The United States still has a chance to pull away from a war that can have devastating consequences for the country, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a Democratic presidential hopeful, told a Marin County audience this weekend.

"We see what war has already wrought. We know where it's heading," the Ohio congressman said. "It's time for America to step away from the abyss. It's time to end this war now."

Democratic presidential hopeful U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio talks with reporters Friday, March 21, 2003 in Manchester, N.H. before addressing the New Hampshire National Education Association. It was Kucinich's first visit to New Hampshire, which hosts the nation's first presidential primary, since declaring his candidacy. (AP Photo/Lee Marriner)

Nearly 2,000 people gave the unabashedly liberal Kucinich a standing ovation at the beginning and the end of his talk at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in San Rafael. The parking lot at the Marin center was jammed with cars, many sporting peace symbols and anti-war bumper strips. In front of the hall, vendors hawked "Impeach George Bush" buttons and stickers.

The Bay Area is prime territory for his insurgent campaign for president, Kucinich said in an interview before his Saturday night talk, sponsored by the Praxis Peace Institute. At a Friday campaign stop at Mission College in San Jose, for example, more than 250 people signed on as volunteers.

"This area has the possibility of being the forge of a new America, a source of new ideas," he said.

Although former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean has received plenty of media coverage for his own anti-war stance, there's no Democrat running to the left of Kucinich.

"My role as co-chairman of the progressive caucus (in Congress) is to be out front with progressive policies and alternatives," he said. "I want to put out another view of America's role in the world."

Kucinich jumps eagerly into areas unseen in the platforms of the other Democratic presidential contenders. He is backing an effort to end the death penalty for federal crimes, wants universal heath care for all Americans and calls for total nuclear disarmament.

If elected, he promises to end the country's participation in the World Trade Organization, dump the North American Free Trade Agreement and return to bilateral trade agreements, under which the United States can demand that other countries pay workers a living wage, allow union organizing and respect human rights.

Kucinich also worries about the country's willingness to go it alone in world affairs, without treaties or other international agreements.

"This policy that makes the United States the policeman, judge, jury and executioner of the world must be reversed," he said in his speech. The United States "must work with the other nations of the world in matters of international security."

But Kucinich always brought the topic back to the war in Iraq, where he said he "supports our troops, but not their mission."

When Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, introduced Kucinich on Saturday, she talked about his years of anti-war activism, including his plan for a Cabinet- level Department of Peace, which would promote nonviolent solutions to national and international problems.

Nonviolence and international cooperation are even more important now that "a great nation is unleashing devastating destruction against a humble nation ravaged by sanctions," Kucinich said.

"If a bomb drops in the marketplace in Baghdad, we feel it," he said. "When a mother mourns the life of a child in Basra, it's our loss, too."

The war is not only hurting America's standing and reputation with the other countries of the world, but also the people at home, Kucinich said.

"It's unconscionable that we have the money to blow up bridges over the Tigris and Euphrates, but not the money to rebuild bridges in this country," he said.

But it's one thing to draw an enthusiastic response from a crowd of anti- war activists in Marin County and another to build the national support needed for a realistic run at the Democratic presidential nomination.

Kucinich is confident that there's an audience out there for his liberal, anti-war message. Mayor of Cleveland in 1977 at the age of 31, Kucinich beat a Republican incumbent in 1996 to win his current congressional seat.

"I've shown the ability to attract votes to progressive Democratic programs in Cleveland, which is Middle America," he said. "I fully expect that I'll stay in contention for the Democratic nomination."

©2003 San Francisco Chronicle

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