Dennis's State of the Nation Address
The following email was sent by the Kucinich campaign on January 21, 2004. You can sign up to receive these emails at the official campaign website
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DENNIS' STATE OF THE NATION
DENNIS CAMPAIGNING ACROSS NEW HAMPSHIRE
Dennis Kucinich was greeted by enthusiastic crowds at events around the state of New Hampshire yesterday as he delivered his "State of the Nation" address. President Bush delivered a "State of the Union" last night, too, but is apparently living in a different country.
Read excerpts from Dennis' speech here: http://www.kucinich.us/state_of_the_nation.php
WHAT WE WON IN IOWA
Kucinich supporters in Iowa organized and turned out over 15 percent of the participants in many caucuses, thus winning delegates to the state convention. It was not enough to win Iowa delegates to the national convention, but it made for a surprising show of strength that was documented in the media. See:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/20/politics/campaigns/20CAUC.html
A consortium of news organizations conducted an "entrance poll" in Iowa the night of the caucuses, polling voters as they went into their caucuses to determine who they were supporting and what their demographics were. Dennis received 4 percent, meaning 4,000 to 5,000 Iowans caucused for Dennis despite a near blackout by the media in the preceding week. Because of the way the caucus system works, the 4 percent were able to win only 1 percent of the delegates to the state convention.
Some other numbers that might be of interest:
* 75 percent of Iowa caucus-goers thought the war was a mistake. As we all know, Dennis led the way to that conclusion.
* Dennis won 7 percent of 17-29 year olds.
* Dennis won 8 percent of "Independents"
* Dennis won 11 percent of those who consider themselves "very liberal"
* Dennis won 10 percent of those who used the Internet "a great deal" to get political information.
* Dennis won 17 percent of those who chose the war with Iraq as the number one issue.
* Dennis won 9 percent of those who chose "trade" as the number one issue.
* Dennis won 10 percent of those who chose "strong stands" as their reason for supporting a candidate.
[as noted above, these figures are taken from media entrance polling at the caucuses; they are of interest because Dennis's share among these groups is well above his 4% share of the general caucus population]
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A NOTE FROM MATT GONZALES
"I am endorsing Dennis Kucinich for President because he is running an unapologetic progressive campaign and is the only candidate that has taken clear positions on all the issues. Whether it is by calling for universal health care, proposing the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, advocating the need for our country to disengage from the WTO and NAFTA, or insisting on fundamental electoral reform such as instant runoff voting, Kucinich simply stands apart from the others. In all respects he is offering the people of this country a more humane, democratic, and egalitarian society. In contrast, the other Democratic Party candidates cannot decide what they believe. Even when one of them has the courage to oppose the war, once challenged, the candidate reverses himself and adopts the hawkish pro war policy of continuing what has already been started. These other candidates offer the people of this country watered down progressive politics and the same old, tired, politics of ambiguity and equivocation.
"I have served in elective office and seen how progressive politics can improve our society in very real and practical ways, whether it is the promotion of renewable energy, raising the minimum wage, or extending rights to immigrants who live in our cities. Our views, once implemented, improve the lives of hard working people who are increasingly disenchanted with corrupt politics.
"The primary argument the conservative wing (and even many in the liberal wing), of the Democratic Party uses against Kucinich is that he cannot be elected. But this cynicism underscores the fact that Kucinich’s message, once heard, is resonating with masses of people and that the only hope of quieting this candidate is by scaring away potential supporters. Let’s be brave. Vote Kucinich for President."
Matt Gonzalez
President, Board of Supervisors
City & County of San Francisco
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REFORM THE MEDIA
Viewers of Fox News and MSNBC on Monday were left with the impression that Dennis was dropping out of the race.
Keep an eye on the media!
Here's a note to Kucinich supporters from a group called MediaChannel.org:
The fight for better election coverage from mainstream media is far from over. Join MediaChannel.org in a campaign to pressure big media to improve its coverage of all the candidates in 2004. MediaChannel's Media for Democracy initiative is mobilizing more than 125,000 voters to prevent in 2004 the types of media gaffs -- such as the early and politically biased projections -- that plagued the 2000 elections. This initiative educates and activates a growing base of concerned citizens by
(1) alerting citizens to media mistakes and candidate omissions as they occur and
(2) providing them with the means to put news executives on notice.
Most important during this process, we will build a constituency of people across the political spectrum who can stand with Dennis Kucinich and MediaChannel in the fight for election coverage that is more diverse, accountable and democratic. As the election year begins, we are calling on those of you who share this hope to join Media For Democracy now before the media determines who will run and who will be left behind.
Join Media For Democracy -- http://www.mediachannel.org/email/mfd2004
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Comments
All the articles I read keep saying he got 1% of the vote. That is wrong but it's already gone so far and I can't find any real link other than this campaign release that gives actual vote percentages, just delegates. As I read this, the vote percentages are 4%.
Posted by: Cyndy | January 21, 2004 07:44 PM
The reason it's confusing is because of the nature of the caucuses. Overall, across Iowa, about 4% of those at the caucuses arrived as Kucinich supporters. In some areas there were lots of Kucinich supporters, in other areas only a few. In the areas with lots of Kucinich supporters, they either reached the 15% viability threshold or were able to join with another group (for instance, the uncommitted or Gephardt supporters) to do so. In this case, they got delegates. In the areas with only a few Kucinich supporters, they were unable to reach the 15% viability threshold and had to support another candidate instead. That's how 4% got reduced to 1%.
Roughly speaking, the 1% figure means that in 1% of the locations in Iowa, Kucinich had above 15% support (it's more complicated than that, but that gives a better feel for what it means).
Posted by: Al-Munaqabah | January 22, 2004 05:30 AM