Washington state plays host to weekend Dean, Kucinich stops
Originally published in The Olympian
State plays host to weekend Dean, Kucinich stops
Democratic presidential candidates seek support ahead of February caucuses
BRAD SHANNON THE OLYMPIAN
Two Democratic candidates for president -- former Vermont Governor Howard Dean and former Cleveland Mayor Dennis Kucinich -- make Northwest appearances this weekend on back-to-back days.
Dean appears tonight at the University of Washington's Meany Hall, where he'll speak to the 10th annual Magnuson fund-raising dinner held by Democrats in honor of the state's former Democratic Sen. Warren Magnuson. Four ex-Washington governors, both U.S. Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, and other elected officials will be there.
"It's a sellout," state Democratic Party Chairman Paul Berendt said. "That's very exciting to have that."
Kucinich will be in Fife on Sunday for a 6 p.m. rally in which he'll address a dockworkers' group on the one-year anniversary of a dock lockout.
While the Democrats raise money this weekend, state Republican Chairman Chris Vance said, GOP county organizations plan voter-registration efforts.
A flotilla of Dean supporters from Thurston County plan to take car pools to Seattle this afternoon to show support for Dean at the Meany Hall event, although organizer Walt Bowen said the $100-per-person admission has limited interest in making the trip.
"I think we have five cars. We may have more," said Bowen, who estimates that his group is consistently drawing 65 people to its local campaign organizing meetings. "I'm going to put two more seats in my van."
Kucinich, meanwhile, is making his second appearance in the region since July, volunteer Rita Weinstein said. The Sunday rally, which is organized by the dockworkers' union, is free and open to the public.
"They're expecting about 1,000 people," Weinstein said. Kucinich is expected to talk about "America in solidarity," she said.
Kucinich also might appear Monday at a $50-per-person fund-raising breakfast at the Labor Temple in Seattle.
Although Dean's organization might be more active in Thurston and other counties, Berendt said: "I think Kucinich has a strong base. I don't know that it has met threshold yet -- threshold meaning he could be able to gain a significant number of delegates -- but he could get there."
The state's Feb. 7 Democratic caucuses, in which the party starts the process of selecting presidential delegates for the national convention, is helping attract candidates to the state, Berendt said. Only Iowa, New Hampshire and a handful of other states will weigh in before Washington and Michigan.
"There are many, many states, some much larger than the state of Washington, that have had no presidential visits," Berendt said. "Washington has always been a trend-setting state in politics. So our support is important."
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