The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy & Hydrogen Journal

Race over but Kucinich is still running
Friday, April 30, 2004
David Sarasohn

M onday night's crowd was sparse, but Dennis Kucinich was working it hard.

"I can't think of any state," the Ohio congressman cried urgently from the stage of Southeast Portland's retro-funky Aladdin Theater, "where the potential is stronger now to send a message to the Democratic Party that it's time to stand for something."

In Washington, New York and most of the rest of the country, the fall general election campaign has been on for months, and marginal shifts in twice-weekly John Kerry-George Bush poll matchups are analyzed like goat entrails. But in Oregon -- or at least the college campuses and public space meet-ups where Kucinich has been tirelessly talking to anyone who'll listen -- the Democratic presidential primary campaign is still going on.

In the two months before primary day here May 18, Kucinich is spending a month's time in Oregon. Friday, his campaign ads are scheduled to go on TV in Portland and Eugene.

Kucinich has figured out, of course, that he's not going to be president, that the balloon drop at the Democratic convention will be for someone else. He's running, he says, not to topple Kerry, but to help him.

"He already needs a lot of help, and he needs a lot of encouragement," Kucinich said before his speech. "Our campaign, with the help of the people of Oregon, can encourage him to take strong positions."

It does seem, as Kerry tries with limited success to distill a clear message to voters, that the expected nominee could use some help. Whether he needs the help Kucinich is offering is another question.

The Ohio congressman is focusing on four issues: single-payer health care, opposition to free-trade agreements, opposition to the Patriot Act -- and on that issue Kerry is now sounding considerably differently than he did in Iowa and New Hampshire -- and, above everything, the Iraq war...(Full Story)