Kucinich looking to make impact on Michigan caucus
Originally published in Central Michigan Life
Kucinich looking to make ‘impact’ on Caucus
By Chad Livengood
Central Michigan Life
January 30, 2004
Editor’s Note: This is the fifth installment in a series of stories regarding the Democratic nomination for President.
Dennis Kucinich is not a front-runner for the Democratic Presidential nomination, but his campaign staff says he will have an impact on the Feb. 7 Michigan Caucus.
The Ohio Congressman’s main campaign platform is convincing the public that the Bush Administration went to war on false evidence, said campaign secretary David Swanson.
“One of the biggest issues in this campaign is the war in Iraq,” Swanson said. “He’s the only candidate who consistently resisted the war.”
Swanson said the Bush Administration’s war in Iraq is not only costing billions of dollars, but also hurting domestic programs.
“Where is the money going to come from if we are pouring our money into the Pentagon?” he said.
The campaign is concerned the military is stretched too thin and if elected, Kucinich will remove U.S. troops from Iraq and replace them with United Nations peacekeepers, Swanson said.
“We’re bound to see a draft — we already have National Guard and soldiers stretched to the limit,” Swanson said.
In 2003, about $400 billion was spent on the Defense Department and $115 billion was spent fighting the war and beginning the rebuilding process in Iraq, Swanson said.
From his work on the Subcommittee of the Government Reform Committee for National Security and Emerging Threats and International Relations, Kucinich has found vast amounts of wasteful spending by the Department of Defense.
“They found that there is over a trillion dollars that the Pentagon can’t reconcile,” Swanson said.
Kucinich would cut the Defense budget 15 percent, Swanson said.
The savings from cuts in Defense will be used to provide day care and preschooling to every child in America, said Bob Alexander, state director for Kucinich’s campaign in Michigan.
Kucinich also plans to repeal the Patriot Act if elected president, Swanson said.
“The Bush Administration is driving fear between us and among us and making us fear each other,” Swanson said.
He said the Bush Administration has diverted attention on fighting the war on terrorism by occupying Iraq.
“We have not put together an effective international effort to find and prosecute Osama bin Laden,” Swanson said.
Kucinich has said his first act in office will be to begin withdrawing from the World Trade Organization and the North American Free Trade Agreement, Swanson said.
“We have to stop this hemorrhaging of jobs out of this country,” he said.
Swanson said the other Democratic candidates are not willing to repeal NAFTA because of their close political and financial ties to multinational corporations.
“He’s not beholden to corporate control over NAFTA,” Swanson said.
Alexander, a native of East Lansing, dismisses state polls which have not included Kucinich in their study of voters.
Kucinich campaign officials expect to gain as much as 15 percent of Caucus vote in Michigan.
“He’s a contender — we’re going to prove it in Michigan,” he said.
Kucinich will arrive in Michigan on Feb. 6 for a quick tour around the state in an effort to win over last minute support before Democrats go to Caucus Feb. 7, Alexander said.
The Kucinich campaign is tentatively scheduled to make appearances in Muskegon, Grand Rapids, Flint, Lansing, Detroit and Ann Arbor.
The campaign will also make a special stop in Greenville, where Alexander said Kucinich has received increased support since the closing of the Electrolux AB refrigerator plant.
The Sweden-based refrigerator company announced Jan. 16 it will be closing the Greenville plant.
In a poll of likely Democratic caucus voters conducted by the Lansing-based research company EPIC/MRA, Kucinich received 1 percent of the vote.
The poll, conducted Jan. 20-25, showed that even if Kucinich wins delegate seats for this summer’s Democratic convention in Boston, he will not be a major player for the nomination, said Ed Sarpolus vice president of EPIC/MRA.
“One congressional seat in every state isn’t going to make a difference at the convention,” Sarpolus said.
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