Kucinich at rallies in Cruces
Originally published in the El Paso Times
Kucinich at rallies in Cruces
Christopher Schurtz
Las Cruces Sun-News
Sticking to the unabashedly liberal platform that has defined his run for the Democratic presidential nomination, U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio won over a few skeptics at his two appearances in Las Cruces on Tuesday.
Registered independent Michael Dougherty said he liked Kucinich's "sense of conviction."
"He was saying more than just rhetoric, and that's what I'm for," Dougherty said.
Kucinich, appearing at a rally on the Mesilla Plaza and before a crowded room at the Mountain View Co-Op Market, challenged Democrats to embrace the party's traditional focus of social and economic change.
He also challenged Democrats who say his positions are too liberal or "far out" for them to support.
"I want Democrats to come forward and tell me why that's far out," Kucinich said of his proposal for universal health care. "I want Democrats to come tell me why it's so far out to have our children have their education paid for through college. I want them to tell me why peace is so far out. Our aspirations are legitimate."
Kucinich said that before the 9/11 attacks, he introduced legislation for a Cabinet-level Department of Peace, which he said would focus on a plethora of social issues.
But it would also take a different tack on building international relations with nations he said the Bush administration is alienating.
Kucinich, who has voted against congressional resolutions in support of the war in Iraq, said he wants the United Nations to handle the transition in Iraq.
"It's time for the U.S. to get out of Iraq," Kucinich said. "We must go to the U.N. and give up any ambitions we have there (Iraq) for oil. The U.S. must give up this corrupt contract system; no more sweet deals for Halliburton, no more contracts for campaign contributors."
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