The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy & Hydrogen Journal

Kucinich vows to continue nominee campaign
By Jared L. Olar

Times staff writer

EAST PEORIA -- Despite the fact that Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry has secured more than enough delegates to ensure his place as the Democratic Party's nominee in this year's presidential race, U.S. Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio says he is staying in the race.

"Today the news reports that Sen. Kerry has just gone over the top in delegate count. But what hasn't been settled yet is what the Democratic Party stands for," Kucinich told a group of reporters gathered Sunday afternoon for an impromptu press conference in a conference room of the United Auto Workers Local 974's union hall in East Peoria.

"I'm going to be continuing this campaign ... My campaign keeps the debate alive. It keeps people aware that there is a choice," Kucinich said.

On Saturday, the CNN Web site's delegate tally showed Kerry with the 2,162 delegates that he needs to become the Democrats' nominee, while Kucinich had only 23 delegates -- one from California, eight from Hawaii, nine from Minnesota and five from his home state of Ohio.

Kucinich came to East Peoria to address union members on health care and trade, two issues that he has made central to his campaign message. However, the union unexpectedly barred all members of the media from the meeting, alleging that a reporter was asking questions about upcoming contract talks.

Kucinich's campaign then hastily improvised a press conference, which took place after his speech to the union.

On the issue of health care, Kucinich proposes that the federal government take over and run all hospitals and clinics in the United States, a move he says will ensure universal free health care. He calls his plan "Medicare for All."

Among his positions on trade, Kucinich says he opposed international trade pacts and bodies such as the North American Free Trade Agreement and the World Trade Organization. He would have the U.S. return to older models of trade.

"NAFTA and WTO ought to be canceled, and we ought to get back to bilateral trade," he said.

Kucinich said the way we approach international trade today has encouraged the loss of American manufacturing jobs as employers seek cheap labor overseas, a trend he called a "race to the bottom."

"Our way of life is changing in America, and that's why we have to do something to stop the loss of manufacturing jobs," he said.

He also said that he would discourage the hiring of illegal immigrant workers by getting laws passed that give illegal immigrants the same job benefits and protections of U.S. labor law that all other workers enjoy.

Another plank of Kucinich's platform is the creation of a federal cabinet-level "Department of Peace," which he said would inculcate and promote Martin Luther King Jr.'s principle of nonviolence. He decried the fact that about half of the federal budget is devoted to military expenditures -- money he says would be better spent on education and other social programs.

"Where are (the Republicans) taking us? They're taking us to a place where it's all about war. It's all about and tax cuts for the wealthy ... The Defense Department is about preparing for war. Why don't we prepare for peace?" he said.

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