Kucinich devotees look to future
Originally published in the Des Moines Register
Borsellino: Kucinich devotees look to future
Candidate's campaign workers have no problem maintaining momentum
By ROB BORSELLINO
Register Columnist
11/28/2003
I pass the Dennis Kucinich campaign office five or six times a week, and the lights are always on, there are cars in the parking lot, people are going in and out. I see Kucinich bumper stickers, posters, pins, T-shirts, even fridge magnets.
It doesn't make any sense.
Look at the numbers and the other pieces, and this guy doesn't have a shot. He's at 3 percent in the Iowa polls, and about 2 percent or 3 percent nationally. On fund-raising he's near the bottom of the pack, and on the issues - the war, NAFTA, gay marriage - he's so far out there that even Michael Moore likes him.
Then there's the stuff that people really care about, the things that sway voters when they're shopping for a candidate. This guy doesn't have a wife, he doesn't eat meat, he's short, and he's got bad hair.
So why are these people knocking themselves out for him?
I went into the campaign office to see what this deal was all about and I ran into Sharon Gradischnig. She's 64, a longtime Des Moines lefty who's worked and volunteered for candidates like Bill Bradley, Bruce Babbitt and a few other - less alliterative - political wannabees, including John Chrystal.
Now she's one of the folks running the Iowa piece of the Kucinich campaign. She started out as a volunteer, and then in July she quit her telemarketing job to do this full time. She's making about $2,000 a month and she's on the job six, maybe seven days a week. She's in by 9:30 in the morning and works about 12 hours a day, longer when the candidate's in town.
It's not a problem.
"I made a commitment. This is someone I believe in. I heard him speak back in March, and seven minutes into his speech I realized that his world vision matches mine. At the caucus level it's important that we vote with our hearts and not be pragmatic."
She's talking and I thought I heard someone singing "We Are the World" in the background. But it was just the traffic along Ingersoll.
Ask Gradischnig about the polls and all that and she doesn't think her guy is wasting his time. She says even if Kucinich doesn't get the nomination, this campaign is still a good idea.
"I think he's laying the groundwork for the future and he's keeping the important issues out there. I don't think health care would be a major topic of discussion without him in the race. We're having an impact."
Gradischnig shares her office with Bryan Wokich, a college intern from Washington state who describes himself as "a Patriot Act activist." He's 24 and he's only been at this for three weeks, but he's seen enough to know Kucinich is the last best hope for America.
"Dennis Kucinich is the only one of the candidates with a plan to deal with the egregious infringement on our civil liberties."
Egregious infringement? I didn't use big words like that until I was in my 30s.
What about John Kerry? "John Kerry doesn't understand the Patriot Act. His information is all wrong."
Howard Dean? "He's too conservative."
I started to bring up Joe Lieberman, but I was afraid I'd be asked to leave the building.
So how does this guy stay jazzed when the polls show Kucinich is going to lose?
"Polls only register traditional Democrats. Our strength is with the non-traditional voters, the ones who understand that winning an election doesn't mean victory if you lose your principles."
I wasn't entirely sure what he meant by all that, but it was a good quote.
And I was getting good insight into what drives these folks. It got even clearer when I spoke with Jessica Ireland. She graduated from ISU in May and signed on with the campaign. She could probably make more money working the counter at Subway, but she wouldn't have gotten the political education she's getting in that office. She wouldn't have been part of the movement.
"We're putting it all together - the peace advocates, the workers" rights people. We've got the names, the other data. The others represent a shift. We need a radical change. It's about the future."
She's talking and I thought I heard somebody singing, "The Times They Are A-Changin"."
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