federal matching funds
One of the odd things about grouping Kucinich with Sharpton and Moseley Braun and calling them "fringe candidates" is that Kucinich has raised about ten times as much money as either Sharpton or Moseley Braun and that his fundraising is of the same order of magnitude as candidates like Kerry, Edwards, Gephardt, and Lieberman, who are always considered to be "serious candidates" (another oddity is that fundraising for Kucinich is steady quarter after quarter and in fact increasing, while fundraising for Kerry, Edwards, Gephardt, and Lieberman has decreased substantially over time - whose candidacy is more viable over the long run, again?)
Another measure is federal matching funds, which Kucinich along with the "serious" candidates qualified for (Dean and Kerry won't be accepting them however) while Sharpton and Moseley Braun have not. In order to qualify for federal matching funds, according to this FOX report:
Each candidate, to qualify, must raise at least $5,000 in each of 20 states in donations of $250 or less and keep detailed contribution records, including donors' names, addresses and employer information.
So a candidate has to have a broad and fairly deep base of financial support to qualify. And Kucinich does.
But if the media classed Kucinich properly with the other "serious" candidates, they would be left using their marginalizing techniques and their denigrating language only about two black candidates. But as long as they can put Kucinich in this group, they can't be racist, right? They would do better to examine why they seek to marginalize and denigrate candidates at all.
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