Following the campaign, September 5
From Karin Caifa:
FIRST, YOUR WEEKLY MEETUP PRIMARY UPDATE
If the Internet organizing phenomenon that is MeetUp.com has America’s pulse on the nine (or maybe 10, or 11) Dems, Kucinich’s folks should be pretty darn pleased. As of Friday night, here’s how things stand, in terms of numbers of signed-up supporters of each candidate:
Howard Dean: 108,056
Dennis Kucinich: 12,210
(Wesley Clark): 11,721
John Kerry: 10,805
(Al Gore): 1,460
John Edwards: 1,270
The other Democratic candidates do not have MeetUp pages.
President George Bush has a total of 1,067 MeetUp supporters, just edging out Anarchists Worldwide (which has 1,018 members) among Politics and Activism Topics.
WHAT ABOUT BOB?
After a speech before the Painters’ Union in Cleveland, Kucinich heads to Baraboo, Wisconsin, Saturday for the annual Fighting Bob Fest.
The festival, named for Sen. Bob LaFollette, celebrates the progressive movement by recreating the old-fashioned political chautauquas that the late senator often attended on behalf of Wisconsin’s old Progressive Party. Last year’s event attracted about 1,000 people.
As co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive caucus, Kucinich is a sure bet to be the presidential pick of most of the crowd tomorrow.
Yesterday Hiroshi Kanno of FightingBob.com wrote of Kucinich’s 2002 appearance:
“The topics upon which Kucinich based his speech that day were not the poll-tested, focus-grouped, TV-ready issues that most politicians gravitate toward in order to lengthen their careers in public office. It was then, one year ago, during Fighting Bob Fest, that I first said to myself that Dennis Kucinich should be our next president. I thought it was a shame that people with so much integrity, personal conviction and true leadership never run.”
Other guests scheduled to appear include Rep. Bernie Sanders, the independent congressman from Vermont, Wisconsin Rep. David Obey, ranking member on the House Appropriations Committee, and radio commentator Jim Hightower.
DON’T TELL ME HE’S GETTING INTO THE CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR’S RACE TOO
Kucinich on Friday was one of a group of 9 Dems (including Sens. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, as well as Rep. John Conyers of Michigan) who sent a letter to California Gov. Gray Davis urging him to sign civil rights legislation that’s been given the green light by the California State Legislature.
The measure (AB 1715) would ban employers from requiring employees to sign mandatory arbitration agreements regarding civil rights claims.
The letter says, “We view this battle against mandatory arbitration of workplace claims to be a fundamental issue of worker and civil rights. We intend to forcefully carry on the fight for the integrity of our civil rights and labor laws in Congress, in the courts, and with the public. Based on your long commitment to civil rights, we hope you can join us in this fight.”
Kucinich and over 50 other Dems are set to introduce similar legislation in the House this fall; Kennedy and Feingold are expected to introduce a companion measure in the Senate.
Davis has until September 8 to sign the bill. Supporters hope Davis’ impending recall election and his need for labor support will encourage him to sign the bill.
SPEAKING AT THE UNITED NATIONS
On Monday afternoon, Kucinich is in New York to deliver a speech in conjunction with the Spiritual Dimensions in Global Public Policy Series at the United Nations. The event is sponsored by the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns which the United Nations launched in Geneva last fall.
This is not a campaign event but Kucinich was invited, says organizer Diane Williams, in part because of his proposal for a cabinet-level Department of Peace, which is a centerpiece of his presidential platform.
The series is designed for speakers and audience to exchange ideas on how they use spirituality in their diplomatic work. Previous speakers have included Alfredo Sfeir-Younis, the U.N. Representative to the World Bank, and Audrey Kitigawa, adviser to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan.
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