Just the fact that Dennis Kucinich WAS a candidate proves there's still hope for such healthy attitudes to enter into the money-ruled, undemocratic campaigns of the United (?) States of Atrocities.

The fairness-spirited bubbling under can't be denied - only temporarily repressed. And the climate extreming is now forcing fair equality upon US. The individual sensors to society each of us represents is now needed for society to cope with the changes. Authoritarianism and dictatorial tendencies aren't sustainable. Just look how desperate they're getting of staying in control, and how futile is that show.

Thanks, Kucinich, for being a reminder on many levels - both directly through your messages and indirectly by the way your candidacy was treated - of where we need to go.

margalo;

Contribution to Dennis' House race - done!

Anyone else?

If you stood for Kucinich stand now for Mike Gravel. Mike is the only one on the Democratic side who will end The War in Iraq, in Palestine, in Afghanistan, and in Iran and Pakistan before it is started.

Unionguy - I disagree that no ongoing organization came out of Dennis' campaign. Progressive Democrats of America most definitely grew out of Dennis' campaign -- even if, because of certain hard feelings, it ended up not including him. But it is the same vision-- and the same people who supported him in the 2004 election, and is one of the most effective grassroots organizations on the hill today. Board members include Medea Benjamin, Cindy Sheehan, Lennox Yearwood, Tom Hayden, Steve Cobble, John Conyers, Barbara Lee, Maxine Waters, and on and on and on...

A very good example of America's "democracy" at work.

I read somewhere that having dropped out of the presidential race, that he's looking for funding to fight for his seat in congress. I think we should all do our bit to keep him there, even if he doesn't represent our state.

THANK YOU, Dennis Kucinich, for all that you have done and continue to do!!

I'd like to pose a very serious question: "Where would a Dennis Kucinich candidacy be right now, IF he had the stature, voice, height, and charisma, of Barack Obama?"

This is NOT a question about these non-CONTENT issues of a politician, even though they are not insignificant in the USA today.

This is, instead, a question about the IDEAS and POLITICS of Dennis Kucinich AND how they might resonate with the politics of the mainstream U.S.A. given these hypothetical conditions.

I happen to believe that THIS candidate would be winning the nomination and the presidency in a landslide. Then again, perhaps he, too, would be shut out, and maybe even assassinated.

{DK-lovers, I am one of you. He had my vote, he had my donations. In an enlightened populace, these non-CONTENT traits wouldn't be weighted so heavily. Unfortunately we do not live in an enlightened society.}

We all need to be the leaders of the peace movement.

The media can ignore and distort one man, but they can't stop a tidal wave of millions of people standing up and speaking out for peace and justice.

I want to reiterate to you the gratitude we, your many supporters, feel, Mr. Kucinich. It is with a very heavy heart that we watch you bow out of this race, though it has always seemed you are too good to be true. Thank you for never losing your supreme honesty, dignity, intellect, and moral compass. We have stood by you for years, and will be by you always. As well, we will be sending our positive and strong energy your way as you bravely bring impeachment to the floor next week. Good luck, blessings, and we will see you, if good fortune prevails, in 2012.

this country is a dump! look at it you got mcCain as a frontrunner and warwoman hillary not to mention mutt romney who is just a follower not to mention the world's worst.I live in las vegas a state rich as can be and i must drive across town for some affordable healthcare since i have none and get services from a place that has no modern faculties as well the city encourages young women here to take their clothes off than to get any type of education. with the large base here I can't wait til these young women get impregnated with these soldiers then fart out 3 headed nerve damage babies from all the nuclear dna guys coming back from iraq.. real nice country! NOT

I would recommend that Dennis Kucinich be named Secretary of Defense by whoever takes office next year.

Wow. We could watch all the illegal weaponry (space, cyberspace, nuclear) disappear from the Defense budget. We could watch the 750 or so bases all around the world be closed and the money now spent to operate them be used instead for economic development in those countries and at home.

