Following the campaign, September 9
From Karin Caifa:
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Isn’t it kind of early for you guys to be awarding states to people?” — Dennis Kucinich fields questions about his poll numbers.
REP. ELIJAH CUMMINGS, CBC CHAIR, WEIGHS IN
Prior to the debate, Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., noted that the organization will make its endorsement before March and that no candidate is out of the running for the nod. The caucus initially hoped to host four debates this election cycle (Baltimore, Los Angeles, Detroit and Jackson, Miss.), but the DNC asked that they scale it back to two. The second will take place in Detroit on October 26.
Cummings couldn’t have been more pleased with the timing of Tuesday’s debate. “We didn’t know the president would make a speech,” he said. “This gives the candidates an opportunity on live TV to respond on the war.”
KUCINICH, GEPHARDT COULD HAVE SAVED THE DAY FOR HOUSE DEMS
Not all members of the CBC were at Tuesday’s debate, however. Cummings encouraged his members to stay in the District to vote on the controversial school voucher provision in the fiscal ’04 D.C. appropriations bill. The $10 million program is adamantly opposed by most Democrats but favored by the Democratic D.C. mayor Anthony Williams. The vote Tuesday revisited an amendment to authorize the program and passed 209-208. Had Kucinich and Rep. Dick Gephardt been present, the amendment could have been killed.
BUT INSTEAD…
Kucinich pulled up in the passenger’s seat of a tiny blue Ford Focus at about 7:30 p.m., straight from the House of Representatives. Though the moderators did not give Kucinich as much time to speak as some of the upper-tier candidates, his responses were followed by big applause. A summary of his responses:
On the war with Iraq and Sen. John Kerry: “I only wish Senator Kerry had organized Congress to fight against the war.”
On weapons of mass destruction: “The president misled the nation on weapons of mass destruction. Dick Gephardt, when you were talking to the president, I wish you had told him ‘no.’ I appreciate your passion now, but there were no weapons, and the case was misrepresented.”
On the war supplemental budget: “I’m going to vote no because I believe the best way to protect our troops is to bring’em home. The U.N. in and the U.S. out.”
Kucinich was the only one of the nine candidates to firmly oppose the Bush administration’s requested war supplemental budget, later calling it an “$87 billion down payment on their failure.”
After the debate Kucinich said the Bush administration has been “one foreign policy disaster after another. You have to take the keys away.”
FIRED UP
At the post-debate reception Kucinich introduced me to many of the field directors and staffers in charge of promoting diversity in his campaign. As they gathered to pose for my camera with the congressman, many started an impromptu campaign cheer “Dennis! Dennis! Dennis!” right in the middle of the crowded lobby.
WERE THESE GUYS ACTORS?
In the pre-debate gathering of supporters on the Morgan State campus, Kucitizens Bernie Fischlewitz-Roberts and Jay Ukryn noticed some unusual things going on with their counterparts backing John Edwards. The crowd, largely African-American, didn’t appear to know who Edwards was, and, when asked, referred to what the Kucinich supporters described as a “script” containing facts about Edwards and his positions. One young man said his aunt gave him $20 to be there.
Ukryn said: “I overheard someone asking one of the Edwards supporters, “Why do you want this guy to win?” and they said, ‘I don’t know,’ and they asked him, “What do you know about Edwards?” and they said, “I don’t know anything about Edwards.”
The Kucinich volunteers speculated that the Edwards camp was trying to create a more diverse group of supporters, and noted that the Kucinich group was the real deal.
INSIDE THE BELTWAY
How does a member of Congress balance his legislative life with a bid for the White House? Tuesday, Kucinich’s congressional press secretary Doug Gordon told me that the congressman’s presidential platform mirrors that of the issues he’s championing in Congress. “He’s been working on it for 30 years,” said Gordon.
In the waning weeks (we hope) of the first session of the 108th Congress, Kucinich will be making efforts to repeal portions of the Patriot Act. The details of the plans could not be completely disclosed because Kucinich is working with other members of Congress on the legislation.
Gordon notes that the Patriot Act recalls aren’t just a Democratic thing. He says there’s been a broad bipartisan appeal to revisit the legislation, the reasoning being that perhaps Congress acted too quickly after 9/11.
The congressman will vote against the $87 billion war supplemental that President Bush has requested from Congress. Kucinich says you can support the U.S. troops by bringing them home.
Kucinich also plans to introduce legislation that would improve the software used in voting machines.
THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
As far as the congressman’s presidential bid, Gordon notes that there’s been a “very positive reaction” from Kucinich’s constituency. “They think it’s great that the boy who grew up on the streets of Cleveland could run for president.”
“Anyone would have a tough time arguing that the congressman has turned his back on his constituency,” he added, noting that Kucinich’s congressional office handles about 10,000 pieces of case work every year.
Gordon says his boss’ duty is to be there on the Hill, and he’ll be there as the campaign schedule will let him. Tuesday night, for example, he missed some floor votes to be at the debate in Baltimore. But the votes he’ll be sure not to miss include any on the Medicare and energy conference reports and the previously mentioned war supplemental budget request.
THE BALANCING ACT
For the time being the House floor schedule is fairly well-defined. But after the target adjournment date of Oct. 4, things will become more “chaotic” and the office will work with the House leadership to make sure Kucinich is where he needs to be.
KUCINICH VS. SHARPTON
In an article in this week’s New York magazine, Mark Jacobson writes the following, quoting, we believe, the Reverend himself:
Sharpton is not as “wild-eyed as the vegan, Marianne Williamson-advised Kucinich, about whom the Rev sometimes worries, wondering if the former Cleveland mayor is ‘out on a weekend pass.’”
The campaign early Tuesday offered no comment, even questioning the accuracy of the source. After Tuesday’s debate, Kucinich himself talked:
Kucinich: “I love Al Sharpton.”
Reporter: “That’s all you want to say?”
Kucinich: “I love Al Sharpton.”
Reporter: “You don’t think it’s a bit of a dig?”
Kucinich: “I love Al Sharpton.”
I don’t foresee any further mudslinging here.
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