Muslims For Kucinich

(Editor's note: Morning Journal writer Mike Sakal and photographer Ross Weitzner traveled with presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich on a campaign tour of Iowa).

CLEVELAND -- It appeared the lights of U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich's political career were turned out 25 years ago as Cleveland fell into default when he was known as its ''boy mayor.''

But he has since shown how to make a comeback.

Now, he wants to generate power from the Oval Office as president of the United States.

Kucinich, 56, is one of 10 Democratic presidential hopefuls ''stumping,'' or conducting on-the-ground campaigning throughout the United States in various key states for the upcoming 2004 presidential election. He is the long-shot candidate, a dark horse, near the bottom of national polls.

On Kucinich's 2 1/2-day campaign bus tour through Iowa last week that made stops in 15 towns and covered 500 miles, he often borrowed from past presidents in his plans to put Americans back to work through a massive public works program, similar to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration plan during the Great Depression.

Iowa is an important state for presidential hopefuls because its caucuses in January help gauge who the viable candidates are.

''We need to rebuild America,'' Kucinich said. ''We need to rebuild our roads, our bridges, infrastructure and restore our rail lines and interurban commuter rail. Franklin Delano Roosevelt put people back to work through his New Deal. I plan to put Americans back to work with a Ԕrue Deal,' and not let the politics of this country be governed by corporations and special interests groups.

''President Abraham Lincoln did not say in his Gettysburg Address that we were going to live under a government of the corporations, by the corporations and for the corporations.''

Kucinich, who represents Ohio's 10th Congressional District, mostly made up of Cleveland's west side and its western suburbs in Cuyahoga County, is quick to point out that the country is faced with a gloomy economy, high unemployment and unprecedented funding cuts in education. American manufacturing jobs have continued going south of the border and retirees who have worked all their lives are losing their health care benefits, according to Kucinich.

He said his first act as president would be to repeal the North American Free Trade Agreement and eliminate World Trade Organization laws.

Kucinich strongly opposed the war with Iraq, and wants to create a Department of Peace.

Kucinich declares that the Patriot Act is too intrusive and weakens our civil liberties, the Pentagon's budget needs to be cut by 15 percent and a universal health care plan needs to be implemented by the government to provide medical care for everyone in place of private insurance companies.

Iowans face most of the same problems as the rest of the country -- job losses, seeing large corporations push out the little man, falling behind the rising costs of health care.

They are turning out in crowds and like what Kucinich is saying.

''Wake up and smell the coffee, America,'' Kucinich is telling crowds on his campaign stops. ''We need to restore our country that is slipping away from us. We're in a state of emergency. We're getting closer and closer to losing our democracy every day because of these corporations and special interest groups that are controlling our government.

''There needs to be a change in this country's leadership,'' Kucinich said.

Kucinich is perhaps best known as the ''Boy Mayor of Cleveland,'' a maverick, when he was the youngest mayor ever elected to a major American city in 1977 at age 31.

Kucinich was elected on the promise that he wouldn't sell the city's Cleveland Municipal Light Co. to its private competitor, the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co.

But it wasn't long before Kucinich felt face to face the power and political connections of corporations and banks.

Cleveland was in a free fall. Downtown was a ghost town, and the Cleveland Indians were terrible. The polluted Cuyahoga River was known as the river that caught on fire. Cleveland was the butt of jokes nationwide.

After refusing to sell the Cleveland Municipal Light Co. in 1978, not a popular decision at the time, the city was forced into default by the banks over a $15.5 million debt, bankrupting a city for the first time since the Great Depression. Kucinich became a pariah of politics and was branded ''Dennis the Menace.''

When Kucinich tossed out the first pitch at the Cleveland Indians' Opening Day at Municipal Stadium in 1978, he wore a bulletproof vest, police sharpshooters lined the roof as the stadium resonated with boos. Although Kucinich was applauded when he threw catcher Gary Alexander a strike, he also knew that when fans shouted, ''Kill the bum!'' they didn't mean the umpire.

In August 1978, Kucinich survived a recall election by 341 votes among 120,801 votes cast, one of the closest city-wide elections in Cleveland's history.

After losing his re-election bid for mayor by a landslide to current Republican Sen. George Voinovich in 1979, Kucinich, and even members of his staff, found it difficult to acquire other jobs. His marriage fell apart. Now twice-divorced, he has a daughter, Jackie, 18.

