Dennis Kucinich
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Kucinich is considered to be a green liberal; he is sometimes described as a "Wellstone Democrat". He is the only presidential candidate who voted against the Patriot Act in the House. He has been praised as "a genuine progressive" by Ralph Nader, who has hinted that he might not run against Kucinich as he did against Clinton in 1996 and against Gore in 2000, should Kucinich actually win the nomination. In 2003, Kucinich was the recipient of the Gandhi Peace Award.
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2 Mayorship 3 US House of Representatives 4 2004 Presidential Campaign 5 Notable Quotes 6 References |
Personal Life
Kucinich is unmarried, and a vegan. His father was a semi-truck driver; Kucinich has mentioned that he was homeless at least once in his childhood, with his family living in a car.
Mayorship
In 1977, Kucinich, at the age of 31, became the mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, the youngest mayor of a major US city, after running on a ticket promising to cancel the sale of the city's publicly owned electric company, Muny Light to a private electric company, the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company (CEI). CEI had been responsible for numerous violations of federal antitrust law in its attempt to put Muny Light out of business. The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission determined that CEI blocked Muny Light from making repairs to its generator by lobbying the Cleveland City Council to place restrictive conditions on Muny Light Bonds. Because of the delay in repairs, Muny Light had to purchase power. CEI then worked behind the scenes to block Muny Light from purchasing power from other power companies. CEI became the only power company Muny Light could buy from. At that point, CEI sharply increased and sometimes tripled the cost of power to Muny Light. As a result, Muny Light began to lose money. The current, mayor of Cleveland then agreed to sell Muny Light to CEI, but after Kucinich won the election, he canceled the sale.
CEI went to court to demand that Muny Light pay $15 million for power it had purchased. The previous mayor had intended to pay that light bill by selling the light system, simultaneously disposing of a $325 million dollar antitrust damage suit. Kucinich's election not only stopped the sale, but kept the lawsuit alive. CEI went to federal court to get an order attaching city equipment. Kucinich moved quickly to pay the bill by cutting city spending. On December 15, 1978, Ohio's largest bank, Cleveland Trust, told Kucinich that they would not renew the city's credit on $15 million of loans taken out by the previous administration unless Kucinich would agree to sell.
At midnight on December 15, 1978, Cleveland Trust put the City of Cleveland into default. Later, it was revealed, that Cleveland Trust and CEI had four interlocking directors. Cleveland Trust was CEI's bank. Together with another bank, Cleveland Trust owned a substantial share of CEI stock and had numerous other mutual interests. Public power was continued in Cleveland.
Kucinich lost the election in 1979 with default as the major issue. CEI was subsequently acquired and is now part of First Energy.
Critics of Kucinich's performance as mayor cite the city's economic decline during his stewardship. Kucinich was often lampooned in editorials and editorial cartoons as Dennis "the Menace", a play on his name, his youthful appearance and his positions (which in that context were often being characterized as extremist and anti-business).
In 1998, the Cleveland City Council stated that "[Kucinich had] the courage and foresight to refuse to sell the city's municipal electric system." After the 2003 US-Canada Blackout, First Energy was identified as a contributor to the disaster due to various failures. Kucinich began to advocate for liability proceedings.
Kucinich has been criticized for flipflopping on the issue of abortion by, including once Chris Matthews during a broadcast of cable channel MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews" (July 15, 2003) [1]. Matthews said that Kucinich was "pandering" by switching from a pro-life to a pro-choice position. He has voted for restrictions on abortions for most of his congressional career; however, he is quick to note that he has never supported a constitutional amendment prohibiting abortion altogether.
Ralph Nader and most Greens are friendly to his campaign, some going so far as to indicate that they would not run against him. This is sometimes seen as a ploy to increase Kucinich's support among Democrats who fear a permanent spoiler effect by the Greens; the Greens' plans for 2004 remain unclear.
US House of Representatives
2004 Presidential Campaign
Platform and Criticism
Kucinich's platform for 2004 includes immediate withdrawal from the WTO and NAFTA and an immediate end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq. He opposes the death penalty, the drug war, the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and privatization of Social Security. He supports the ABM Treaty, the Kyoto Protocol, instant-runoff voting, universal healthcare, and the formal creation of a cabinet-level "Department of Peace" (similar ideas having been proposed beginning early in American history, including one by George Washington).Campaign Strategy
A great deal of Kucinich's campaign advertising involves references to his supporters. Kucinich's website contains a list of well-known individuals who are among his supporters, including:
Polls and Primaries
National polls have consistently shown Kucinich's support in single digits, but rising, especially as Howard Dean has lost some support among peace activists for refusing to commit to cutting the Pentagon budget. Based on his fundraising and poll performance, most establishment analysts do not view him as a viable contender for the nomination.Notable Quotes
References