We could watch all the occupying forces in Iraq come home and be cared for with competence and compassion. We could watch all the veterans now living on the street move into their new, free apartments and help them heal their psychic and physical wounds.

We could watch speeches that treated Iran (and all countries) with respect and not have to, again, see a Secretary of Defense help the Bush administration with the demonization phase of a war run-up.

If the Department of Peace is not enacted by Congress, we could also watch as a "Peace Curriculum" is added to all West Point degree programs and to all basic and advanced military training.

The Peace movement needs to unite and change tactics. What better time to announce that it's members are calling out the corporate war mongers by refusing to consume. Grow that idea and you will have an impact.

bejugo wrote: "I'd like to pose a very serious question: Where would a Dennis Kucinich candidacy be right now, IF he had the stature, voice, height, and charisma, of Barack Obama?"

If Dennis Kucinich looked like Robert Redford, he would have been elected President by a landslide in 2004.

Those of us who support Kucinich's platform and are grateful for his eloquence, dedication and very hard work can support him by contributing to his Congressional reelection campaign, where he is facing serious challenges in the Democratic primary from opponents funded by corporations who would like to see Kucinich disappeared from the House as well as from the presidential campaign.

I don't think height or charisma had anything to do with it. Dukakis was the same height and got the Democratic nomination in 1988, and Kucinich is widely regarded as civil and decent personally even by those who do not share his political views. Is Bush charismatic? Not particularly, but he is President. These are side or non-issues.

The real issues seem to be "being taken seriously" which has to do with endorsements by major figures and institutions, money, party-machine sponsorship, and (least powerful of these four but a factor) winning primaries. (The reason I say winning primaries is least of these is the strange phenomonen of 1988 in which Jesse Jackson kept winning primary after primary yet was simultaneously regarded as having no chance at winning. Yet Huckabee lacked the first three and is now taken seriously because of getting votes, so it can happen.)

As for institutional endorsements, these almost always go not for the best candidate in the abstract, but the best candidate (in terms of their interests) among the choices perceived as possible winners. (Otherwise, it is regarded as a "wasted" endorsement.)

Kucinich had none of these going into the race, and also had the disadvantage of not having complete name recognition (and also not being a senator or governor like all of the frontrunners, as if that is an unspoken prerequisite). But the big variable is money, huge amounts, which Kucinich never had, and without that the only recovery is to win primaries (on analogy with Huckabee, assisted there by grassroots' evangelicals' distaste for the preferred alternatives), which is difficult to do without money and name recognition.

The shameful exclusion of Kucinich from televised debates reflects institutional discomfort with Kucinich's outspoken, and clear and compelling, arguments especially concerning single payer health care (which drives big pharma livid). Kucinich got no real support from the other candidates not only because they were rivals for votes (and had plenty of problems of their own) but also because, at some level, Kucinich was an embarrassment to all concerned: like the kid who said the emperor has no clothes, Kucinich was saying the Bush administration has no clothes--and all the other Democratic candidates (except Gravel) participate in the illusion to varying degrees. Kucinich represented the positions and ideals that some of them know in their heart are right, but cannot speak openly. As such, he becomes defined as a discomfort, like an unwelcome guest at a party where everyone else is backslapping each other (while outside, as in a surreal horror show, the blood continue to spill and the screams go unheard).

There is no need to "blame the victim" and call what happened Kucinich's fault. Dodd and Biden also suffered the same outcome as Kucinich (not getting traction in votes) which had little to do with their objective merits versus the frontrunners. Kucinich's candidacy represented honesty and passion on issues that mattered. Now may his voice in Congress, in the House of Representatives, continue. (Without knowing any details, I just expect heavy-duty Democratic Party establishment reprisals on Kucinich for his stands on the issues, in the form of funding of primary rivals. He stepped out of line ... he must be punished.) The Kucinich Presidential campaign 2008, R.I.P.

