and I watched him go down to defeat against Bill Clinton.

I think Kucinich is in a better position than Jerry Brown. He has the internet which lets him state his position without relying so much on the corporate media. Further, I see no corporate candidate in this race with anything like the intellect of Bill Clinton.

I think Kucinich may just pull this off. I am starting to believe.

[PresidentObama]

1. I respect your choice, respect that you believe in him.

But I certainly don't think Kucinich has a chance. I could be wrong, and if I am....I'll gladly support him.

[Not Me]

6. I've been holding off waiting (hoping) that Gore would run

but am moving squarely behind Dennis Kucinich. He has espoused, consistently, what I expect from a leader of the Democratic Party: from civil rights, to health care, to jobs, to ending the war/not going to war, to impeaching the criminals that occupy the white house.

He has earned my support.

[southerncrone]

2. Welcome to DU, penguin7!

He's my man!
Remember if we don't have hope, we don't have much. Hold that thought.... the power of positive thinking is VERY powerful!

He's the only one who has voted like I would have voted if I'd been in Congress.

Let's hope the snowball effect happens; he has quite a few months left to "accumulate" support.
:hi:

[bahrbearian]

3. I read somewhere that DK is just looking for attention

His vote against the IWR was just Grandstanding,, Impeaching Cheney is just his way of getting attention,, the other candidates are just looking to help America. DK is just an attention monger.

[rusty60]

4. nice guy but abig waste of time and money -

[saltpoint]

5. A lot of us respect Dennis Kucinich on the issues and almost

no one I've talked to about him feels he is insincere. There's a dedication and passion to him that is incredibly contagious and reassuring and inspiring.

No argument on those points.

What's missing -- and this is a key part of U.S. politics -- is a mechanism for victory.

How do you go from principled and impassioned pilgrim to party nominee without that mechanism?

I'm not doubting the man's sincerity at all. I'm just wondering where the apparatus for him to win the nomination is.

[rinsd]

7. Jerry Brown was a far better campaigner than Dennis is.

"He has the internet which lets him state his position without relying so much on the corporate media."

And he has the worst website of any of the candidates. It look exactly the same as his 2004 one.

Wanna know why Dennis is making such a big deal about this Clinton-Edwards thing? Watch when his fundraising numbers come out for the 2nd Q.

[MonkeyFunk]

8. And Brown was also

the two-term governor of the largest state in the nation.

[InvisibleTouch]

9. I'm cautious with my belief these days.

While I think he's the best of the (currently declared) candidates, and I'm 100% behind him in the primaries, I don't honestly think he can win the nom. But I want him to stay visible, stay vocal, and keep his viewpoints and his issues under discussion. I think perhaps that's his intention and his expectation as well, and maybe this is what people mean when they say he's "not a serious candidate." They generally mean it as an insult when they say this, but I don't think it needs to be, necessarily. This strategy too has merit, and is in fact the smart approach for someone without the deep pockets of some of the other contenders.

So I've resigned myself to the sense that my favorite candidate can't actually win, but can be a major influence none the less, and this in and of itself is a good thing. But ... every now and again, that crazy ray of hope sneaks in. Isn't it possible, at least theoretically, that there will be such a shift in consciousness in the coming months that DK suddenly looks like the only sane choice? That people will suddenly be forced by circumstance to see beyond their own petty little concerns and look toward a more global consciousness? That word-of-mouth and "viral marketing" and grassroots passion and the 100th-monkey syndrome will trump big money and slick advertising? Hey, it could happen. The world is changing fast. And those of us here (even his supporters!) who keep saying "I love the guy, but he can't win," are in fact doing him a disservice and damaging the chance he does have.

It's natural to be cautious with one's passions these days, having been disappointed so many times over already. But maybe it's that mindset, exactly, that brings about a self-fulfilling prophecy, and that mindset that we need to change. As Dennis himself said back in '04, "I'm electable if you vote for me." Dare to believe, indeed!

[LWolf]

10. I believe in

the principles that underly his stances, his platform, and his work.

I believe in his integrity and his commitment to working for those principles.

That's enough to get my support in '08, because I don't believe the same of the other candidates.

[ChipperbackDemocrat]

11. Why we have a problem with Dennis in my opinion.

I supported Dennis Kucinich in 2004. He's my pick in 2008.

I read a lot of people here and everywhere who see him as "kooky" or as the misfit, or as the 5'6" rather unappealing guy who may be saying the truth..but the package is bad. That may be, but I also see something deeper.

That fact is, Dennis Kucinich's main thrust (and the reason I support him) as that he is discussing a United States of America for the 21st century. He is discussing a future where America's role will change and he is putting forth a program that is diametrically different than just about anything most of us are used to.

In 2004, Dennis Kucinich asked a question on the stump: How much of a change are you ready for?

The changes he is calling for are not business as usual. They will be difficult. It will not be easy to push against entrenched power who profits from the current system of violence, aggression and exploitation in the world. Never mind that turning away from that system would make America better and stronger because the entire world will be better and stronger. That change involves a certain humility, and Americans and humility don't mix as well as you think they may.

I don't agree with how Dennis wants to get out of Iraq, but agree with the premise that we need to end our unilateral policy there and replace it with a world network of support. An immediate "Saigon evacution" is unfeasible and foolhardy. It has to phased military withdrawal combined with what DK is calling for. We need a worldwide effort to rebuild infrastructure and help the Iraqi people help themselves and build their own self-determination. We also need to work to build institutions to help bridge gaps in the world through trade and knowledge as opposed to violence. Yes, I do believe in creating a Department of Peace. The really strong do not need to prey upon the weak.

I agree with his concept on national health care, but he has the buck 50 years+ of mental conditioning that would equate national universal health care with the Soviet Union. That is a change that will be very difficult to broker with many Americans, even those who would say are progressives.
Expanding education to really teach kids? Universal college education for all who want to go and can meet the standard? The proposals are things I've wanted to see for years, but we are living in a time where so many have been sold the idea that education works best as a commodity as not a part of the common wealth of a society. If you don't think that is so, think about what happens everytime a school board raises a bond issue. There is a definitive Bronx cheer that comes out against it or another call to privatize.

The change he calls for will pit the average citizen against the big money, the big lobbies, the corporations, the defense contractors, etc. and that will not be a fight that ends in 2 hours or 13 weeks. It is a fight that won't end on January 20, 2009 when Dennis Kucinich takes the oath...That will be the beginning. A good number of Americans are fighting for the other side, and a good number who aren't may not have the stomach for that battle. Winning that battle will mean, we all will have to sacrifice. We may have to sacrifice the Madison Avenue dream of success for something greater. We may have to sacrifice the concept of "kick-ass" America for the sake of building a better, cleaner, safer world. We may have to sacrifice simple jingoism for our higher ideals.

This is not to say that any other candidate doesn't think or feel this way. They may. However when I see who they are shaking hands with, and when I see what their plans are, I see in many cases that they are seeing America's future in the prism of distorted past. Too much of the Democratic Party is looking to the Clinton 1990s. It beats the Republican Party-Grover Norquist vision of a future built on a return to the McKinley 1890s. Neither vision passes muster for the USA of the 2020s and 2030s that my children and grandchildren will live and work in. This is what Dennis Kucinich is talking about. That is why I support him. It may also be a large part of why many others aren't.

Memo to Dennis Kucinich, YOU ARE A SERIOUS CANDIDATE, DENNIS! SO ACT LIKE IT!

To my fellow Kucinich supporters: FEEL NOWAYS TIRED. WE'VE ONLY BEGUN TO FIGHT!

[LWolf]

12. Excellent points. n/t