Muslims For Kucinich

From Karin Caifa:

THEY SAID, ‘COME BACK, COME BACK...’
“I was on a beach in Malibu watching the waves, watching the dolphins play… I met the Enron of my day.” - Dennis Kucinich on his return to politics after losing his mayor’s seat in Cleveland

The big headline for Thursday was, of course, the Albuquerque debate. But before we leave the Beltway…

MISSING THE VOTE (OR 12)
Though he did roll out a bill that would expand pre-kindergarten programs for all students ages 3-5, Kucinich missed at least 12 (as of 9 pm ET) roll call votes Thursday in the House of Representatives to travel to New Mexico. Most of the votes were on procedural motions or amendments.

Kucinich has often contrasted himself with other members of Congress who have missed upwards of 40% of floor votes for presidential campaigning.

Among the issues debated on the House floor today was the 2004 Transportation-Treasury Appropriations bill, including funding for Amtrak. During a campaign stop in New Hampshire last week Kucinich called for a rebuilding of America’s passenger rail system.

Now, on to the Land of Enchantment…

THE PREGAME SHOW
Kucitizens had the largest gathering of any candidate outside the debate hall. Dozens of supporters packed a postage stamp area of browning grass carrying homemade signs made with Magic Markers and posterboard.

Speakers came and went, singing Kucinich’s praises and a band named Goathead harmonized on tunes slugging corporate America and the Bush administration .

INSIDE THE HALL: THE NEW MEXICO DEBATE
Once inside Popejoy Hall on the University of New Mexico campus, activities were far more subdued.

Kucinich flashed a peace sign as he was introduced and kept smiling even as Univision’s Maria-Elena Salinas mispronounced his name. He had reason to - Salinas had to wait for the applause to die down before she could correct herself.

A summary of Kucinich’s responses to the debate questions:

On Iraq:

“It’s time to bring the troops home. Bring the United Nations in and bring the U.S. troops out.” Kucinich made this statement in both English and Spanish, the only candidate to show off his Espanol in the first round of questioning.

Calling the war in Iraq “Bush’s blunder” and pointing out his congressional colleagues who gave the president support for the use of force, Kucinich also proposed that the United Nations handle the distribution of Iraqi oil and all rebuilding contracts. “No more Halliburton sweetheart deals,” he said, referring to the energy company where Vice President Dick Cheney was once CEO. He also would encourage the U.N. to work with the people of Iraq to create a government of their own.

On the Domestic Economy:

The centerpiece of Kucinich’s domestic economic plan: “My first act would be to cancel NAFTA and the WTO and return to bilateral trade.”

He called it “shocking” that the U.S. does not have a manufacturing policy that protects the steel, automotive and textile industries. Kucinich’s home state of Ohio relies heavily on the manufacturing industries, which he feels are the backbone of the domestic economy. The state has lost about 200,000 private sector jobs since 2001.

In the spirit of FDR, Kucinich would renew an American public works administration to rebuild America’s cities and infrastructure. “We have the resources to do it,” he said, “We have to have the will to do it.”

On trade:

“The real question is, what kind of profits do the Kmarts and the Wal-Marts of the world make?”

“Not much,” commented moderator Ray Suarez, referring to Kmart’s recent financial woes.

“But on the misery of those people in 3rd world countries who are working for pennies an hour and are finding themselves unable to feed their families,” Kucinich continued. “NAFTA makes it impossible to protect workers’ rights,” including collective bargaining, protection against child labor and prison labor and environmental protections.

On health care:

“Health care is a right, not a privilege,” Kucinich said, first in Spanish then in English. “We need to take the profit out of health care.”

He made reference to HR 676, the bill introduced by Michigan Rep. John Conyers that was co-sponsored by Kucinich and 27 other Dems. The bill would create a single-payer national health care system, federally financed but privately delivered.

“The insurance companies and the pharmaceutical companies right now, they own us,” Kucinich continued.

“We have to take our health care system back.”

And he didn’t mention the good doctor by name, but he went out of his way to point out the “other” anti-war candidate in the field by reiterating, as he did for the crowds on Tuesday, that Dean would balance the budget not by cutting funding for defense, but by trimming social programs.

PICKING UP SPANISH… IN OHIO
When asked where he picked up the Spanish he showed off in the debate, Kucinich replied, “Yo estudio a la escuela Berlitz.” For those seeking translation, he studied in an immersion course at Berlitz, the popular franchise of language classes and those tapes that lead you to believe you can speak like a native just by listening to them in the car.