DK must be commended for the effort he has put out. Thank you Dennis Kucinich! The progressive movement in the USA however can't be congratulated. It essentially sat on its ass in front of its keyboards rather than move the whole political dialog to the left as it should have. There should have been millions of people on the streets demanding an end to that criminal war and the criminals who brought it about. That kind of grassroots citizen action would have given much more credence to DK being the anti-war candidate and would have forced Big Media to have to cover his message and make the linkage between a war driven economy of waste compared to a peoples based economy. Instead, we all see what happened. One man was left out to lead an army that was in full retreat. Shame on the left and the progressive movement in the USA. Get off your lazy collective asses and maybe some progress can be made. Until then, expect just more and WORSE of the same.

Cheers.

Kucinich is politically relevant in one way and only one way -- he serves to maintain the myth that the DP can ever beome other than _the_ chief political prop of u.s. imperialism.

The DP exists to absorb, deflect, crush popular mass movements. "Leftist" Democrats like Kucinich are essential to this purpose. Shame on him.

Carrol Cox

When Kucinich was being kept out of the debates,where were the voices of Edwards,Obama , and
Hillary saying "I don't agree with everything you say, but I will back your right to be in the
debates." ?

Interesting post, scroller, but I disagree with you about the importance of being a Senator. Do you know who the last US President elected directly from the Senate was?

John F. Kennedy.

After that it was LBJ (President; he was Kennedy's Vice President); Nixon (former Vice President, but interestingly before being elected in 1968 he lost the 1960 Presidential election and then the 1962 California gubernatorial election); Carter (former governor of Georgia); Reagan (former governor of California); George H.W. Bush (Vice President); Bill Clinton (governor of Arkansas); and, of course, George W. Bush, who wasn't actually elected in 2000 (and possibly in 2004) but who had been governor of Texas.

I really think still being in the Senate generally hurts a candidate, because it's easy to bring up a recent track record of votes that can be spun in many different ways. Governors and former governors have the advantage of never having had to vote on national issues.

If the Democratic candidate ends up being either Obama or Clinton and the Republican candidate ends up being McCain, it will be the first time in a very long time (possibly ever?) that the two candidates who garnered the most electors were sitting Senators.

Cbc,
You're not one to kick a man when he's down, are you? You remind me of the child who raises their hand after they see for whom everyone else has voted?

I don't know about making him Secretary of Defense, but he should be re-elected to Congress or appointed to a senior cabinet post or Commerce, Treasury, Justice, Homeland Security would be just fine. As evidenced by his campaign, one person will not make enough difference at Defense, where the Bush-appointed generals will swarm around and suffocate him. Put him in a place where he can implement his views and make a difference. Right now that clearly seems Congress.

Dennis as anything to do with "Absorb, deflect, crush popular mass movements"? Lazy thinking, too easy, brainless. Mass movements? Give me a break. You dishonor a good man. We've got 288 thousand signing Wexler's petition to impeach Cheney. Where's the mass movement? Mass movements? From the toilet's eye view only, including this comment you've made.

Bernice January 26th, 2008 1:41 pm

"I would recommend that Dennis Kucinich be named Secretary of Defense by whoever takes office next year."

So would I, Bernice. But as is stands, it looks as though the Democratic National Committee might be supporting 3 Democratic candidates in Ohio to replace Kucinich in the House of Representatives.

The DNC nor the Democratic presidential front-runners supported Kucinich's right to be heard by the citizens of this country, which can only lead us to believe that he and his unquestionable support of the Constitution and protecting the rights of "we the people", frighten the Hell out of most members of the Democratic Party, particularly the spineless lap-dog centrists.

This is the SECOND time Dennis has conceeded to WAR candidates, and then votes for them because they are HIS PARTY.

Ron Paul supporters rolled up their sleaves, pulled money out of their pockets to the tune of $55K and stood to support Dennis. Dennis should have dropped out instead of accepting such a wonderful gift, but instead, Dennis accepted the gift and then waited until the day after the Republican party closed it's registration, which meant that if you are a PEACE ISSUE Voter, you could NOT switch parties to vote for Ron Paul, to HELP Ron Paul PEACE rEVOLution FIGHT the neocons from the INSIDE..as you told us to do with Nader in 04.