Kucinich, who holds bachelor's and masters' degrees in speech and communications from Case Western Reserve University, taught communications courses at local universities and hit the speaking circuit. He also headed west where he said he quietly lived in California for a while, ''watching the dolphins play, and it wasn't the Miami Dolphins. I was watching dolphins from the beach.''

Kucinich re-emerged in politics in 1983 when he completed the unexpired term of 12th Ward Cleveland City Councilman Joseph Kowalski, who had died. Kowalski represented the Slavic Village neighborhood, heavily populated with Poles and Slovaks, and Kucinich moved into the neighborhood.

But his notable comeback came in 1994, when people realized he had saved them millions of dollars on their electric bills when he blocked the sale of the Cleveland Municipal Light Co. -- to the Cleveland Illuminating Light Co., now part of FirstEnergy Corp. of Akron, under fire in the largest blackout in U.S. history.

Kucinich ran for the Ohio Senate in 1994, and his campaign literature featured a light bulb with the slogan ''Because He was Right. He unseated an incumbent Republican. Two years later, Kucinich's campaign slogan for the U.S. Congress was ''Light up Congress'' and again featured a light bulb.

Now, the four-term congressman sees himself as the Napoleon who ''fought the Enrons of his day'' and the ''only Democrat candidate who could beat President George W. Bush in the 2004 election.'' He still carries a 1966 Topps baseball card of Rocky Colavito, his boyhood hero, in his wallet for a little extra inspiration.

In February 2002, as the Bush administration started beating the drums for an upcoming war with Iraq, Kucinich gave a speech in Los Angeles, ''A Prayer for America,'' opposing military action in Iraq. People across the country e-mailed him, urging him to run for president.

''It wasn't that speech that made me decide to run for president,'' Kucinich said after speaking to organized labor leaders in Iowa on Tuesday. ''It was the tens of thousands of e-mails I received from people saying I should run. I started considering it, and I would say by November, I decided I was going to run.''

Dispelling rumors that he is trying to gain a name for himself to run against Republican Sen. George Voinovich in the 2004 election, Kucinich shakes his head at the state of the union under the Bush administration.

''It's really not as much about politics as it is about the heart,'' Kucinich said. ''It's about seeing there are endless possibilities in life.''

His platform has been one of radical reforms -- at the top of his list is repealing the North American Free Trade Agreement and World Trade Organization laws that were passed by President Bill Clinton in 1993.

Kucinich strongly supports universal health care for everyone, no matter what their economic status, something Clinton abandoned during his first term.

Since 2000, there have been 2.6 million manufacturing jobs eliminated from the landscape of this country (an average of 74,300 jobs a month), and slightly more than 9 million people are unemployed, Kucinich said.

''I have seen grass growing in parking lots of factories where American cars used to be made, steel used to be made, washing machines used to be made, televisions used to be made and bicycles used to be made,'' Kucinich said.

''When Ross Perot was campaigning for president in 1992 when NAFTA was being promoted, he said, Ԅo you hear that sucking sound? It's American jobs being drained out of this country' -- and he was right.''

Throughout Lorain and Lorain County, that message strikes a chord.

''I hear of people talking about losing their jobs all the time,'' said Dennis Labis, owner of the 98-year-old Stan's Market on F Street and Delaware Avenue in Lorain. Labis' store is down the street from Marconi Communications, which announced recently it was eliminating its Lorain manufacturing operations and 230 jobs and moving work to Mexico and Canada.

''People are mad, and they're fed up because they don't know what they're going to do,'' Labis said. ''Dennis Kucinich's chances of being elected as president are Էhatever,' but maybe he's a dark horse. It's a big thing for these people in Iowa to see all these presidential hopefuls come through their small towns, and that helps him carry a lot of clout. His ideas are good, and the economy and health care are going to be the big issues.''

Kucinich has been to Iowa 19 times, and in California 10 times, he said. He's visited 13 states since April.

Most recently in Iowa, he appeared in 15 different towns and traveled about 500 miles in a bus filled with about 20 supporters throughout Iowa.

''We're getting a good response,'' Kucinich said. ''I plan to bring out all the issues that need to be talked about and the need for change in this country's leadership.''

Kucinich, a vegetarian, says, ''nutrition is the most important part of campaigning like this. You can't let your energy level drop.''

During his campaign, Kucinich has made a parable of the problems the bankers and the Cleveland Illuminating Electric Co. caused his political career, but he doesn't dwell on it.

He hopes to make a positive out of a negative by getting his audiences to see the light by slowly reaching into his pocket and making a clinking sound with a penny on a table as diners are listening.

