What happened with Kucinich?

[brainwashed_youth]

Ok, it's obvious that Kucinich has quite a few supporters(alot of them on here). My new question is why do ya'll think he isn't generating a whole lot of votes? Did he not get enough media attention, does he not have enough experience..what do ya'll think happened?

[Madrone]

1. Media and people being afraid to give him their vote.

No one mentions him. If he is mentioned it's in the context of "the joke that has no chance" and he and his message are dismissed. If you haven't read the Kucinich Parable Will posted, you should. It is an excellent description of what's going on. Joe Public doesn't even know who Dennis is.

To those of us that DO know who he is, his message, courage, integrity, and ethics are unparalled - but many in this group are afraid to vote for him because the media, when it mentions Dennis at all, says he is "unelectable."

It's a vicious circle.

I think Dennis' 2 main problems in this election are lack of exposure, and the "Dennis is everything I've been searching for in a politician BUT..." crowd.

[brainwashed_youth]

2. interesting

But he was considered "joke" candidate before any primary or caucus? Why is that?

[Madrone]

12. Pure speculation...

But I think it may have something to do with the fact that he's definitely not a "macho" man - and people equate vegan peaceniks with limp-wristed liberal.

He's also an "average" guy - he's not rich, and he's not what I'd call an insider.

I also think there's some validity to the arguement that republican or democrat - they all work for the same people - and I'm not talking "we the people" either. The huge, multinational coporate interests, I believe, play a huge part in saying who's "electable" or not.

[Terwilliger]

3. Democrats FAR too afraid of Bush

Dennis Kucinich never had the chance to be heard with the looming cloud of Bush over their heads.

[brainwashed_youth]

4. so...

it's all Bush's fault? Not trying to be condescending, but is that what ur telling me?

[Terwilliger]

9. I'm telling you that Dennis is doing a lot less today b/c of the Bush fear

not necessarily that he'd win if Bush wasn't there

We'd also have a very different set of circumstances if Bush wasn't in the WH.

[ShimokitaJer]

11. No, it's all their fault

The penalty for voting out of fear is not getting someone like Kucinich as the president. The voters thus far have been trying to gauge "electability," looking at nothing except who is perceived as best able to beat Bush. Unfortunately, on the perception of strength front, Kucinich didn't have a chance.

Voting out of fear is it's own punishment.

[Zardeenah]

5. Dennis is gaining ground!

Dennis placed second in Washington (with 8%) and in Maine (with 15%...He's appearing on the Tonight show tomorrow.

Why isn't Dennis getting more votes? The media never mentions him! You'd think a surge from 1% to 15% would have been covered breathlessly, but we didn't hear a word, and we're working on the campaign. I think the mainstream corporations and media are deeply afraid of Dennis's message.

BUT, as I will discuss further in another post, even states that have been declared "won" by Kerry are far from settled...Dennis still has a fighting chance.

Susan

[fleetus]

6. Talking with people, most of them say...

They heard he did a bad job as mayor of Cleveland. I never looked into this myself, but that is what I usually hear from naysayers. Maybe they are getting this impression from the media or their own research or their own talkings to people from Cleveland. I don't know where they get the idea, but that is what they say.

In my caucus, we had 1 of 6 delegates go to Kucinich. However, when it came time to discuss party platform issues, EVERY issue we approved was straight from Kucinich's platform. One conclusion I drew from the whole thing is that people like Kucinich's ideas, but they are worried about his ability to get the job done as president.

[brainwashed_youth]

8. isn't that a reasonable issue

to worry about whether he can get the job done?

[eridani]

13. Without a powerful organized public movement--

--pushing elected officials, NO Democrat will get anything done. Kucinich has the best chance for building one

[fleetus]

15. Yes, I do think it is reasonable.

No one wants to elect someone who has great ideas but can't make them work in our system. Some people believe they can gauge this ability to get the job done. Some people believe that past results in government service (track-record) are a good indication.

I am not sure if Dennis could get his agenda through as president, but assume he'd have as good of a chance as any. It's really hard to tell, in my opinion, because it's kind of like predicting the future. So I don't base too much of my decision on whether or not I think a candidate can get the job done.

[A HERETIC I AM]

7. His presentation was lacking.

I didn't find ANYTHING he said that i disagreed with, but he, unfortunately, just isn't too terribly photogenic and he didn't help his case by the way he presented himself on TV. I know i might get an argument for this, but it is true and sad thing these days in this country if you don't look reasonably good, you wont get elected to high office. Couple that with the fact that his message was just simply intolerable to the powers that be (read, SPOT ON ACCURATE) and as a consequence, he was marginalized almost from the start. Remember the Ted Koppel toss up? When he lambasted Koppel for redirecting the debate? And ABC subsequently pulling the reporter assigned to him from the field? That was all it took. It is a shame, no doubt

[goodhue]

10. primarily lack of media exposure

and secondarily many people uncritically accepting media's brush off that DK candidacy is a joke.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

16. Here in Minneapolis

we had to literally badger the local media to get coverage, and even then, only one out of five local TV news programs even mentioned a rally that attracted 1600 people on short notice. (Instead, they gave top billing to some domestic scandal concerning a small town sheriff.)

