Thursday, February 19, 2004

Q & A with Dennis Kucinich
Fighting for recognition, finding an audience by Bill Frogameni


In 1977, 31-year-old Dennis Kucinich was elected the mayor of Cleveland. He was voted out after one term because he refused to sell the municipal power company to banking interests which, in turn, cut the city’s credit. His refusal to sell ultimately saved Cleveland hundreds of millions. With the new popularity this earned him in the ‘90s, Kucinich was elected to the House of Representatives in 1996. An unapologetic progressive, the Ohio congressman is perhaps the least visible of the remaining Democratic presidential contenders; however, his usual 1 percent of the vote recently increased to around 16 percent in Maine and 8 percent in Washington state. Most Toledoans know Kucinich as a strong critic of NAFTA and the Davis-Besse nuclear plant. Kucinich is the consummate outsider, but his tireless struggling is affecting the presidential race as we look forward to the Ohio primary on March 2.

Toledo City Paper: Your campaign’s been picking up. Do you think you have a chance of winning the nomination or are you hoping to force a brokered convention (one in which no candidate has enough delegates to claim the nomination, forcing the candidates to negotiate)?
Dennis Kucinich: (Full Story)

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