Dennis Kucinich

excerpts from the Iowa Daily Report

May 2003

 … For Lieberman, it’s too bad every state isn’t South Carolina – because he leads the Dem field in awareness, favorability and ballot preference among likely SC Dem voters. According to an American Research Group survey (conducted 4/24-29), almost half of the state’s Dem voters are still undecided (47%) – but Lieberman has nearly one-fifth (19%) the vote. Three wannabes are bunched together behind Lieberman – Gephardt 9%, Kerry 8% and Edwards (who was born in Seneca, SC) 7% with Sharpton at 3%. The 2% players are Dean and Graham, while Biden (who’s not an announced candidate), Hart (who’s not an announced candidate) and Moseley Braun (who is an announced candidate) register in with 1%. Bringing up the pack – Kucinich and Gen/CNN war analyst Clark with solid 0% showings.(5/2/2003)

… Kucinich became the sole wannabe survivor on the political horizon for early next week when Sharpton cancelled out of a Davenport appearance. He was scheduled to attend the Iowa Postal Workers convention on Monday, but has opted to appear at a Connecticut event. Kucinich, according to today’s Des Moines Register, still plans to visit the postal workers convention. Edwards’ parents – she was a rural mail carrier – also are expected in Davenport.(5/3/2003)

… More from the ABC/Washington Post poll: ABCNews.com’s Langer also reports that Lieberman has now established a “statistically significant lead” over the other Dem wannabes. He notes that Lieberman is “likely the best-known Democratic candidate by dint of his exposure as Al Gore’s running mate on the 2000 ticket” – but that the ABC News/Washington Post showing is “numerically his best in any national media-sponsored poll this year.” The Big Three – the group that’s topped most recent polls – continued their dominance: Lieberman 29%, Gephardt 19%, Kerry 14%. All others in single digits, but the surprise is Moseley Braun in fourth with 6%. The rest: Edwards at 4%, three – Sharpton, Graham and Dean – at 3%, and Kucinich 2%. (5/4/2003)

… Pre-debate handicapping and analysis from yesterday’s Los Angeles Times: “Each candidate has begun to try to establish distinguishing characteristics: Kerry has sought to capitalize on his medal-winning service in the Vietnam War – where he served in a Navy unit in the Mekong Delta – to establish in voters’ mind his competence on national security issues. That could be a key in running against Bush’s record as a wartime leader …Dean, a strong critic of Bush’s policy toward Iraq, has received warm receptions from Democrats who opposed the war. The early support Kerry and Dean have attracted [was] likely to make them targets [during last night’s debate]. Edwards, an attorney before winning his Senate seat in 1998, raised more money than any of the candidates during the first three months of this year, with many of the contributions coming from trial lawyers. Lieberman, who was Al Gore’s vice presidential running mate in 2000, is seeking to appeal to party centrists. Gephardt has set out a detailed health-care proposal that aims to provide coverage for nearly all Americans – an issue dear to many Democrats. Graham, who was governor of Florida for eight years and is now serving his third Senate term, has touted himself as the most experienced candidate.” Times’ staff writers James Gerstenzang and Mark Z. Barabak concluded their report: “Braun, Sharpton and Kucinich are liberal underdogs in the race who are seeking to present themselves as realistic alternatives to the more prominent candidates.” (5/4/2003)

… Kucinich in IA: Register’s Thomas Beaumont from Davenport – under the headline “Kucinich proposes health plan …Idea would raise employers’ taxes to pay for universal program” – reports that Kucinich said yesterday “he would propose raising taxes on employers for a government-run health insurance program …Kucinich is the only candidate in the field for the 2004 presidential nomination who has proposed raising taxes. He is the second of the nine candidates to offer a plan to cover the nation’s uninsured.” (5/6/2003)

