Muslims For Kucinich

Stay-at-home mom Jennifer Spieler dislikes the U.S. unilateral invasion of Iraq, and she wants to see better health care for Americans.
Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor, is her choice for president.

College instructor Wes Hamilton, a former Marine, wants a presidential candidate who will address the nation's security and economic problems instead of "pandering to what the standard politicos are doing."

He's organizing support for U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio for president.

Retired state Supreme Court justice Bob Utter also dislikes the war and the postwar reconstruction efforts led by President Bush, and he is worried the administration's tax cut plan won't help the middle class or fix the nation's economic problems.

For the first time in his life, Utter is jumping in for a presidential candidate and giving money -- to retired Gen. Wesley Clark of Arkansas.

The national presidential election is more than a year away, but Democrats and unaffiliated voters in Thurston and Mason counties already are choosing sides in the nomination process.

Local leaders in three Democratic campaigns -- for Dean, Clark and Kucinich -- all report rousing interest in what they are trying to kick-start ahead of the Feb. 7 Democratic caucuses.

The Democratic caucuses are where registered voters who want to identify themselves as Democrats will show up in the county's 281 precincts to select delegates who will later attend county and state political conventions. It's a step-by-step process that includes a state convention in Tacoma in June and later the national convention.

There is, not surprisingly, less activity for the Republicans, who are expected to strongly endorse President Bush. They will have their Washington caucuses March 9.

Gauging interest

State Democratic Party chairman Paul Berendt has said Dean has the most appeal so far in Washington, which in most recent election cycles has supported the eventual Democratic nominee over the Republican, including Al Gore over Bush in 2000.

Even so, Berendt, who personally favors Dean, says Kucinich could gather a lot of support. Others who might make gains are U.S. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, who has opened a Seattle campaign office; U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri, with his union ties; and the Rev. Al Sharpton of New York.

Although many overlook Kucinich, Berendt said he is "a real asset to the debate that is going on. His issues are farther to the left than most of the other candidates. But he's talking about things that need to be addressed, such as poverty issues."

State Republican Party chairman Chris Vance has said voters are happy with Bush's handling of issues since the Sept. 11 attacks. He has suggested that this might be the year a Republican wins the state's popular vote and takes Washington's 11 Electoral College votes.

Locally, Thurston County Republican chairman Randall Rappe said he's not worried about finding volunteers for next year's campaign.

Local campaigns

Of the three Democratic campaign groups that have emerged locally, the latest is on behalf of Clark, the former Rhodes scholar and Army general who went on to serve as supreme allied commander in Europe, overseeing a multinational team in Kosovo.

About 15 supporters of Clark -- of nearly 60 who have signed up locally to help -- jammed into metal chairs outside a west Olympia Starbucks early last week to begin the task of getting organized.

Local lawyer Ken Valz, who organized the event, said it was "as spontaneous as it gets. I think most of these people never met each other before."

Clark's campaign -- like those of Dean and Kucinich -- is drawing plenty of political newcomers. Clark backers who sat in the cool evening air included everyone from 13-year-old student Caleb Hayes of Shelton to 73-year-old Utter. Hayes detests Bush's war policies and thinks Clark is the most "electable" option; Utter, the former chief justice of the state Supreme Court, is impressed by Clark's intelligence and record and considers the Bush administration the "most disastrous" he's ever seen.

"I think it started with the unilateral declaration of war under the guise of imminent danger" that didn't exist, Utter said, adding that he is getting involved and making donations to Clark both because of Bush and because of Clark. "Clark is an excellent candidate," Utter said. "I'm frightened about where Bush is going."

"Clark is the first candidate I've ever wanted to give a significant amount of money to and work for, at least at this point," said retiree Linda Weisser. "I think we're in a lot of trouble in this country. ... I think he (Clark) may be the only candidate who has the contacts, the skill and the understanding to repair the relationships that have been ruptured internationally."

But ask a Clark volunteer what quality they like in him, and most will give an answer like Valz does: Clark can win.

Not to be outdone, the Kucinich campaign is revving up with 92 volunteers who think that the populist former mayor of Cleveland can deliver on his 10-point platform that is built around jobs and peace.

As a congressman, Kucinich has spelled out that he wants universal health care, an end to foreign trade agreements that harm the environment or workers, and reductions in military spending.

During a Wednesday organizational meeting at Plenty restaurant in Olympia, more than a half-dozen Kucinich backers spoke glowingly -- almost reverently -- using phrases like "truth force" and "from the heart" to describe the way Kucinich's message has hit them.

"Most of the other candidates are trying to appeal to what they think the American people want. Kucinich is speaking what the nation needs," said Hamilton, who is in his mid-50s and retired after putting in more than 25 years' service as a state employee. He now teaches ethics and law classes for human services professionals at Pierce College.

"He's committed to peace -- to the resolution of issues before conflict becomes the necessary diplomatic alternative," Hamilton said.

Hamilton is co-organizing Thurston County's Kucinich campaign with Cheryl Crist, a retired real estate agent who works as a part-time yoga instructor.

"We're getting house parties organized all over the place," said Crist, referring to events where a 30-minute video of Kucinich is shown and people get a chance to discuss it afterward. The idea is to bring people together and talk --and, they hope, get energized about the campaign. It's a strategy that has many Kucinich supporters talking to one another like old friends.

A graduate student at The Evergreen State College, Eve Rickert of Shelton, said she has a dozen volunteers organizing in Mason County.

"I think what's going on here is what democracy should be about," said Rickert, who said she spent 12 hours reading all of Kucinich's congressional record.

The Kucinich backers get a little annoyed that their candidate is often written off in national news accounts as too far to the left to win. They don't believe it.

Kucinich, as Rickert pointed out, has won several congressional races in swing districts with his populist agenda, and he has "never compromised his platform. That's inspiring to me. He speaks to people's hearts."

"What spinach is for Popeye, Kucinich is for America," said Adam Sher, a paraeducator for Avanti High School in Olympia. He said he admires Kucinich's willingness to stand up and oppose U.S. war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Dean, the apparent front-runner nationally and in Washington, has been flying high locally, too. About 100 supporters packed into buses in August to attend a rally and hear their liberal, anti-war candidate speak in Seattle.

"I always vote, but I've never actually been excited to before. I want to volunteer, get the word out. And for the mother of a 1- and a 3-year-old, that's a pretty big thing," Spieler of Olympia said during the Dean caravan to Seattle in August.

"What first attracted me to him is he took a lot of stances that were not necessarily popular at the time, like being against the war in Iraq and being against the tax cuts," Spieler added last week in an interview. "The other big thing is the issue of health care. He's consistently stated in his speeches that he'd like to bring health care to every man, woman and child."

Although Spieler also likes Kucinich "very much," she doesn't think he'll appeal to the electorate as a whole.

"The main thing is to get George Bush out of office and get this country back on track again," she said.

Walt Bowen, the local Dean organizer and veteran of many presidential campaigns, says support has grown with nearly every campaign meeting. More than 260 Dean supporters have signed up through the MeetUp Web site, which all three local campaigns are making use of -- and that's three times what Kucinich or Clark has so far.

"It's hard keeping up with the momentum," Bowen said earlier this month as he organized carpools for a Dean appearance at a Seattle fund-raiser.

The task now is to harness that energy and get supporters -- many of whom have connected to the campaign via the Internet -- into the caucus meetings next February. Although Bowen says the local Dean campaign is the most organized anywhere in the state so far, there are logistics to work out for Feb. 7.

"I've got to get them out of cyberspace and get their butts in chairs," Bowen said.