Candidate Kucinich walks to the beat of a different drummer
Originally published in the Algona Upper Des Moines
Candidate Kucinich walks to the beat of a different drummer
By: Joanne Roepke Bode County Editor December 25, 2003
Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich walked into the Algona Public Library, and immediately made note of the paintings of dancers hanging on the walls.
"What if government had the balance of ballet? What if it had the grace?" Kucinich asked the crowd of about 30 people gathered to hear him speak on Friday, Dec. 19.
"What we have now is a very heavy-handed approach to government. Like an elephant in a tutu, but this elephant is on a rampage."
Despite being one of the lesser-known Democrats making a run for the presidential nomination, the 57-year Cleveland native believes he is the "wake up call" that the United States needs in the role of president.
"My presidency is about a whole different approach to government," Kucinich said.
One of his main concerns is redirecting the country's involvement with the war in Iraq.
"We must bring our troops home. Every other candidate has committed to keeping our troops in Iraq for years. We're facing an escalation of the war. We keep spending this money in Iraq, we're not going to have money to spend at home."
Kucinich was a senior in high school when people started leaving for Vietnam. A heart murmur kept him out of the service, but his brother went and was forever changed.
"There's a lot of young men who didn't come back the same," he said.
Kucinich proposes that the United States go to the United Nations with a new resolution that would do four things. First, the U.S. would need to turn over the oil handling to the United Nations, he said.
Secondly, he would turn over the contract process to the UN.
"No more sweetheart deals to administrative friends. We must clean our hands of this contract process. Let them be awarded to the best bidder."
Next, he thinks we should communicate to the United Nations that our country has no intentions of privatizing Iraq for our own monetary benefit. He said that the current administration wants to take control over Iraq's water systems, electricity, hospitals and other things that were formerly run by the Iraqi government.
"The U.S. has 200 activities in Iraq they want to privatize. The Geneva Convention makes this illegal," he said.
Lastly, he wants the resolution to communicate that the United States won't try and run the government for Iraq. Even if the U.S. did attempt this, he believes we would be unsuccessful.
"The Iraqis aren't going to let us (take over their government)," said Kucinich. "We have created a mess by going in there. Some of the candidates say we're stuck. Says who?"
He feels that the United States needs to "work cooperatively with other nations" in Iraq, and not try to do it all on our own.
"We could be looking at war for the rest of our lives if we don't take a different direction. If we try to go it alone, we're going to be stuck alone," he said. "We know the kind of games that are being played here. Don't tell us to salute the flag when the flag is covering a drum full of oil."
Besides his outlook on the war, Kucinich believes his position on health care differentiates him from other Democratic candidates.
"Some say health insurance...I say health care. I'm talking about ending a for-profit system."
He wants to set up a program in the United States similar to Canada's health care system, where everyone is covered. Kucinich said the current system is based on the health insurance companies, which must factor in money for lobbying, advertising, marketing and executive salaries. Contributing costs all play into the final price tag for health insurance for consumers and few options exist for those without coverage.
"If you don't have the money for health insurance you are out of luck," he said.
Kucinich also spoke about the need for recalling NAFTA, which he believes is taking jobs away from United States workers.
"NAFTA is about corporations. Their job is to make a profit. Their flag isn't red, white and blue; it's green with a dollar sign on it. If they can go to another country, they'll do it. We lost a lot of jobs as a result of NAFTA. We need to cancel NAFTA and cancel WTO and go back to bi-lateral trade. We want trade with other countries, but they have to pay their workers a living wage. We could set those rules."
Kucinich's background in government has an unusual twist. At 31 years old Kucinich served as the mayor of Cleveland, the youngest one ever in a major U.S. city. As mayor he blocked the sale of the city's electric system to a private company. As a result the biggest bank in Ohio told him that if he didn't sell, the bank wouldn't renew the city's credit. The city went into default and for a while it appeared the Kucinich's political career had come to halting stop.
Fifteen years later he was vindicated for saving Cleveland hundreds of millions of dollars on their electric bills. Since 1994, his campaign symbol has been a light bulb. He made a reentry into politics as a state senator and in 1996 was elected to Congressman for Ohio. He believes that his Midwest upbringing, position on health care, and views on the war set him apart from other candidates.
"I know what it's like to take a stand," he said. "I'm someone people will be able to relate to."
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