The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy & Hydrogen Journal

Candidate making convention plans: Presidential longshot working to make impact

By MIKE STARK
Of The Gazette Staff

At times it felt more like an old-time tent rival than a political rally.

Fresh off an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" and before a telephone interview with CNN, Dennis Kucinich arrived in Billings Sunday night with both feet running. A crowd of about 60 people gathered at Rocky Mountain College to greet him, cheering loudly as he ran through his proposals for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, universal health care, trade improvements and American policies that embrace, not offend, international attitudes.

"This is a moment of transformation for America," Kucinich said.

But is he the guy to do it?

The Cleveland native and Ohio congressman knows he's not likely to be the Democrats presidential nominee this year. But while the presumptive nominee, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., has tried to strike a presidential pose, Kucinich has been hitting the pavement.

The idea isn't to pull off a surprising upset, Kucinich said, but to garner enough delegates in the primary and caucuses to hold sway on the national Democratic platform at the convention this summer.

"There's still time to change the direction of this country," Kucinich said.

Controversy in Iraq along with other recent events have brought more support and attention to the campaign, he said. He picked up 17 percent of a recent primary vote in Oregon and has notched several delegates in Colorado, Maine and Alaska.

With Montana's June 8 primary looming, Kucinich scheduled a three-day trip that includes Billings, Helena, Great Falls, Bozeman and Butte.

During an hourlong session at Rocky Mountain College Sunday night, and an additional half-hour with the press, Kucinich railed against the Bush administration and took particular aim at the war in Iraq.

"The entire war in Iraq has been a disaster for this country," Kucinich said, adding that the invasion was based on "untruths." "It's really time that we got out."

So far, close to $200 billion has been spent on the war, he said. Soon, American casualties will hit 800 and Iraqi "innocents" who have died number around 10,000, he said. Kucinich said the war has been a "farce" that has alienated the United States from the rest of the world and is a transparent attempt to control oil supplies.

"Isn't that enough?" he said. "Isn't that enough to want to change the administration?"

Kucinich is proposing a peace plan which relies heavily on the United Nations and allows U.S. soldiers to return home.

But before than can happen, he said, the United States needs to give up its private contracts in Iraq, including Halliburton's "sweetheart" deals, and give Iraqis control of their oil and wealth, he said. The United Nations should also oversee the development of a new constitution and elections and provide peacekeeping forces, he said.

"This plan could be put into place within 90 days," Kucinich said.

Those steps would allow U.S. troops to pull out, which in turn would provide stability and curb violence, Kucinich. The scheduled June 30 hand-over will do nothing but pass the power from one U.S.-backed authority to another, he said.

"It doesn't mean a thing. It's really all a farce," Kucinich said.

He also focused on domestic issues including proposals for alternative energy development, trade policies and, especially, health care.

Everywhere he travels, people pull on his sleeve about the rising cost of health care, Kucinich said. Many people are one major medical problem away from financial disaster, he said.

"There's a new kind of poverty developing because of the high cost of health care," he said.

The primary reason, he said, is that private health care and insurance companies are having their way in America and the public are left to foot more and more expensive bills for operations, prescription drugs and routine procedures.

"If (the health care industry) can't make money off of it, they're not interested," Kucinich said.

Kucinich has proposed a universal, single-pay not-for-profit health-care system that he said could be paid for with the money that's already being poured into the health-care system by the government and private companies.

"We're already paying for it," he said.

Part of the problem, he said, is that...(Full Story)