Kucinich Spreads an Unapologetically Liberal Message
11.21.07 -- 9:21 AM
Dennis Kucinich is short. Always has been. He could barely see over the center's butt as a backup quarterback at St. John Cantius High in Cleveland. His wife, Elizabeth, an eye-catching redhead, is 5 inches taller, without heels.
His opponents in the democratic run for the White House also tower over the congressman from Ohio. All 5-foot-7 of him.
But there was Kucinich yesterday at Concord High, making his height a plus in the school auditorium. Yes, he's small, he told the students. And we all know that voters often attach weight to height, as though taller means stronger.
But Kucinich made his high school varsity football team, beating the odds like he's trying to do now in his run for the presidency. He was a 4-9, 97-pound freshman. Check the football card he handed out yesterday, the one with him posing with the rest of the team. He's middle front, looking half his age, by far the littlest member of the squad.
"When I showed up, the coach said, 'Look, you're kind of small and if you get hurt, I'm in trouble, so you're not going to be able to play on this team,' " Kucinich told the packed auditorium. "I said to him, 'Give me a chance and I'll show you.' "
Kucinich, the story goes, leveled a defensive player with a cross body block, turning the linebacker, as he put it, into an accordion. "What this shows," Kucinich said, "is that no matter what . . . if someone says you can't do something, if you try, you never know what you will be able to accomplish."
Kucinich is far behind in the polls, with the state's primary fast approaching. Just like he was in 2003, when ABC's Ted Koppel, moderating a debate, peppered Kucinich over his decision to remain in the race, without much money or big-name endorsements.
He didn't drop out then, and he won't now.
Instead, he's touring New Hampshire, spreading his liberal views, saying the Bush administration lied about the war in Iraq and calling for the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney.
There's no flip flopping. No pretense about who he is. And no hesitation or fumbling of words when an issue arises. He speaks from the heart, and that makes things easier to articulate.
"Health care is a right, education is a right," Kucinich told the crowd. "It shouldn't be based on the ability to pay. It should be something a democratic society provides for its people."
He's a walking balancing act, one part flower child and one part courageous fighter who will answer any question, anytime, from anyone.
He'd work to dismantle all nuclear weapons worldwide, yet he'll go on Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, hosted by conservative fireball Bill O'Reilly. Other democratic candidates wouldn't touch O'Reilly with a 10-foot pole.
"I don't agree with him on many things," Kucinich said. "But if you want to be president of the United States, you have to be able to talk to Bill O'Reilly. You have to be able to submit to the O'Reilly test. If you can't do that, how are you going to meet with these other leaders of the world? There's a lot of people out there that you don't agree with."
Concord students, for the most part, supported Kucinich, applauding his opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement and our invasion of Iraq.
One student, however, took the offensive. He agreed with the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and our involvement in Iraq.
"Do you believe Saddam Hussein was a bad man?" the student asked.
"Sure."
"Do you believe the United States, as one of the most powerful countries in the world, should sit back and watch people be raped, be killed, starved and just sit back?"
"No."
"Then how can you not support us going in there and giving them a better life?"
Kucinich then asked audience members to applaud if they believed the quality in Iraq had improved since we arrived. Few did.
Then he fleshed out his answer, saying, "Do we have the right to go into any country we choose to change its leadership? Do we?"
Afterward, Kucinich spent about a half-hour with a dozen students, patiently answering their questions. He believes in gay marriage, not merely civil unions, and all the rights that go with it. He'd push for solar and wind technology to quench our energy appetite. He'd tear up the Patriot Act.
But the war in Iraq and a potential confrontation with Iran, which the United States claims is moving toward nuclear weapons, dominate his platform.
Kucinich will hold a press conference this morning, promoting his call for impeachment of the president and vice president. He said it's a matter of time before we attack Iran. He says that's a crime.
"It's against the law to plan to kill someone," Kucinich said. "We're beating the drums of war right now to go to war against Iran. . . . The idea of dropping 30,000-pound bombs on nuclear research labs, that in and of itself, the planning to do that, is a war crime."
And Kucinich believes the Bush administration knowingly lied about Iraq's weapons and exaggerated its threat against us. He believes we invaded for oil. He didn't vote for the war in Iraq, and he's darn proud of it.
"The International Atomic Energy Agency was involved with inspections and said that 95 percent of the weapons were destroyed and the other 5 percent were destroyed in the first Gulf War," Kucinich said. "Think of what it would be like to have a president who doesn't get swept up in war fever, who looks clearly at what's going on."
They are big words, from a little man. At 5-7, Kucinich, a man of peace, is ready to mix it up with his Democratic rivals, ready to get in close and fight.
He's confident he can handle anyone.
"My wife is 6 feet tall," he said. "I'm the luckiest guy in the world."
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