They haven’t exactly been acting like buddies over recent weeks – or during last Saturday night’s debate – but Dean and Kerry probably have more motivation this morning to escalate the two-wannabe exchange of charges and countercharges: A new New Hampshire poll shows them in a 23%-all deadlock. The Franklin Pierce College poll (conducted 4/27-5/1) indicates they have left the rest of the field in the political dust with Lieberman a distant third (9%) and Gephardt in fourth (8%). An indication of the overall situation – Dean and Kerry have 23% each and 31% are undecided, leaving the other nine wannabes (and potential wannabes) included in the poll to divide up the remaining 23%. Making the poll even stranger, two non-candidates – Hart and General Wesley Clark – are next, registering 2% each. Then, at 1% -- Edwards, Graham, Kucinich and Moseley Braun. Sharpton, as in most NH polls, registered a solid 0%. Two more notes: The number of undecideds dropped 7% -- from 38% a Franklin Pierce poll early last month.  Although most of the Dem candidates are not well-known in New Hampshire, six of the wannabes have higher unfavorable ratings than favorable impressions – Clark, Graham, Hart, Kucinich, Moseley-Braun and Sharpton. The worst unfavorable rating – Sharpton (60%) to a 5% favorable showing, followed by Hart (52% unfavorable, 23% favorable).(5/7/2003)

Leftovers from Kucinich’s eastern Iowa visit: The Quad-City Times reported yesterday that Kucinich said in Davenport he “would work to open up trade with Cuba and kill or greatly reform NAFTA and the World Trade Organization if he were elected. ‘We need to open up new markets for farmers,’ he said Monday in Davenport. ‘We need to open up Cuba.’ …Kucinich said the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, and the World Trade Organization must either be cancelled or dramatically changed to protect workers’ rights.” Kucinich also visited Iowa City – where the Daily Iowan (University of Iowa) reported that he “visited the UI Peace Camp Monday night, displaying the liberal rhetoric that has helped him garner a loyal leftist following but has failed thus far to attract mainstream support. Kucinich shook hands with each of the 60 people in attendance before praising the peace campers’ efforts and denouncing the war with Iraq. ‘In this little plot of land, you’ve help to provide consistency in the belief that peace is inevitable,’ he said, vowing to nullify the doctrine of pre-emptive war.” The DI’s Calvin Hennick reported that “several peace campers” indicated they were leaning toward Kucinich – but some said they are registered with the Green Party and would have to switch parties to vote in the Dem caucuses.(5/7/2003)

In Des Moines, three Dems say GWB vulnerable in 2004. Register’s Thomas Beaumont yesterday reported on Saturday night event at state fairgrounds: “Three Democratic presidential candidates said in Iowa that President Bush can be defeated in 2004 despite his postwar popularity, but they differ on why they think the president is vulnerable. ‘The outcome of the 1992 election indicates that the association with the troops and the prominence gained are not guarantees of re-election,’ said Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., referring to Bush’s father, former President Bush, who saw his postwar popularity evaporate by Election Day …Graham said President Bush is vulnerable because his approval rating today is 10 to 15 points lower than his father’s was at the end of the Persian Gulf War …Dean accused Bush of failing to buy stockpiles of plutonium used in building nuclear weapons to keep the radioactive material out of terrorist hands …Kucinich said he believes Bush can be beaten mainly because he believes the president misrepresented the purpose of the war …Kucinich was the most outraged of the three by Bush’s aircraft carrier landing on May 2 ….’The president, by that stunt, sends a message that the military is in control of our government,’ Kucinich said. ‘It’s against every tradition and principle of a democracy.’”(5/12/2003)

Unearthed from a busy weekend of wannabe visits: Headline – “Kucinich says he’d push for pro-choice justices” The DSM Register’s Thomas Beaumont reported that Kucinich said “he would appoint no justices to the U.S. Supreme Court who refused to uphold Roe v. Wade, becoming the second 2004 candidate to publicly make abortion rights a judicial test …Kucinich’s statement about the landmark Supreme Court case legalizing abortion represents a dramatic shift in the position of the former Cleveland mayor …The comment came a month after rival Democrat U. S. Sen. John Kerry made the same promise while campaigning in Iowa.” Kucinich made his remarks during an appearance – which also featured Dean and Graham – at a Dem fundraising event Saturday night in Des Moines.   (5/13/2003)

