Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to President Dennis Kucinich!
Originally published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer
Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to President Dennis Kucinich!
08/08/03
If there is one quality that most represents the people of Greater Cleveland, I would say it is loyalty. We love our own. We even love adopting people not from here and making them our own. But when someone from this area does something notable, we go crazy. And that's a good thing.
A recent case in point is the send-off beloved comedian Bob Hope received. He wasn't really from here, but close enough to have a bridge named after his family. Golfer Ben Curtis came out of nowhere this year to win the British Open and the hearts of all sports fans in Northeast Ohio. If he never wins another tournament, he will always be our long-shot, overnight legend.
LeBron James has brought honor to our city with his talent. Drew Carey is our cherished hometown comedian. Oscar-winning Halle Berry from Bedford Heights is another star in our civic firmament. Mike Rupp, a St. Ed's graduate, plays hockey for the New Jersey Devils and scored the winning goal for the Stanley Cup this year. I could do this all day. My little sister Patty, the Hollywood actress, has been the recipient of much Cleveland love.
But there is one Clevelander out there making national headlines every day who isn't getting his due. And it strikes me as odd. I'm talking about Congressman, Presidential Candidate and former Cleveland Mayor Dennis Kucinich. I sense a kind of collective resistance to Kucinich from this town as he plays out a mission on the national stage.
Granted, Kucinich's politics are ultra-progressive. He's anti-war at a time when we're at war. He's anti-big business at a time when most people are resigned to the fact that big business owns them. He's guaranteeing health care for all, he's going to save Social Security, cancel NAFTA, restore manufacturing jobs and save family farms.
He's tilting at windmills, and I get the feeling we're a little embarrassed by his unwavering idealism. That's a mistake. It speaks to our lack of character more than it does to him being a bit of a goofball. Like his politics or not, Dennis is OUR guy. And we should get behind him. We should embrace his weirdness. He is US. He is the Cleveland little-guy personified. He's the ultimate underdog who's still willing to march out of step from the national zombified masses. Only comic book artist Harvey Pekar is more quintessentially Cleveland than Kucinich. And the movie of Pekar's life, "American Splendor," is opening to raves all over the country.
Like Pekar, Kucinich is exactly the kind of guy we should be proud of. Not deride. He's scrappy. He's not afraid to take the heat for perceived fruitcakeism. He's bucking the system in a big way all across the country. He's not a robot like all the other candidates.
And I love the kinds of people he is attracting. Willie Nelson, for crying out loud! How cool is that? Ben and Jerry, the ice cream guys. Studs Terkel, the truest friend of the working man there ever was. So what if they are all left-wing nuts. At least they're not boring.
But my point is that his politics don't matter. What matters is that Kucinich is one of us. When is a guy from Cleveland going to have this kind of a shot at the White House? At being the leader of the Free World? Not bloody soon, let me tell you. Imagine how cool it would be to have Kucinich be president and what it would do for this town.
When it comes to politics, I'm nothing if not a pragmatist. I have no allegiance to any party. When I'm in the booth deciding where X will mark the spot, I ask myself one question: Of these people, which one is most likely to return my phone call?
And if you live in Cleveland and Kucinich is in the White House, you will have more access to the most powerful man in the world than, say, someone from Vermont. You think Howard Dean is going to return your phone call? Cleveland would become the focus of national and international attention. We all would become stars of a sort. And if you're worried that Kucinich would completely screw the pooch and bring disgrace to Cleveland, c'mon, we've been through that already.
Could he possible put us in a bigger jam than we are already in? I seriously doubt it. We have everything to gain and nothing to lose.
Kucinich is a small, smart, scrappy guy with a lot of heart. Deep down, he's a good man who cares about people. And yes, he's a little weird.
Just like Cleveland.
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