Kucinich says he's worth it
Originally published in the Concord Monitor
Kucinich says he's worth it
Candidate working to prove his legitimacy
By ED PILOLLA
Monitor staff
HOPKINTON - Dennis Kucinich stepped up the snow-covered wooden steps into a local farm's sawdusty workshop yesterday. Inside, he met Sally Chase.
"You are our hero," said Chase, a self-described 1950s-style housewife.
As people applauded, Kucinich shook Chase's hand and said, "Seems I've struck a chord."
Seems so.
Chase was thanking Kucinich for criticizing ABC moderator Ted Koppel during a presidential candidates debate in Durham Tuesday. Koppel had repeatedly asked the candidates about their positions in recent polls, and Kucinich, a long shot to win the nomination, was complaining that the issues were being ignored.
Other folks who turned out at state Rep. Derek Owen's Hopkinton family farm to hear Kucinich speak to a group of organic farmers also were happy Kucinich took on Koppel. The national media, Kucinich supporters say, have largely ignored the Ohio congressman on the campaign trail, and that's the reason he hasn't gained ground in the polls.
"Kucinich said something that had to be said," said Lindsey Madden of Contoocook. Madden said she had no intention of voting for Kucinich before she saw the debate, preferring three more moderate candidates: Rep. Dick Gephardt, retired general Wesley Clark and Sen. John Kerry.
For Kucinich, the recognition from voters is most welcome. He must now find a way to convince those whose attention he caught during the debate that a vote for him is not a wasted one - a suspicion some of his admirers actually harbor, including the woman who called him her "hero."
"I must admit, I'm on the (Howard) Dean bandwagon," Chase said before Kucinich arrived in Hopkinton. "All of the people I know say Kucinich is saying all the right things, but they're supporting Dean. I guess I'm looking at the really big picture."
The big picture for folks like Chase looks this way: Kucinich and Dean are ideologically similar. Both opposed the war in Iraq, and both have good ideas on domestic issues. But they believe Dean probably is a more realistic candidate to defeat President Bush in the general election.
Yesterday, Kucinich tried to capitalize on his showing during the debate. With coffee cans full of screw drivers resting on an otherwise cleared workbench and hammers and extension cords hanging on a peg board, Kucinich told a crowd of about 30 people inside the stuffy farm workshop that only he has the guts to take on big media, big food companies and other big corporations.
"Monopolies are throwing people out of work everywhere," Kucinich said.
Kucinich wants a law to require labeling of all foods that indicate whether it was organically grown.
"We're raising more food on less land, using chemicals," Kucinich said. "If we are what we eat, then we should know how the food we are eating was made so we know what we are to become."
Kucinich also hit on America's health care crisis.
"There are Democratic candidates who say they don't favor fundamental change in health care. If you want fundamental change, they say they're not your candidate," Kucinich said. "Well, if you do want fundamental change, I am your candidate."
Kucinich began the day yesterday in Portsmouth and later spoke to union members at the AFL-CIO offices in Hooksett. After appearing at Owen's farm, Kucinich was headed to Plymouth.
As he climbed into a minivan after leaving the crowded farm workshop, Kucinich was asked about his supporters who plan to vote for Dean.
"If you don't vote your heart," Kucinich said, "your heart never wins."
Subscribe to this blog's feed