IOWA DEM WANNABE POLL CITED. Under the headline, “Field of 9 down to leaders, longshots” – Donald Lambro reported in yesterday’s Washington Times: “The nine-member field of Democratic presidential candidates has been effectively whittled down to about three or four top contenders in the early nominating contests, with everyone else nearly off the radar screen. Democratic strategists say it will be difficult for anyone to catch up to Missouri Rep. Richard A. Gephardt in the Jan. 19 Iowa caucuses, where the former House Democratic leader has widened his lead to 25 percent or more. His closest rival, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, trails behind in second place with 13 points, according to pollster John Zogby. None of the other candidates is running even close to the two front-runners in the state. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who was catapulted into contention earlier this year as a result of his opposition to the war in Iraq, has fallen back in the caucus state, drawing around five points. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut doesn’t fare much better than that. Freshman Sen. John R. Edwards of North Carolina is ‘barely on the radar screen’ in Iowa, Mr. Zogby said.” Lambro wrote the rest of the field – Moseley Braun, Sharpton, Kucinich and Graham – are “at 1 percent or 2 percent or register no support at all.” In making his case that the field is narrowing down, Lambro also noted that Kerry and Dean lead the Dems in New Hampshire with Gephardt and Lieberman following – and “the rest of the field registering 1 percent or less.” He noted, however, that Lieberman has been leading in national polls at 19 percent, followed by Gephardt (14%) and Kerry (12%).(5/22/2003)

Reports and headlines from the coverage of the EMILY’s List forum – which attracted seven of the nine Dem candidates – were included in yesterday’s Morning Report, but some of the comments and accusations against the Bush Administration should be noted and remembered: Kucinich: “Poverty is a weapon of mass destruction, but when the government lies to the American people that is a weapon of mass destruction.” (5/22/2003)

Illinois poll revealed. Excerpt from coverage of the Dem candidates by Chicago Sun-Times Washington Bureau Chief Lynn Sweet: “In a poll of 1,000 Illinois Democratic Senate primary voters conducted by one of the Illinois U.S. Senate candidates from April 22-24, Braun and Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) led the pack with each polling 17 percent.” Lieberman had 16%, Kerry 11%, Dean 5%, Edwards 4%, Sharpton 2%, and Graham 1%. The poll has 26% as undecided with a margin of error of 3.1%. More excerpts from the Sweet coverage: “For months, Edwards has been making trips to the Chicago area to woo local donors, fund-raisers and the political elite…an Illinois Senate campaign shared the poll with the Sun-Times on the condition that its name not be used because it did not want to get involved in presidential politics. The poll, in an oversight, forgot to include Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio). In looking at the bottom rungs of an April ABC News poll, Braun polled 6 percent to 4 percent for Edwards and 3 percent or less for Dean, Sharpton, Graham and Kucinich.”(5/23/2003)

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Kucinich “kicked off a presidential campaign visit to Northern California on Saturday at San Francisco’s Fort Mason Center, calling for greater environmental protection, particularly for the world’s oceans. ‘Right here at the water’s edge, we’re reminded of the power of nature, of water, and the urgent role of our oceans in the ecology of the world,’ he said, as fog rolled through the Golden Gate and gulls wheeled over Fort Mason’s piers. ‘Environmental issues need to be put at the top of the debate,’ he said. ‘Our oceans need help, and they need an advocate in the White House.’ It was a message calculated to appeal to Northern California voters as the liberal Democratic congressmen heads off on a 10-day tour of the region in a Greyhound Bus powered entirely by recycled vegetable oil. Kucinich plans to make 32 stops on the trip to places such as Santa Cruz, Grass Valley, David, Sacramento, Stockton, Fresno, San Jose and Santa Rosa.” (5/26/2003)

The Washington Times yesterday reported that Gephardt dominates while Graham and Kucinich lag in endorsement battle. Headline: “Gephardt takes early lead in ‘endorsement primary’” Coverage by Times’ Charles Hunt says Gephardt “leads the pack of presidential hopefuls in the so-called ‘endorsement primary.’ Earlier this month, Mr. Gephardt announced endorsements from 30 House colleagues, including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, and Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer, Maryland Democrat…Sen. Joe Lieberman, Connecticut Democrat, has the second-highest number of endorsements from congressional colleagues – 12 – from eight states, including fellow Connecticut Democratic Sen. Christopher J. Dodd.” The Times report continues to note that Edwards has “rounded up support from six congressmen from his state and one more from Texas,” Kerry has is supported by Sen. Edward Kennedy and three other members of Congress, Dean has endorsements from both Vermont senators and two House members, Moseley Braun has two congressional endorsements, and Sharpton announced last week that “he had the support of Rep. Jose E. Serrano, New York Democrat.” Graham and Kucinich haven’t listed any endorsements yet, but the Times noted “Mr. Graham’s office said he has not yet sought endorsements from fellow legislators.” The significance of the endorsement battle – outside of generating media coverage and showing a support base – is that members of Congress are voting super-delegates to the Democratic national convention. (5/28/2003)

