Kucinich strives to gain momentum
Originally published in USA Today
Posted 11/18/2003 8:54 PM
Kucinich strives to gain momentum
By Andrea Stone, USA TODAY
McLEAN, Va. ? Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich isn't worried about the latest USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll that shows him with just 3% support, tied for last place among the nine Democrats running.
"The polls really reflect, more than anything, the media coverage the candidates get," Kucinich told the USA TODAY editorial board Tuesday. "As people become more aware of my candidacy, I'll keep gaining. I'm fully ready to be an overnight success."
Kucinich, 57, a congressman from Ohio, led opposition in the House of Representatives to the war in Iraq. He said he wouldn't run as an Independent if he doesn't get the Democratic nomination.
Instead, Kucinich, who has raised less than $4 million for his campaign, is banking on "exceeding expectations at early primaries and then slowly gathering momentum."
Despite the momentum already displayed by former Vermont governor Howard Dean, Kucinich predicted that no Democrat would get more than 50% of the delegates going into the party convention in July. "I think that it's anybody's election," he said.
Kucinich said he "might be the only Democrat who actually could defeat" President Bush because he has "separated myself from the whole pack in a definitive way."
He touts his positions as a strong environmentalist, an advocate of universal health care and an opponent of trade agreements that send American jobs overseas. "The Democratic Party doesn't have a compass," he said. "My candidacy will help provide them with a real compass."
Unlike the other Democrats, Kucinich said he would move quickly to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq and turn over control of its oil and rebuilding contracts to the United Nations.
"The presence of the United States in Iraq is a source of instability, not stability," he said. "We don't have any right to go in and chop up a country and sell it to the highest bidder."
If Kucinich's hunt for votes is lagging, his quest for a wife may be picking up. Ever since the divorced candidate described his ideal first lady at a debate earlier this month, "people are passing me proposals. Somebody put up a banner in Bellingham, Wash.: 'Marry Me,' (a) couple of Web sites (were) created. ... It's taken on a life of its own."
Kucinich said his 21-year-old daughter has been giving him dating advice. "But I can't ... talk about that."
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