UPDATE 1.26.08: Hi everyone. This
morning, I suddenly remembered that I'd actually had a
conversation with the Congressman Kucinich, so I decided to post an addendum. Can't believe I forgot. When other candidates simply sent press releases, Kucinich called me personally. Read about it here.
And then there were three.
In an interview
yesterday with the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich
revealed plans to "transition out" of the Democratic presidential race,
leaving Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards and the rest of
America to continue ignoring his existence.
The closest I came to encountering
Kucinich on the trail was on the Monday before the New Hampshire
primary, when I spotted one of the many "MEET DENNIS KUCINICH AND
VIGGO MORTENSEN TODAY" fliers plastered all over Main Street in
Concord. "Today" was underlined. It was currently today. There were
even four exclamation
points. But when I went to the Kucinich campaign headquarters at
2:30--the posted time--all I found was two shlubby staffers staring at
a half-eaten buffet
spread of mini-bagels and carrots. In the dark.
"Oh, right," one said. "That was
yesterday." I concluded that the Viggo debacle was either a baroque
plot to ensare "Lord of the Rings" fans--or
what happens when your campaign has no money, no supporters and no
staffers smart enough to put dates on their fliers (or to take them
down once "today" has passed).
That
said, I never expected Kucinich to leave us so soon. Why now? "There is
a point at which you just realize that you, look, you accept
it, that it isn't going to happen and you move on," he told the Plain
Dealer yesterday. But reality never stopped Kucinich before; in 2004,
for example, he extended his presidential campaign way past the "isn't
going to happen" point--like, into late summer, long after John Kerry
had won enough delegates to clinch the nomination.
Sure,
Kucinich's unabashedly liberal positions--single-payer health care;
immediate withdrawal from NAFTA; a cabinet-level Department of Peace;
"fostering a world of international cooperation"--never earned him more
than a few points in national surveys. (His unabashedly crazy belief in UFOs probably didn't help.) Yes, Kucinich was reduced in recent weeks to suing NBC (unsuccessfully) for excluding him from debates, launching a recount effort
to uncover (non-existent) anti-Kucinich shenanigans* in New Hampshire
and filing a (failed) appeal to stay on the ballot in Texas--all of
which inevitably distracted the candidate from winning over the
thousands upon thousands of voters required to rise from one to two
percent in the polls. And it's possible that Kucinich typed "dennis
kucinich" into Google Suggest
and discovered that more people are searching for "kucinich wife" (1.5
million results) than "kucinich for president" (440,000). It is a truth
universally acknowledged that a single man, in possession of eyes, must
be in want of a stunning British redhead who towers over him and has a pierced tongue (66,000 results). It's tough to compete.
But the truth is probably more pedestrian. Kucinich, who easily
won a sixth congressional term in 2004, is now facing four challengers
back in Cleveland--and each of them is using his quixotic presidential
campaign (and the time it takes away from representing his
constituents) as ammunition. Cleveland Councilman Joe Cimperman,
Kucinich's main rival, snuck into the congressman's Lakewood office
Jan. 3 "with a
camera-toting campaign worker to drop off a 'missing' poster mocking
Kucinich's presidential travels," according to the Plain Dealer; he's
also criticized Kucinich's Hollywood donors (Michael Moore is a fan).
Candidate Barbara Ferris went one step further, citing Kucinich's
failure to win the Democratic nod as evidence of his inadequacy. "He was
unable to achieve anything running for president; he was unable to
achieve in 11 years in Congress," she says. Seems like ignoring your district,
hobnobbing with Hollywood and losing a lot of primaries isn't the best
reelection strategy--and even someone who believes in little green men
is practical enough to see that.
* UPDATE: Actually, Kucinich demanded a recount "because of what he says are unexplained disparities between
hand-counted ballots and machine-counted ballots and rumors online of
counting errors." It was a effort to ensure "public confidence in the integrity of the election process and the election machinery," not to uncover "anti-Kucinich shenanigans." The source I consulted when writing the article was misleading, and I apologize for the error. Thanks to everyone who pointed out the mistake.
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