''When I was in that board room full of bankers they told me I had to sell the city's Municipal Light Company, or Cleveland wouldn't qualify for any loans,'' Kucinich said. ''As I was sitting in the board room, I was thinking about my parents sitting at the kitchen table in our three-room apartment with five kids and hearing them count out their pennies when they hit the enamel table top to figure if they had enough to pay the electric bill.

''I would re-regulate utility companies,'' Kucinich said. ''Everybody needs to have affordable electricity that is reliable and provided from a safe plant for its workers.''

Kucinich often tells his audiences, ''I know what it's like to be without. I've been there.''

While growing up in Cleveland the oldest of seven children, his parents never owned a house. By the time he was 17, they had lived in 21 different places around Cleveland, ''including a couple of cars.'' One of them was a '49 Dodge in which Kucinich slept in the back seat.

Kucinich, who is mostly of Croatian and Irish descent, grew up in a Catholic family and attended parochial schools. He said he remembers earning his way by scrubbing and waxing the floors of those schools, dwarfed by the scrubbing machine he pushed.

His father, Frank, was a truck driver. He had worked at Midland Steel on Cleveland's West Side, his first job after he came home from World War II.

''He died with his first retirement paycheck in his pocket uncashed,'' Kucinich said. ''I'm the candidate who can not only talk the talk, but I can walk the walk.''

Early in each presidential election year, Iowa Democrats and Republicans heavily stump in each of Iowa's approximately 2,500 precincts to conduct party business and express an early preference for a presidential candidate.

Since it is considered the first test of strength for candidates in both parties, national party leaders and the media pay close attention to the results.

Although Dennis Kucinich is not a household name, some supporters believe that if he can get his message out, he can go far.

''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 economics teacher from New Lenox, Ill., who was traveling on Kucinich's bus through Iowa. ''At this time during the campaign process, when Bill Clinton ran for president, he had zero percent support,'' Younger added. ''He didn't even start campaigning until October.

''I think Dennis Kucinich's chances are good as a candidate,'' Younger said. ''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.''

Mark Smith, the AFL-CIO president in Iowa, said of Kucinich's campaign: ''It's kind of like going into a gunfight with a pocketknife.''

In April, Kucinich started out with slightly more than $1.5 million, and by the middle of July, had $1 million, according to a campaign finance report filed with the Federal Elections Commission. His staffers say he currently has about $2 million on hand and a steady stream of revenue.

Kucinich has the support of country music singer Willie Nelson, who plans to do benefit concerts for Kucinich.

He also has the support of Emmy-winning actor Ed Asner, who played television news director Lou Grant on the 1970s television comedy, ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show.''

On the last classic episode of Mary Tyler Moore, the cast hugged each other in a circle and sang, ''It's a Long Way to Tipperary (It's a Long Way to Go),'' and the same can ring true for Kucinich in hoping to garner the Democratic nomination for president.

Asner said, ''Yes, it is a long way to Tipperary, but Dennis is a distance runner, and he can make it.''

In the last national poll, Kucinich had 4 just percent support, staying above the Rev. Al Sharpton and Sen. Bob Graham, D-Florida.

He has gained some ground on U.S. Rep. John Edwards, D-N.C.; Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass, and Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn.

The 5-foot-7-inch Kucinich stood on a chair so he could be seen preaching his message to a crowd of about 500 people at a Scott County Democratic Picnic at the Carpenters' Union Local 4 Hall in Davenport, Iowa, last Sunday.

He passionately spoke of keeping American jobs within the country's borders and ending pre-emptive military strikes that are killing young service people, as well as not cutting veterans' benefits.

''He really has our attention,'' said Mike Ryan, president of the Carpenters' Local No. 4. ''His speech is inspiring. He put out some fire. If he were nominated for president, would I vote for him? You bet.

''Right now, I'm undecided, as a lot of us are, because we want to hear all the candidates. A lot of them know they have to come through Iowa if they want to get known as an early contender.''

The next morning, Kucinich spoke to a crowd of about 20 gathered in the Ivy Bake Shoppe and Cafe in Ft. Madison before moving on to speak to about 50 at the ''R'' Place Cafe, a popular diner in Bloomfield, Iowa, a political hot seat in Davis County. It's mostly the territory of presidential contenders U.S. Rep. Richard Gephardt, D-Missouri, and former Vermont Governor Howard Dean.

In the 2000 presidential election, 70 percent of the county's 8,000 voters turned out for the election, according to the chairman of the Davis County Democratic Party.