The New York Times has set the pace for NOT covering DK.

Just before the Missouri primary, the New York Times listed the campaign schedules of all the candidates, including Sharpton, but NOT Kucinich. They gave him one brief article before the NH primary, and it was snarky in the extreme.

Before a single primary had been held, they would feature articles detailing where all the candidates stood on various issues: health care, trade, education, the environment, etc. Typically they would have a detailed paragraph or two about Kerry, Dean, Edwards, Clark, and Lieberman, and then they would either not mention Kucinich, Sharpton, and Mosely-Braun, or just say something like, "Kucinich, Sharpton, and Mosely-Braun advocate socialized medicine."

A U.S.A. Today article about health care that I saw (and I don't have the link--I read it in a coffee shop) had a two-three sentence summary of each of the candidates' health care plans with projected price tags. The price tags were in the tens of billions for each of the "socially acceptable" candidates but in the hundreds of billions for Kucinich's. This may be true, but they did not say that this plan was to be paid for by cutting the boondoggles and 1.3 trillion dollars of unaccounted for spending by the Pentagon.

DK's scolding of Ted Koppel got some publicity, but not many people caught the remark he made before his tirade, which was, "At my inauguration--if you decide to cover it--"

That's just about how bad his coverage is.

[rucky]

14. Nothing happened...that's the problem

ask the Clark supporters what happens when you get ignored. My heart sank when Clark made the announcement last night: with opponents like him, it's indeed a miracle that DK is still in it - and gaining ground.

Great ideas don't get killed, they just reinvent themselves. DK is doing enough to stay just above the radar screen. He's in the backs of everybody's minds - as a reminder that we do have real choices, not just the two that everybody pressures you to make.

Not to take anything away from Kerry's own merits. it just takes a huge leap for Americans to believe they have more than two options on anything - much less politics. Changing peoples' perspective isn't going to happen in a single election cycle. DK's candidacy is just one part of a long-term process.

Win or lose, here we are talking about him & the movement... :)

[0rganism]

17. Kucinich? He's surging, and the media won't cover it

He's got a few negatives:
* not exactly photogenic
* foreign-looking name
* low-profile rep
* progressive policies the media hates to mention
* peaceful agenda orientation perceived to be unelectable at this time

But people who care about progressive policy tend to like him. His agenda is truly rooted in a drive for social justice and non-violent solutions. When he speaks, it's easy to see that he speaks from the heart and not just from a list of prepared talking points. DK doesn't have to put on a mask to campaign, he's 100% genuine.

Listen to the man speak, and you'll understand what I mean. He often brings me to tears, due to the furious sense of loss I get that this man will never be allowed to be elected president in this country, any more than Martin Luther King or Eugene Debs could have been. I grieve for my country's rejection of humanitarians.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

18. You're so right, Organism

I started crying the first time I heard him speak. Never before had I heard a Democratic candidate say aloud the things I'd been thinking for twenty years.

How could I NOT support him?

[Desertrose]

19. too bad everyone focuses on one day- election day...

and whether he could beat bush-I feel he could. I've been working on the campaign since last summer. I have actually had a number of republicans tell me they would vote for him.

My gut tells me that he isn't getting votes because no one ever hears anything positive about him on the media. I loved the way the media spun Maine....that Kerry won and Dean lost...no mention of DK coming in ahead of the others. He is simply NOT MENTIONED unless they can marginalize him. Even Clark judt now gave credit to Dean,Kerry & Edwards for running good campaigns with no mention of Dennis.
:wtf:

If people had a fair chance to listen to Dennis speak and interact with people he would be leading. I really do believe that....if he had 1/4 the amount of face time Dean got or Kerry is getting, Kucinich would be our nominee.

I think its the corporate ruling class who has a great fear of this man & his ideas, darn shame...everyone focused on one day and then we have to live with that choice for 4 more years and we let fear lead us by the nose!!!

Peace
DR

PS have I mentioned lately how much I dislike Judy Woodfluff? :grr:

[redqueen]

20. What happened? He decided to stand up for people vs. corporations

that's what happened.

You do that, you get ignored.

He's surged from nothing to 15%, and what do you hear? NOTHING.

We're not deciding, we're being told what to think.

Amazingly, most don't mind.