Kucinich calls terror alert a government scare tactic
Originally published in the Mercury News
Posted on Sat, Dec. 27, 2003
Kucinich calls terror alert a government scare tactic
Associated Press
CONTOOCOOK, N.H. - The Bush administration is using elevated terror alerts for political gain while confusing Americans and accomplishing little, Democratic presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich said.
The Ohio congressman, campaigning at a library services company in central New Hampshire on Friday, said if administration officials have information about terror threats, they should act on it, instead of advertising the threat to scare Americans.
"Why didn't they just put extra security out?" he asked. "They are building up fear to become more powerful politically."
Kucinich is to begin airing TV ads in New Hampshire on Jan. 4.
"My whole campaign is to challenge this fear, this fear about the Patriot Act, the fear about Iraq," he said. "The fear of Iraq was not founded. They didn't attack us. They didn't have weapons of mass destruction."
Kucinich, who has complained in the debate about the media's focus on "horse race" tactics such as polling, compared his own campaign to that of a Depression-era long shot that became a public favorite.
"I think we are going to be the Seabiscuit of the 2004 race. We're moving into position in time for the stretch," he said.
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