Dennis is a tremendous let down for those who are mobilizing for a PEACE vote no matter what party.

And now the Dems will do their utmost to destroy him politically, "He fought the Law, and the Law won."

Somebody up the list wrote: "We could watch" and "We could watch" and "We could watch" and "We could watch".

Whazzat tellya? Voyeurs? Are voyeurs participants? Do yoyeurs act as Citizens or do they just watch and get their rocks? If Citizens Act, does that make them criminals? Because after all, who told them they had the right to take action? Who 'gave' them the Authority? No more Bill of Rights. No more DK. Kind of goes together, doesn't it.

Peace.

We are the Ones we have been waiting for. Thank you Dennis for all the great work you continue to do. You are truly a great inspiration to all peacemakers. Now we must keep you in Congress.

We are on our own. Send him what you can afford to make sure he keeps his seat in the House.

I'll still vote for Kucinich in my California primary. And I'll either write him or Al Gore in in November. Or maybe even think about voting Republican for the only time in my life, for Ron Paul.
The other "Democrats" all seem to tow the Republican line, anyway, kowtowing to corporate interests. I will not vote for anyone who does not vow to end this war now. Does not end health insurers/pharmaceuticals rule of the healthcare system. Allows a President and Vice-President to get away with violation of human rights and constitutional laws. Gives tax breaks to big business to stimulate the economy while continuing to vote for funding of an illegal war costing $2 trillion.

He added: "We asked for jobs, we get war. We asked for health care, we get war. We asked for funds for education, we get war. We ask for a clean environment, we get war. It is time to end this war. It is time to end war as an instrument policy and have the government start taking care of things here at home

This guy has the same moxie as JFK and RFK. This statement got me choked up. There was an article on CD about a year ago now called "turn off the life support America is dead" and it couldnt be a truer statement.

I know Dennis pulled out to focus on his congressional campaign, which since he supported impeaching Bush/Cheney I wouldnt be surprised if the election is rigged and he loses, but I really wish he would get Cynthia Mckinney as a running mate and run as an indy.

Is Ron Paul next? The media tried to keep both out of the debates.

None of this is relevant without honest Elections.

Dear Sir or Madam,

It baffles me that, in a society founded upon democratic principles, of many rights most cherished, tried and dear, none should be deserving more continual attention and concern than our most beloved right to vote.
And yet for too long this issue has slipped under the radar.

Voter malfeasance has been already accounted for on many levels. And voters are waking up. In a time none before so urgent, we can not afford the robbery of our citizen's right to representation through the true and honest trial of democratic elections. Therefore we must stop the use of fraudulent voting systems.

We have seen time and again technologies sabotage voting results. We have seen a technology that should serve us, prevent us from serving ourselves to a truthful and clean democracy.

I implore you and your constituents to take this matter seriously and push for paper balloting by all means necessary.

I offer these questions in closing.

Is your district prepared to handle record turnout? Is the nation ready to handle the backlash of an election malfeasance?

Thank you for your consideration and service to our country.

Sincerely,

JPN

The establishment fears the voice of the people.

None of this is relevant without Honest Elections.
None of the hullaballoo about who said what to whom
is relevant without Honest Elections!
This country... isn't relevant... without Honest Elections!

Dear Sir or Madam,

It baffles me that, in a society founded upon democratic principles, of many rights most cherished, tried and dear, none should be deserving more continual attention and concern than our most beloved right to vote.
And yet for too long this issue has slipped under the radar.

Voter malfeasance has been already accounted for on many levels. And voters are waking up. In a time none before so urgent, we can not afford the robbery of our citizen's right to representation through the true and honest trial of democratic elections. Therefore we must stop the use of fraudulent voting systems.

We have seen time and again technologies sabotage voting results. We have seen a technology that should serve us, prevent us from serving ourselves to a truthful and clean democracy.

I implore you and your constituents to take this matter seriously and push for paper balloting by all means necessary.

I offer these questions in closing.

