Kucinich the scrapper

[eridani]

http://www.star-telegram.com/elections/story/375619.html

Day after day, 12-year-old Dennis Kucinich wore the same pair of turquoise pinstriped pants to school.

Other kids teased him about the pants, which he'd bought for a quarter at a Salvation Army store, but Kucinich had nothing else to wear. Finally, a nun at his school told him to stay after class and gave him and his family boxes of clothes.

"It was an extraordinary act of charity," he said in a recent interview. "Every step along the way there were people there to help us."

Kucinich grew up in 21 places, including a car and an orphanage. He survived his childhood by being smart -- his mother taught him to read by age 3 -- and brash.

He is a product of west Cleveland, a middle-class urban community that thrived when America's factories were humming but for at least a generation has struggled to survive.

Like so many Rust Belt ethnic enclaves, the congressman's district is still populated largely by scrappers, people who worked with their hands, lived by their wits and relied heavily on their governments -- state, local and federal -- for safety nets and jobs when times were bad.

It has long been a place where politicians are friends, neighbors and favor dispensers. Maintaining that street-level sense has been the key to Kucinich's rocky yet ultimately triumphant political career.

[DesertRat]

1. Good article

Thanks for posting. :thumbsup:

[ColbertWatcher]

2. People should get to know the candidates...

...by their deeds and not by their PR.

Nice article.

[ColbertWatcher]

3. They skipped the mayor story!

I can't believe they skipped the story about when he stood up to the energy company when he was mayor!

Damnit!

Come on Star-Telegram, if that's your real name...

[Mnemosyne]

5. And someone put a hit out on him for it. Exploding ulcer saved him. vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20sRFPAbDQw

I love this man more with every story I hear. What a completely awesome person!

[lonestarnot]

6. I adore him! He would make such a fine President.

[Mnemosyne]

9. Imagine having a President that actually cares about We the People!

:hopeful:

[Double T]

4. Dennis Kucinich is VERY DIFFERENT................

and exactly what our country needs for President!!!!

[Whisp]

7. Kucinich is the last chance...

you blow this one and it's all over but the really hard crying.
there should be MASSIVE support for him, but no.... he's got funny ears.

I am simply amazed at the stupidity of supporting those warmongering pigs and the willingness for the majority to cut their own throats. So marinated in ignorance, so willing to be led to slaugher.

[eridani]

8. Changing our political culture so that is the case is a long-term project

Supporting Kucinich is just part of it.

[LWolf]

10. K & R n/t