THE AFTER PARTY
During the debate a few hundred Kucinich supporters watched their candidate on a big-screen television and chowed down on a buffet of Southwestern fare. But the best moment of the evening came well after the candidates left the stage. Kucinich entered the ballroom in the University of New Mexico Student Union after being announced as, “The next president of the United States, Dennis Kucinich!”

He’s been in politics for a long time, but it was obvious that Kucinich was moved by the cheers and applause that filled the room as he walked in. “New Mexico is critical,” he said after taking the stage before about 400 supporters. “We had the largest turnout of volunteers at the Labor Day parade in Iowa. It gives me so much encouragement. You give me hope, which I in turn give to the people of the United States.”

Kucinich took time to outline his plan for cutting Department of Defense spending, which he’ll release in full detail in the next couple of weeks. He plans to trim $60 billion by cutting funding for the missile shield program, for developing “bunker buster” nuclear bombs, and weapons in outer space. “Unless people think we’re going to get invaded by Martians from outer space. Maybe Donald Rumsfeld does.”

For critics who wonder where he’ll get the funding for his universal health care plan Kucinich offered this: “We’re already paying for it. We’re just not getting it. It’s the allocation of our health care dollars.” His plan would also require a 7.7% payroll tax on employers.

When a member of the audience asked what he’d do to utility companies, he replied, “That’s my specialty actually,” alluding to the crisis he faced when mayor of Cleveland in the 1970s. “I’m going to support public power in the deepest meaning of the word.”

SOME MEMORABLE MOMENTS
Interlopers or Converts? Among the hundreds at Kucinich’s after-debate gathering were a handful sporting Howard Dean T-shirts. One was even bold enough to run to the foot of the stage and snap a picture of the “other” anti-war candidate. Another said that he put his Dean stickers on his shirt before the debate, but that the more he heard Kucinich speak, the more he grew on him.

VAST RIGHT-WING CONSPIRACY?
Throughout his speech in the ballroom, Kucinich was plagued by a scratchy microphone that prompted one member of the crowd to shout, “It’s the Republicans!”

WHAT DO CANDIDATES EAT?
Kucinich ate a vegan burrito from an Albuquerque co-op for lunch before the big debate, but no dinner.

HEY SISTER!
When Kucinich found out supporter Brooke Fair was a card-carrying member of the IATSE radio/TV union of stagehands, not only did he exclaim, “Hey! A sister!” — he whipped his own union card out of his wallet to show her. Kucinich held numerous jobs before entering politics, including one as a TV cameraman.

GRASS ROOTS FUNDRAISING.
At the close of the Kucinich ballroom gathering, a supporter walked around with a plastic grocery bag - from Whole Foods, of course - collecting donations for the campaign.

AND AS LONG AS WE’RE ON FUNDRAISING…
In an e-mail Thursday signed by the candidate, Kucinich urges supporters to jump on board with the house party initiative that the campaign has launched nationwide.

“When we file our fundraising report on September 30, the pundits and so-called ‘experts’ will once again be looking for an excuse to dismiss us. While our message continues to draw thousands in state after state, the pundits only measure success in dollars and cents,” the e-mail says. “Let’s prove them wrong. We will never match the more corporate-friendly candidates in fundraising. But there is power beyond imagining in our common purpose.”

FROM SLATE.COM
In their continuing series on the candidates strengths, weaknesses, buzz words and agendas, Slate.com Thursday brings us Dennis Kucinich “at his worst.”

Citing a Cleveland Plain Dealer piece from March 12, 2003, Slate.com writes:

Former Cleveland City Council President George Forbes “cited a piece of Kucinich literature from an unsuccessful 1974 bid for Congress. In it, Kucinich criticized rival candidate Ron Mottl for voting to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. with a legal holiday when Mottl served in the Statehouse.

There’s general agreement that if Kucinich’s act was dirty, he cleaned it up long ago. As a councilman, he voted to establish a King holiday. The Plain Dealer says he ‘was building bridges [to blacks] by the time he ran for mayor.’ As mayor, he gave half his major appointments to blacks and ensured that a court-ordered school busing program was peacefully administered. In Congress, he has voted with the NAACP 89 percent of the time.

But Slate also notes:

The other question is whether Kucinich is candid about his past. In 2003, he told the Plain Dealer he didn’t remember the campaign literature cited by Forbes. In a March 2003 interview with Salon, Kucinich said of blacks, “In the ’60s was it possible that there were some differences of opinion? Yes. But it was never based on race. Never. Not a chance.”