Is your district prepared to handle record turnout? Is the nation ready to handle the backlash of an election malfeasance?

Thank you for your consideration and service to our country.

Sincerely,

JPN

the way his party treated him i think dennis should throw his support to ron paul.they often have voted together.

Where were all the pro-Kucinich political writers (and supposedly liberal celebrities) when it came time to endorse him, way back when he first started running for President? It's fine that they're saying something nice about him now, but why wait until he's out of there?

We all know that his ideas are the best for the little guy nice the New Deal. If he'd been endorsed and supported earlier in the race maybe he would have had a chance to give us a New New Deal.

Not shame on Kucinich, shame on us. We all blew it.

Kucinich/Paul independent ticket.

Who recognizes the corporate selection? NOBODY. Kucinich won.

I had a sick feeling when I heard DK pulled out of the race. I really don't want to vote for John Edwards although it seems he is espousing (verbally, anyway) some of Dennis's good ideas. Way better than the rest, though not perfect, he was the only candidate who represented what so many of us want in government and for our world. It's a sad day. Wishing all of you peace.

Jeanette Doney January 26th, 2008 3:03 pm

"This is the SECOND time Dennis has conceeded to WAR candidates, and then votes for them because they are HIS PARTY."

Jeanette,

You apparently are unaware that Dennis Kuchinich REFUSED to sign the agreement requested by the "Democratic Party" to support the candidate who wins the Democratic nomination for president. It seems that his party has been making every effort to undermine him as a presidential candidate, and now, while he is trying to hold his seat in the House of Representatives.

Dennis is a honorable man. He is one of a very few honest and sensible voices in an utterly corrupt system. It is not just him that was mistreated by the media this election season is is "we the people".

The best thing Dennis can do now is try to keep his seat in congress, the people need representatives like Dennis in the peoples house. Dennis knows this, and will do his best to keep his seat.

Thank you Dennis for giving some of us hope!

If Dennis had the stature of Obama? Excuse me? Dennis towers above Obama in stature, if that is measured by history, integrity, leadership, courage, ability to bring a crowd of working people to its feet roaring, or even his position in the Congress. Obama, Lord bless him, is mostly a media creation. If Kucinich had had a level playing field, equal access to the people, with or without media endorsement, he'd be running away with this race now.

Which is exactly why he has been given the silent treatment, or is treated as a joke when mentioned. And this is not a "tendency" by the press; it is so widespread, so universal, so complete that one cannot escape the conviction that it must be the result of collusion at the top, and that it is enforced. If Jesus Christ were running for President, he'd get the same treatment, for the same reason, with the same result, and we need to face up to that. Look at what they did to Bill Richardson, a supremely qualified, successful, personable establishment insider, whose only sin was to say he'd bring all of the troops home from Iraq within a year! They never gave him an even break, and they certainly won't give one to any of us! Kucinich was "disappeared" from the start because he represented a major, serious and real threat to the monied interests who run this country and control the media.

We cannot give up. We have no right to give up. Continuation of politics as usual is resulting in ever-growing hardship for the people, here and throughout the world, It is leading us into a calamity of war and ecological destruction that will destry our civilization and perhaps our species if left unchecked. But we have to admit that what we have been doing around political power is not working, and cannot work. We need to do something very different. What we need is electoral politics based on political movement-building.

I've shared some ideas about what that might look like, but I don't really know. My answers are based on lessons learned two generations ago, and from my parents and their parents stretching back a century. The world has changed, and what will work now may be different. But if we get ourselves talking to each other about it and in motion around it we will discover and learn what will work, what it is that we have to do.

There are still open primaries where you can take a Republican ballot without being registered. It's the last chance to vote for peace. The Republicans are doing everything possible to get rid of Ron Paul but so far, he has too much money.

In Louisiana they created a "slate" called Pro Life/Pro Family with Huck, Romney, Benito all together(not sure about McCain) They put a picture of Ron & Nancy on it and said "win one for the gipper" They did this after they realized Ron Paul might win the caucus.