A headline from Washington Post online yesterday: “Greens Consider Standing Behind Democrats in ’04…Party Still Mulling Its Own Ticket.” Brian Faler’s coverage said: “The lesser of two evils doesn’t seem like such a bad choice these days to some Greens. As the Green Party hashes out its plans for next year’s presidential election, some of its activists are urging the party to forgo the race and, instead, throw its support behind one of the Democratic candidates – all in the hopes of unseating President Bush. It isn’t an especially popular idea, but it is being seriously considered. ‘At the moment, everything is on the table and everything is being discussed,’ said John Strawn, co-chairman of the group’s presidential exploratory committee…It is unclear under what circumstances the party could agree to support a Democrat. Many of its officials adamantly oppose supporting any of the more centrist Democratic candidates. ‘There is no possible way that we would ever support someone like a [Connecticut Sen. Joseph I.] Lieberman or a [Missouri Rep. Richard A.] Gephardt,’ said Anita Rios, one of the party’s five national co-chairs. Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (Ohio), one of the most liberal Democratic candidates, appears to have gained the most traction among the Greens. But he is considered one of his party’s longest long shots – and it is uncertain whether the Green Party would pass on its own presidential race to support someone with such a slim chance of winning.” The Post story added the Greens “won’t formally choose a candidate – if it does – until the 2004 nominating convention, slated to be held in Minneapolis, Milwaukee or San Francisco. Until then Rios said, ‘none of us knows what’s going to happen.’”(5/28/2003)

Kucinich’s Great California Adventure I: From the San Jose Mercury News – “He promised a vegetable oil-powered bus, but he was whisked away in a Mercedes. Dennis Kucinich, the Ohio congressman, proud liberal and long-shot Democratic presidential candidate, was supposed to kick off a 10-day ‘Clean Energy Road Tour’ in California on Saturday in a ‘state-of-the-art, ecologically designed Greyhound.’ But in what some 300 supporters at an Oakland rally surely hope isn’t a metaphor for his uphill campaign, the bus broke down before the tour even started, the victim of a busted clutch. So while Kucinich had to settle for a German luxury car, his backers had to settle for the candidate’s fire-breathing rhetoric. In a half-hour speech, the former mayor of Cleveland blasted the Bush administration on everything from the war in Iraq to tax cuts to free trade to military spending. And the crowd didn’t seem at all disappointed. Never mind that Kucinich – one of a procession of Democratic hopefuls coming to California in the coming weeks looking for cash, endorsements and, to a lesser extent, votes – is barely a blip on the presidential radar screen. With the primary election still nine months away, this is the season in politics to dream of upsets.” (5/29/2003)

Kucinich’s Great California Adventure II: In the Sacramento Bee – under the headline, “Kucinich stumps as the anti-Bush…He decries the president’s tax cuts and vows to ‘stop this march toward war.’” – reported on the Ohio Democrat’s stop at the California state Capitol. Ed Fletcher of the Bee’s Capitol Bureau reported: “Give presidential long-shot Dennis Kucinich a microphone – or not – and he won’t hide his distaste for the Bush administration’s handling of the economy, trade and national security. While the Ohio congressman lacks both money and name recognition as he seeks the Democratic presidential nomination next year, he promises to deliver a sharp contrast to the nation’s 43rd president. ‘I’m the candidate who is not trimming the edges, I give people a clear choice,’ Kucinich said Tuesday from the steps of the state Capitol. His staff had a microphone and speakers set up for him, but with only two journalists and a handful of onlookers present, he chose to go without it. Monday evening, he drew hundreds of voters to an appearance at California State University, Sacramento. ‘We have to stop this march toward war,’ he said, warning of the administration’s sharpening rhetoric toward Iran.”  (5/29/2003)

San Francisco Chronicle headline: “Democrat Kucinich endorses medical pot use… He says he’d issue executive order if elected president” The Chronicle report said Kucinich “became the first Democratic presidential candidate to endorse the legalization of medical marijuana when he told The Chronicle on Wednesday it should be available ‘to any patient who needs it to alleviate pain and suffering,’ regardless of the current federal drugs laws. ‘Compassion requires that medical marijuana be available,’ Kucinich said during a telephone interview after a campaign stop in Cupertino. ‘We must have health-care systems which are compassionate…so I support it without reservation.’…Kucinich said that as president, ‘I’d sign an executive order that would permit its use.’”(5/30/2003)

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