Kucinich's campaign has brought out an eclectic group of supporters and listeners, some of whom supported George McGovern in 1968 and 1972 and Ross Perot in 1992.

Those who are interested in Kucinich's message include organized labor leaders, young adults, retirees worried about health care benefits, and the working poor who have lost good-paying jobs in the wake of the North American Free Trade Agreement and a sour economy.

''I think some of Kucinich's ideas are a little far off, but I would vote for him if he's nominated,'' said Matt Nieter, owner of the 5th Street Deli in Lorain. ''I'll never vote for Bush. I think these tax breaks for the rich need to be eliminated. It always seems that the problems caused by these big tax cuts always fall on the shoulders of the little guy.''

Kucinich's campaign consists of thousands of volunteers in every state and a paid staff, said a spokeswoman at Kucinich's office in Cleveland. She didn't know an exact number of Kucinich's staff members.

''People are responding to his message,'' said John Friedrich, director of Kucinich's Iowa campaign. He was a campaign manager for Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, during his presidential bid in 1992.

''Dennis' campaign has taken quite a leap from the way it began in April. Wherever he goes, there's larger crowds; he's getting stronger responses and people are starting to learn who he is. His enthusiasm in his speeches are galvanizing the people, and the campaign staff's job (a core of 10 people in Iowa) is to get him before the people.

''Everywhere we go, we're getting contributions -- not big fund-raisers like the $25 million a throw fund raisers for George Bush, but we plan to take the campaign all the way,'' Friedrich said.

''We're organizing the best we can, and we'll see how it shakes out. Anything can happen in politics, and it can happen fast. Candidates who are the top of the perch, can fall fast and hard. Seabiscuit proves that long shots can win.''

Kucinich's 10th District covers 26 cities with a population of about 630,000 people throughout Cuyahoga County and one township, but people in Lorain are familiar with him and some aren't happy with him.

Closer to home, not everyone is crazy about Kucinich.

About a year and a half ago, Kucinich met with officials from the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency that provides funding to northeast Ohio for transportation projects and mayors from Cleveland's west side suburbs. He voiced his opposition for the feasibility of a proposed commuter rail line to run from Cleveland into Lorain along the lakefront Norfolk Southern lines.

Kucinich said at a public meeting and press conference in Indianola on Monday that he didn't want to see an increase in rail traffic throughout Cleveland's west side suburbs, and didn't plan on changing the agreement that limited rail traffic he made with federal officials and the mayors of the towns that the commuter rail would go through.

''Dennis Kucinich supports commuter rail everywhere across the United States except through Lakewood,'' said Lorain Port Authority Director Rick Novak, ''I hope he changes his mind on the project and realizes the regional economic impact it can have. As for him running for president, I have no comment.''

U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown, D-Lorain, said he thinks Missouri Congressman Gephardt is a strong presidential candidate, but is pleased that Kucinich is bringing out the issues.

''I think Dennis is a long shot, obviously,'' Brown said. ''He's brought attention to Bush's wrong-headed trade policies and mismanagement of the economy. The more people that talk about those issues, the better. Bush does not know what to do in Iraq now, and he doesn't know what to do about the economy. He's in trouble.''

''I hope Dennis changes his mind on the commuter rail,'' Brown added. ''It would be a good thing for Lorain and the region.''

Through the years, Kucinich has changed his views on some issues and has gone through what some of his long-time observers and supporters say is a ''maturation process.''

When asked if he believed his recent pro-choice stance on abortion would hurt his Catholic vote, a strong base of voters in northeast Ohio, Kucinich guided his answer into his health care for all plan.

''I am pro-choice on abortion,'' Kucinich said. ''It is a difficult issue. I don't think that women would be equal in today's society unless they had the choice. I would want to make abortions less necessary by making sure there was more sex education programs out there as well as pre-natal care and post-natal care programs.''

In Davenport, Iowa, last Sunday, Kucinich threw out the first pitch of a Quad Cities Rivers Bandits Class A Minor League baseball game, marking the first time since that Opening Day in 1978 that he threw out a first pitch.

His pitch bounced in the dirt before the catcher scooped the ball in his mitt, but Kucinich later redeemed himself, a theme apparent all throughout his political career.

Later that day, one of his pitches hit the target at the Scott County Democratic Picnic's dunking machine, drenching Sue Pamprin, chairman of the Scott County Democratic Party.

''I hope that didn't cost me any votes,'' he said.