"What now? The question has hung over the antiwar movement like a thick fog. Activism has continued to grow in exciting directions, of course. But the impending election circus always sucks all the energy from otherwise rational people, who throw themselves into the quadrennial Dance of Death, tripping over each other with a curious zeal for candidates who don't share their interests-and who indeed, on both sides of the grisly political ledger, aim to co-opt or quash the antiwar fervor that is gripping the world. Enter Dennis Kucinich."
<snip>
"Kucinich may be the right link back to the electoral realm. True, most on the left feel that hope lies outside the party, through reforms bitterly opposed by the political status quo (again, with Kucinich being a striking exception). The Democratic Party, which has dispensed with a host of popular movements in its bloody history, is not the right venue, some argue, for fundamental change. And it should be apparent that only through the adoption of instant runoff voting, proportional representation, publicly financed campaigns, the removal of the skewed Electoral College supermajority and other democratic reforms, can we achieve a reality in which the Democratic Party faces the music. With serious pressure on the left, a reshaped party might be forced to act in coalition with newly emerging parties to promote a popular agenda."
<snip>
"The timing is right, too. The continued occupation of Iraq is an unmitigated disaster, in which the core of the party (that is, the quisling Republicrat wing which has become the party) has decided once again to repeat the mistakes of the past. Vietnam was so much fun the first time, they must reason, why not do it all over again? Lost on this crowd is the inexorable logic of invasion and occupation: all the cards have been dealt, and the Queen of Hearts has already been turned up. Although Gandhi was hardly the first to resist occupation, his simple truth makes looking any further unnecessary. To quote the Mahatma: "The simple truth is that 350 thousand British cannot control 350 million Indians if the 350 million do not choose to be controlled."
<snip>
"So why Kucinich? Ironically one of the main reasons for rallying behind Kucinich is eerily similar to the structural case being made for Dean: momentum is building for a true alternative to the right, and an online prairie fire has started around the Kucinich campaign. The grassroots organizing tool Meetup pegs him ahead of everyone but Dean in the online members count, and the campaign is growing so fast that distribution headaches are flaring up, slowing access to much requested campaign materials. He has yet to register in opinion polls, and may not until he surprises pundits in Iowa, New Hampshire and California. There is no earthly reason why the onLine Left-mirror of the Radio Right-shouldn't do for Kucinich what they have already mistakenly done for Dean."
Full text at
http://opednews.com/welch_kase_klosed.htm
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