Kucinich stumps for Bay Area votes
Originally published in the Tri-Valley Herald
Kucinich stumps for Bay Area votes
Democratic candidate urges speedy withdrawal from Iraq
By Michelle Meyers, STAFF WRITER
HAYWARD -- Suzette Moldenhaven, 9, wasn't the most passionate supporterof 2004 presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, who stumped a Hayward union hall Monday afternoon. Nor was she the loudest, most articulate or best-informed.
But on the heels of Saddam Hussein's capture and amid debate about the U.S. occupation of Iraq, Suzette was by far the most poignant. She traveled to Hayward from a town outside of Modesto to meet the candidate.
"My future is safe in your hands and your heart," she said, reading a homemade Christmas tree ornament while tugging at the heartstrings of the surrounding union activists, local politicians and others.
Kucinich, a Democratic congressman from Cleveland, drew a crowd of about 100 supporters to the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Hall (UFCW), after an earlier stop Monday at a Unitarian Universalist church in San Francisco.
The candidate, who is trailing in the polls, has picketed with striking UFCW workers in Southern California and is co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus with Oakland Congresswoman Barbara Lee. His campaign platform includes, among other things, a proposal for universal health coverage and repeal of the USA Patriot Act.
But given the timing of his visit to Hayward, he also focused on his plan to get U.S. troops out of Iraq before the fighting gets worse. His plan involves handing over administrative and security responsibilities to the United Nations.
To a crowd gathered at South Hayward BART, where Kucinich started his Hayward tour, he acknowledged that he's viewed by some as a fringe candidate. But, he added, the media are to blame for that distinction.
"People don't want the media deciding who to vote for and who not to vote for," he said. "These issues are central to who we are as a country. We're not going to let the media marginalize them."
And to those who read the polls, he said, "Remember the movie 'Seabiscuit?' "
Mayor Roberta Cooper was one of the local officials to welcome Kucinich to the union hall. She described Hayward as the most diverse city in the most diverse California county.
"So we come with good credentials," she said. "All of these folks are good union people and good Democrats."
Kucinich fielded questions from the crowd, never missing a chance to garner potential votes. Hayward City Councilman Olden Henson, for example, asked about how the public can help protect social services, such as low-income housing programs, that might be threatened by the Bush administration.
Kucinich responded by talking about his own childhood poverty and encouraging government not to turn a blind eye.
"We discard people," he said. "All those people who have been discarded, they're my brothers and sisters."
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