Home from the Heartland
Originally published in the The Morning Journal
Home from the heartland
MIKE SAKAL , Morning Journal Writer 08/21/2003
(Editor's note: Morning Journal writer Mike Sakal and photographer Ross Weitzner traveled with presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich on a campaign tour of Iowa.)
U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich is not a front-runner in a field of 10 candidates campaigning for the Democratic nomination for the president of the United States, but people throughout the United States are becoming more familiar with him.
Kucinich ended his 2 1/2-day campaigning in the heartland tour throughout southern Iowa early Tuesday to return to Ohio. It will be a campaign in New Hampshire this week.
So far, Kucinich has made 19 campaign stops in Iowa.
His most recent Iowa tour, via a bus filled with about 20 supporters, made stops at 15 towns, traveled about 500 miles, mostly along back country roads to small towns, in order to give people a chance to meet a presidential hopeful up close and personal.
Kucinich's platform has been one of radical reform, a dreamy sort that vows to repeal the North American Free Trade Agreement, eliminate World Trade Organization laws and keep manufacturing jobs in the United States.
He's also voicing vocal opposition to Operation Iraqi Freedom, and said he would cut the Pentagon's budget by 15 percent and put that money back into education if elected president.
Kucinich for president buttons and other Kucinich memorabilia already are becoming popular items on the campaign trail.
On Tuesday, Kucinich passed out seed packages of ''Kucinich Iowa corn,'' that promised to plant seeds of hope and offered kernels of truth, listing programs for his presidency.
''This is our moment,'' Kucinich told diners Monday at a Country Kitchen restaurant in agriculturally-based Ottumwa, Iowa. ''We can restore the country. If someone doesn't step forward to challenge this rotten system we have now, we're going to lose our democracy.
''People who have worked all their lives are losing their pensions and cannot afford to pay for their health care.''
Like most of the United States, Iowa has been hit hard with factories closing or being sold, taking their jobs out of state or to Mexico.
Kucinich is heavily courting California, and had made 10 stops there in recent months. Since April, he also has campaigned in Texas, Arizona, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and Indiana.
Kucinich's supporters, some who have traveled out of their home states to follow him, are optimistic about his chances as a presidential candidate.
''No one knew who Jimmy Carter was, or who Bill Clinton was in Iowa when they started campaigning for president,'' said Phyllis Younger, a retired high school home economics teacher from New Lenox, Ill., who was on Kucinich's bus. ''At this time during the campaign process, Bill Clinton had zero percent support. He didn't even start campaigning until October.
''I think Dennis Kucinich's chances are good as a candidate. He is showing there is a vehicle for possible change, and is urging people to make that change. He just needs to get his message out, and I think he will be effective because of his strong one-on-one rapport with people. I'm supporting him as if he will win.''
Iowa often has proved to be a key state for presidential candidates.
By tradition, the Iowa caucuses that kick off in January 2004 are the beginning of the presidential campaign races, and often are crucial for gauging Democratic and presidential favorites.
However, Kucinich is in the bottom percentile, according to various polls that show U.S. Rep. Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., and Howard Dean, former governor of Vermont, as the front-runners.
Kucinich is above the Rev. Al Sharpton and Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., and has gained some ground on U.S. Rep. John Edwards, D-N.C., Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn.
Kucinich's campaign coffers also are meager, but have a steady flow of income, said his staffers.
Kucinich reportedly has about $2 million in campaign funds, compared to the $25 million fund-raisers thrown for President George W. Bush, said John Friedrich, director of Kucinich's campaign in Iowa.
There was $6,000 raised at a Democratic fund-raiser for him attended by about 1,000 people in Minneapolis last Saturday, said Friedrich.
Actor Ed Asner, who played news director Lou Grant in the 1970s television comedy ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show,'' has voiced his support for Kucinich and made appearances with him in Iowa on Sunday.
Kucinich will return to Iowa during Labor Day weekend to be on hand for a benefit concert that country singer Willie Nelson is performing in Kucinich's honor.
Kucinich also voices the need for the country to get away from private insurance companies and move toward universal health care from which every American would receive coverage from the government, regardless of his or her financial situation.
''Whether you're in rural areas or in the city, people are hurting, and a change needs to be made,'' Kucinich said. ''Today, people and families are sitting down all over the country asking questions like, ԃan we save the house?' ԗhat are we going to do about health care?' and ԗhere are we going to get the money to pay for our children's education?'''
Since 2000, there have been 2.6 million American manufacturing jobs lost, and 9 million Americans are unemployed, Kucinich said.
''There's no amount of money that will make us safe with (the Bush) administration,'' Kucinich said. ''They have misled the people by their lies and we need to put a stop on these unnecessary military adventures.''
Subscribe to this blog's feed