The Democratic Party is the big loser here. The gutless "Frontrunners" who did not insist on Dennis being included in the debates share the responsibility for this debacle. I am ashamed to be a registered Democrat, and will soon change to Green. A Kucinich/McKinney ticket would get my vote! Actually, a Kucinich/Nader ticket would be great.

I'm sure the Bush Junta is figuring out a way to silence Mr. K for good. No doubt this man troubles the Empire.

Dennis Kucinich does have the passion of an Obama. He wound up his crowds to a frenzy because truth and committment is so hard to find. Had Kucinich been given a chance to be heard without the media's harrassment, he would have wowed the nation as he did at his rallies. / It's no longer a matter of stilling a progressive voice. But our voices are stilled as well as his . So, we can go back to the uninspired pablem that the present leadership offers and pretent we have a democracy.

The notion that our presidential candidates must be "packaged" a certain way is part of the media's electability myth. FDR was in a friggin' wheel chair, for god's sake. "Electability" is a quality wholly invented by the media pundits who, it turns out, are the only people qualified to identify said quality in a candidate. It is one of the chief gimmicks used to manipulate and shape public opinion. Even normally independent-minded, educated people can be swayed to vote against their own interests based on whether the media has determined a candidate to be electable. This coupled with manipulative and often specious polling has everyone scrambling to vote for who they think other people will vote for. The whole premise of voting as a democratic act - speaking up for your own interests - is completely defeated by this absurd game. Like Eugene Debs said, I'd rather vote for what I want and not get it, than vote for what I don't want and get it.

Dennis Kucinich is not particularly homely. He is actually quite attractive, even more so when you consider his charm, sense of humor, gentle nature, etc. While Dennis and Elizabeth are true soul mates, I absolutely love it that she is the most gorgeous woman I've ever met. Made them all look like idiots for the cheap shots about his appearance, and pretty much shut them up this go around. John Edwards is incredibly good looking, but his ideas are not the right ones, so they actually use his looks against him. The $400 haircut, the footage played over and over again of him primping before going on camera, etc. It doesn't really matter how you look, how much support you have, how much money you have, how smart you are, how right you are, where you come from, if you are a senator, a southerner, or a chimpanzee--- if the corporate interests want you, they will make you king. If they don't, they will destroy you.

Dennis - you are too good for this country, maybe even too good for the human race. Thank you for everything. You inspired me to activism, gave me hope when I was hopeless, and showed me how to fight from a place of love instead of anger. Namaste.

Please help Kucinich fight the Democratic challengers to his Congressional seat. The Dem establishment has found a way to silence him by getting another Dem nominated in a safe district, one who will go along, probably DLC.

We need him to continue in Congress as our voice! He is the only one who will fight to end the war, to bring a Dept of Peace, for single payer public healthcare, etc.

Please contribute to him at http://kucinich.us/contribute.html

SIGNIFICANCE OF KUCHINICH DEPARTURE

The inevitable forced departure of Kuchinich from the presidential race for lack of funding underscores the prime element of failure in our electoral process. It edges out the candidates who have the most to offer and least ties with special interests--hence leaving this vital position open to those with the least to offer and most connections to special interests.

Unrestricted contributions from special interests, coupled with our early primary & caucus carnival events, are the major contributors to this detremental condition. Until they are reformed, these impairments to our system can never be rectified.

As someone who has known and respected Dennis for over 25 years, someone who has worked for him in all of his election campaigns in the Cleveland area, I have to add some facts to this discussion.

First of all, Dennis is now facing a strong challange from highly financed opposition in his bid to be reelected. He has the entire downtown business community against him, along with the local corporate rag, the Cleveland Plain Dealer. However, the head of the local Democratic Party is Jimmy DiMora. Jimmy is campaigning hard for Dennis' reelection. Dennis' main base is the Northern Ohio Central Labor Council, representing almost all unions in that area. They are very worried about the possibliity of losing Dennis this time around, and have issued a strong, early endorsement for Dennis' reelection. At that time, the Labor Federation also told Dennis that he must drop out of the presidential drive or they would not be able to hold labor's solid support behind him.

