Kucinich pushes liberal agenda
Originally published in the Miami Herald
CAMPAIGN 2004 | THE DEMOCRATS
Kucinich pushes liberal agenda
Dennis Kucinich, the one-time Cleveland mayor whose star dimmed and then shone again, seeks the presidency on a platform of liberalism.
BY CARL CHANCELLOR
Knight Ridder News Service
AKRON, Ohio - Time changes everything.
Twenty-six years ago, Dennis Kucinich was a rising star. In 1977, the national spotlight shone brightly on the media-dubbed ''Boy Mayor,'' who was elected at age 31 as mayor of Cleveland. He was one of the youngest people ever to lead a major city.
But as quickly as he rose, the political meteor that was Kucinich crashed and burned. The media lights turned harsh as Cleveland slipped into default, the direct result of Kucinich's constant battles with the city's major banks and business interests. It was Kucinich's staunch refusal to sell Cleveland's municipal light system to a private company that led to his downfall.
Within a few months of his election, Kucinich and Cleveland had become national jokes. Re-christened ''Dennis the Menace,'' he became the target of public outrage, political vendettas and, according to an FBI report, a Mafia hit man.
OUT OF OFFICE
His decision to stick with his campaign promise not to sell the municipal electric plant led to a recall vote that Kucinich barely survived. His victory was short-lived. A few months later, after serving for just two years, he lost his bid for reelection, his political career derailed.
So it was more than ironic that on a chilly Monday in mid-December, Kucinich, the four-term Ohio Democratic congressman, held a news conference on the plaza of San Francisco's Embarcadero Center to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his stand against corporate power.
Time had changed things.
In the 1990s, Muny Light -- now Cleveland Public Power -- was still city-owned, and it had expanded. The utility had saved its customers more than $200 million over the years, compared to what they would have spent had the power company fallen into private hands. Kucinich was honored in 1998 by the Cleveland City Council for ``having the courage and foresight to refuse to sell the city's municipal electric system.''
`LIGHT UP AMERICA'
Today, Kucinich's presidential campaign slogan is ''Light Up America.'' Its symbol is a light bulb. Kucinich said he is running for president because he wants to bring workers' rights, fair trade policies and common sense back to the Democratic Party.
For the last two years, Kucinich has crisscrossed the country, spreading his eclectic brand of liberal, populist, pro-environment, antiwar, working-class politics. He promises to preserve Social Security, establish a national healthcare system, cancel the North American Free Trade Agreement and dramatically increase unemployment benefits.
Kucinich has said repeatedly that he plans to follow a path blazed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt ``to make sure that government serves the people, not the corporations.''
He wears his liberal label proudly and chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which is composed of 54 of the most liberal members of Congress.
All of 140 pounds draped on a five-foot seven-inch frame, thanks to his strict vegan diet, Kucinich, at 57, still has a boyish air about him, a wide-eyed, high-energy, roll-up-the-sleeves enthusiasm that sustains his ''anything is possible'' personality.
The son of a truck driver and the oldest of seven children, Kucinich is proud of his hardscrabble formative years growing up in the ethnically and racially diverse city neighborhoods of Cleveland.
''We lived in 21 different places, including several cars, by the time I was 17,'' said Kucinich, who calls his childhood the foundation of his ``holistic worldview.''
His political career began when he was elected to the Cleveland City Council in 1969 as a 23-year-old college student attending Cleveland State. Later, he attended Case Western Reserve, where he graduated with degrees in speech and communications.
''Because I'm a true child of the inner city, I have a passion and a willingness to take a stand, to take a position,'' he said. ``I'm willing to speak out.''
ANTIWAR POSITION
Kucinich has been the loudest and most persistent voice against a war in Iraq, even more than former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean. Dean had favored one unsuccessful congressional formula for qualified backing of the war, and he says that since U.S. troops are there, they must not be withdrawn precipitously. Kucinich says simply: ``Get the U.S. out and the U.N. in.''
He has also been sharply critical of the Bush administration's economic policies. Kucinich said he senses that there is an ''unarticulated consciousness'' in the country just waiting to be heard.
''I want to be that spokesperson,'' Kucinich said.
He spends almost nothing on television and radio ads, relying on grass-roots, door-to-door campaigning, a sea of yard signs and a nonstop public appearance schedule.
During an interview in his congressional office, Kucinich turned in his chair to look at the Washington Monument framed in his office window.
''I believe I can change any outcome,'' he said.
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