Countdown to the caucuses
Originally published in the Everett Herald
Countdown to the caucuses
Kucinich hits Everett
By David Olson
Herald Writer
EVERETT -- Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich brought his fiery populist message to Everett on Thursday, vowing to establish a national health care system, end free-trade agreements and pull U.S. soldiers out of Iraq.
Kucinich, a four-term congressman from Cleveland, was expected to be the only presidential candidate to visit Snohomish County before Saturday's Democratic caucuses.
Kucinich has not received more than 5 percent of the vote in the nine states that have held primaries and caucuses, but he insisted Thursday he will win the nomination at the July national convention in Boston.
Kucinich told a crowd of more than 400 at a state Democratic Party breakfast at the Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel that, by the time he was 17, he and his family had lived in 21 places, including several cars.
"I understand what people go through when their employment is threatened, when their health care is threatened, when they have uncertainty about having a roof over their head," he said.
Kucinich said he would "take the for-profit out of health care" by establishing a government-run system. About a quarter of the $1.6 trillion spent on health care each year goes to corporate profits, executive salaries, marketing and other elements of the profit system, he said.
"If we put all of that money into health care for all of the American people, we would suddenly relieve hundreds of millions of Americans of the threat of being driven into poverty by a health care system that is predatory, and in which people can't afford to be sick," he said to loud cheers.
Kucinich said his first act as president would be to repeal the North American Free Trade Agreement and the World Trade Organization agreement, which he said have led to a loss of U.S. jobs.
He also vowed to issue an executive order declaring the aerospace, steel, automotive, textile and shipping industries vital to national security, and to block the closure of manufacturing plants on the grounds of national security.
"This is what it means to have a president who stands up for workers," he said.
Kucinich is the only Democratic candidate to call for a full U.S. pullout from Iraq, with United Nations peacekeeping troops replacing them.
Other Democrats, including front-runner Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., would be vulnerable on the issue in the November general election, he said, because they have changed their positions on Iraq during the campaign.
In an interview after the speech, Kucinich said his promise to declare aerospace a matter of national security would prevent layoffs of Boeing Co. workers in Snohomish County. Large corporations such as Boeing, he said, have long made profits with U.S. workforces, and they would continue to do so without layoffs.
Kucinich also said he would enact policies that promote publicly-owned utilities such as the Snohomish County PUD.
Kucinich's refusal as Cleveland mayor to sell that city's public utility helped lead to his re-election defeat in 1979 after the city defaulted on loans. But his political comeback was based in large part on his argument that his decision was ultimately good for consumers.
If the federal government had supported public utilities, there wouldn't have been huge spikes in electrical rates on the West Coast the past several years, he said. "Private utilities overcharge people," and government tax breaks and other policies help them do so, he added.
Kucinich supporter Nancy Cunningham, 73, of Marysville said she likes the candidate because "he's such an honest, brave person who speaks his mind."
"He speaks for those who have no voice, for the average American who doesn't count with the current administration," she said as she left the hotel after the speech.
Bradley Larson, 18, of Everett said he will vote for Kucinich at his precinct caucus no matter what opinion polls say about his chances of winning.
"I think you should always vote your conscience," he said. "I agree with him on pretty much every issue: opposition to the Patriot Act, NAFTA and his proposal for a Department of Peace. He looks at the facts and states the truth rather than trying to please everyone."
Amy Strandell, 78, of Everett said Kucinich would live up the ideals that the United States was founded upon.
"We pretend we believe in fairness and equality for everyone, but that isn't always the case," she said. "He's passionate about making this country what it really could be and should be."
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