Kucinich supporter's walk goes through Brattleboro today
Originally published in the Brattleboro Reformer
Kucinich supporter walking to California in Brattleboro today
By DANIEL BARLOW
Reformer Staff
BRATTLEBORO -- A supporter of Dennis Kucinich's campaign for the president will make his way through town today as part of a coast-to-coast walk to raise awareness for the Ohio congressman.
Jonathan Meier, a 20-year-old Kucinich supporter who hails from Iowa, started walking from Portland, Maine, on Oct. 17, and plans to arrive in San Francisco on Feb. 29, two days before California's primary.
Meier will walk through Brattleboro today, traveling south on Route 5, and is expected to stop briefly at the Robert H. Gibson River Garden on Main Street at approximately 1 p.m.
"It's been really rough, especially today with the cold weather," said Meier in a phone interview from Keene, N.H., on Thursday evening. "I've prepared myself well for this, though."
Meier floated the idea of a Kucinich walk on a Internet message board for the candidate earlier this year and found an enthusiastic response. Kucinich's national campaign coordinates with the state branches to find homes of supporters for Meier to stay overnight at.
Along the way, several supporters have joined him for short stints. Two supporters from New Hampshire's Monadnock Region walked the last six miles to Keene with him on Thursday.
This is not the first walk Meier has done for a cause. For 26 days between December 2002 and January 2003, Meier walked from his home in Ames, Iowa, to Washington, D.C., in protest of the pending war with Iraq.
"It was a pilgrimage of sorts," said Meier. "And I felt now that it was time to do another walk."
A recent college graduate with a major in religious studies and a minor in philosophy, Meier said he was attracted to the Kucinich campaign because of the congressman's focus on peace as a message.
Although a handful of the nine Democrats running for the nomination have spoken out against the war in Iraq and the Bush administration's foreign policies, Meier said Kucinich's pro-peace message stood out.
"Although others have spoken out against the war, he (Kucinich) is the only one who is pro-peace," explained Meier. "I found his message and stance on all the issues, especially the establishment of a Department of Peace, a very hopeful one for this country."
Kucinich, the 2003 recipient of the Gandhi Peace Award, has proposed establishing a Department of Peace at the federal level. The department would tackle violence of all kinds, from child abuse to gangs to war.
Meier said he chose to walk as a method of awareness and expression in a nod to the civil rights marches by Martin Luther King Jr., and the walk across the nation by Dublin, N.H., resident Doris "Granny D" Haddock for campaign finance reform.
As Meier walks he carries a sign for Kucinich, but he believes the message of his mission lies more in his mode of transportation than the cardboard sign he carries.
"As I walk I'm asking America to slow down a little," he explained. "The country needs to stop for a minute and think about our actions before acting. It's a simple but revolutionary idea."
Meier's idea to walk across the country appealed to many in the Kucinich campaign, said Amy Fay Kaplan, an intern for the campaign from Michigan who is helping Meier find homes along the way.
"Along the way people are seeing him or hearing about him and joining in for a few miles," she said. "It's a great way to drum up support for Dennis (Kucinich) and get his message out there."
Kucinich has faced a difficult time attracting the support of Democrats and independents in most polls. An October poll of likely Democrat primary voters in New Hampshire showed Kucinich with 1 percent of the vote.
Meier said the mainstream media pegged Kucinich as a "long-shot" candidate in the beginning, and the image unfortunately stuck.
"I think he is very electable," Meier said. "If the American people stopped and listened to what he has to say his support would grow."
Meier plans to make his way to Shelburne, Mass., by late afternoon Friday to spend the night at the home of a Kucinich supporter there.
A page on the Kucinich's campaign Web site charts Meier's walk, posts updates from the road and displays the planned route.
Subscribe to this blog's feed