As much as I love that guy, and I do, I counseled that he should not have run for president this time around. The most positive thing that Dennis did was that he forced the other candidates to deal with REAL natl. health care (HR 676), the war and worker's rights. That was very positive! However, it may cost him his ability to continue to have the bully pulpit of a congressional seat to speak from. You see, Dennis had just been reelected, by a wide majority, right before he announced that he was again going to run for president. In his reelection bid, he campaigned stating that he would NOT run again for president. In running again, he pissed off a large number of regular folks who have supported him in the past.

I would ask, was that worth it if it costs him his seat? I, for one, would say no!

The problem I had with his run is that, while he played a great role in forcing the others to deal with the issues, neither this time or in 2004 did he use that run to build any ongoing organization. Had he done so, it could continue thru the rest of the election season to raise the important issues, force them into the debate.

For everyone that is mourning the loss of Dennis in the presidential race, I'd strongly suggest that you can do something to help. Dennis badly needs help now, not just "morale support." Please send money to his campaign in Cleveland. If you live close enough, come over and help walk preciencts.

We will be working our asses off, against tough odds, to reelect him, and we will all be also working in November to defeat the GOP/corporate ultra-right.

I also wanted to touch base on the 'Ron Paul' issue. There are some on this blog that've spoken out in support of Paul, compairing his positions to Dennis'. That is ridiculous!

While Ron Paul has a good position on the war, he is a right-wing Libertarian who is strongly opposed to the right of workers to organize unions. If Paul had his way, the federal government would do away with Social Security, Medicare, Medicade, all labor laws (including even child labor laws), the EEOC (and all Civil Rights legislation). He does not support environmental legislation and believes that there should be absolutely no restrictions on corporate ownership of media or spending in elections. According to Paul, rather than real national health care, as Dennis' supports, there should be no, zero-none, public support for health care for working and poor folks.

That is Ron Paul's whole position, not just the one we agree with, on the war. That doesn't mean that we can't work with Ron Paul. On the war, he is good, and we should find ways to widen the base of the anti-war movement. However, that is where it ends, at least for me. We fought way too hard for the gains we have made, for labor laws, for civil rights and environmentsl laws, for what health care we do have for our parents and grandparents, for support for the disabled, for it to sacrificed on the mantle of some extreme right-wing Libertarian ideology.

Dennis has cut his teeth in the struggle against the big corporations, against privatization (which Paul supports), for real universal health care (which Paul opposes) and in support of working folks' right to organize into unions (while Paul supports corporations "right" to bust them). Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul are only alike in that have become gadflys to their political parties. However, one (Kucinich) stands with working folks while the other (Paul) does not!

I have heard that Kucinich dropped out because of an AIPAC plan to spend big bucks against him in his House race in Ohio. Does anyone have any verifiable proof of this?

Unionguy, man oh man, Thanks. everytime i here a Paulite say that garbage, Dennis on the ticket w/Paul? WTF is that about, I from meeting the Supreme Leader of the white supremacy psychos at Independence Hall in Philly, we made 1800 gravemarkers, Pix, DOB where KIA, etc. Permits from the city for 3 days for the mall at Independence Hall. The tribute is set on an Arlington Cemetary Grid, the work, but you say what friggin work this is a murdered kid, anyway bunch-o-white people, hopping over grave markers as if a playland. Pauls people set up, he is making some speech, break it down , leave. Not a microsecond of respect for murdered kids led there by deception. This was for their families and friends, all against war, of course, now. Disgusted me, shameful. Then they say Kucinich/Paul? No way in hell! I supported his campaign financially a well, I suppose we can go to his District site and find where to send money, yeah?
Dennis, when I watched you make that illegal motion on the floor with the definition of, NOW, NOW IT ENDS! You represented We the People as no other has , you were the countrys Representative. Monday will be a fine day for Impeachment, Sir. I graciously thank you for your humane treatment of everyone regardless. I wish you strength and determination on seeking a new term, we all need you.