Kucinich targets homelessness, Bush, Clark and Lieberman
Originally published in PoliticsNH
Kucinich targets homelessness, Bush, Clark and Lieberman
By SAM YOUNGMAN
PoliticsNH.com
MANCHESTER, Oct. 22 -- Rep. Dennis Kucinich was on a roll Wednesday morning.
Though he focused the majority of his morning tour of a assisted living home on the plight of the homeless, Kucinich saved some time at the end of a morning press conference to entertain his staff, telling jokes at two of his rivals’ expense.
When asked this week’s standard question about Sen. Joe Lieberman and Gen. Wesley Clark’s decision to withdrawal from Iowa, Kucinich pulled out his A-material.
"Well, you know, the General just got in the race; I don’t know why he’s in retreat," he said to the amusement of his small staff. "I don’t know maybe (Lieberman) had a traumatic experience in the last election, but I understand that because we all did."
Kucinich’s focus, however, was clear as he toured the Way House, a transition home that, among other things, helps families find affordable housing.
"My interest in this is not academic," Kucinich said, sharing his tales of living, at times, in the backseats of cars as a child.
"So I have a personal commitment on these matters, and I can identify."
Kucinich, who by almost all accounts but his own is a distant player in the Democratic field, shared the story of his impoverished youth with affordable housing advocates before touring the facility.
At one point in the tour, Kucinich left reporters in the hall in order to speak with one of the displaced families in private about healthcare and unemployment, he said.
Afterward, with reporters, Kucinich sounded off on a number of topics, notably his unique stance on positions ranging from healthcare to the war in Iraq and his thoughts on the recent Senate passage of the partial birth abortion ban.
Unlike the war in Iraq, abortion rights is one issue where the Congressman has flip-flopped in the past, voting for such bans as recently as 1996.
"I’ve always worked to try to make abortions less necessary through supporting birth control and sex education, but I think we can only do that within the context of supporting a woman’s right to choose," Kucinich said. "It’s very destructive in our society when there’s an attack on that right, and I believe that the Supreme Court will overturn the bill that the Senate passed."
Above all, Kucinich stressed the differences between his positions and his opponents, in terms of trade agreements and the Iraq war, adding along the way that he is in this race for the long haul.
"That’s why as I go into the debates and as we proceed the next three months, my campaign is going to be very formidable," he said. "I think this is just the beginning. There’s plenty of time."
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