Campaign news
Originally published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer
Ohio Democrats tended to be more issue-oriented and less liberal than their counterparts in other big Super Tuesday primary states. Only 35 percent of the Ohio voters surveyed as they left polling places said their decision was based mainly on finding someone who could defeat President Bush in November.
Contrast that with New York or Connecticut, where 45 percent listed beating Bush as their prime motivator. Instead, in Ohio, where the economy was the most important issue, 56 percent voted for candidates who agreed with them on major issues, according to the National Election Pool Survey.
And the stereotypical "liberal Democrat?" Beware of stereotypes in Ohio.
Only 42 percent of Ohio Democratic primary voters called themselves "liberal," compared with 59 percent in Connecticut, 52 percent in New York and 51 percent in California. In Ohio and California, the liberal barometer was no doubt affected by independent voters, eligible to vote in primaries there.
Even so, the poll results suggest candidates searching for votes in the heartland might be wise to avoid touchy social issues and recall the Clinton-era saying, "It's the economy, stupid."
Well runs dry
Because Dennis Kucinich hasn't won enough votes in any primary to continue receiving tax dollars for his presidential bid, the Federal Election Commission cut off his eligibility for federal matching funds Thursday.
The $7 million that the Cleveland Democratic congressman raised through the end of January has been augmented by more than $3 million in tax dollars. The FEC matches individual donations up to $250 for qualified presidential candidates.
To try to maximize his federal cash, Kucinich e-mailed supporters an "audio postcard" just hours before his March 4 deadline. "By midnight tonight in your time zone, we still have the time to double all the campaign contributions, under matching funds which will go to the end of this day," he said. "You can help double the money by making a contribution right now."
FEC spokesman Ian Stirton said his agency will match any qualified donations Kucinich raised before the cutoff.
Kucinich can requalify for FEC money if he exceeds 20 percent of the vote in any state primary (Hawaii didn't count; it was a caucus state). That seems unlikely, since most Democrats accept John Kerry as the presumptive nominee and primary voting from here on will be a formality. Even in last week's Ohio primary, Kucinich won just 9 percent and trailed Kerry and John Edwards in his own congressional district.
Checking the ethics meter
Kucinich's determination to stay in the race for the Democratic nomination has people talking about whether he's wise, crafty, egotistical or all three. But one man, ethicist Jack Marshall of Washington, says Kucinich's resolve is certainly ethical, even if it's not unyieldingly loyal to Democratic leadership.
"Kucinich scales off the charts of any ethics evaluation, once one concludes (as it took me unusually long to do) that his occasionally extreme positions were sincerely held and not just posturing," Marshall, a former lawyer and former assistant dean at the Georgetown Law Center, said in an e-mail exchange.
"Is it ethical to stay in the race?" Marshall asked, echoing a question we had asked after hearing that Marshall ranked candidates on an ethics scale. "Clearly his message is very different from either Bush's or Kerry's. He believes it is an important message, and thus there is nothing wrong with his staying around to carry it. . . . All in all, Kucinich's determination to stick around gains him points for courage, integrity, perseverance, truth-telling and fortitude . . . ethical conduct all."
In other rankings, Marshall has listed Kerry as "on the slippery slope," with "some ethically dicey conduct, though nothing major." President Bush came out slightly worse because of his State of the Union address trumpeting weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. "He is not the liar his opponents claim him to be," Marshall writes, "but he needs to elevate his performance."
Do not call
The phone rang at dinner in one Cleveland home last weekend, which usually means a telemarketer is offering a too-good-to-be-true trip to Florida.
Instead, it was Danny Glover calling on behalf of Kucinich, promising universal health care and prescription drugs, "an end to this illegal occupation in Iraq," and a living wage so that workers can support their families.
When the phone rang at the same home (it happened to be that of a Plain Dealer reporter) at dinnertime on Monday, it was none other than First Astronaut and former Sen. John Glenn "hoping you're going to vote for John Kerry in Tuesday's Ohio primary . . . the only candidate who can go toe-to-toe with this administration."
Both messages were recorded, so the conversation was rather one-sided. The high-tech telemarketer approach to campaigning has some disadvantages.
But Glenn was taking nothing for granted. He called again about Kerry on Tuesday, Election Day, and offered a Columbus phone number for information about polling places and hours.
A little later, the phone rang again and this time it was Dennis Kucinich himself, sort of. "When I'm elected, it will be a workers' White House," said a recorded Kucinich. "Vote for peace and prosperity for all. Vote for me, Dennis Kucinich, for president of the United States. Thanks."
You're welcome.
Gone fishing
The race for president is on, but with the primary action over (with due respect to Kucinich), the "Race for the White House" column goes into hibernation. See you around Labor Day.
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