Democratic candidate to visit campus
Originally published in the Colorado State Collegian
Democratic candidate to visit campus
By Jamie Way
April 07, 2004
A candidate for United States president is coming to CSU on Thursday.
"He's a serious guy with an incredible range of public service," said CSU Political Science Professor Scott Moore. "He has things to say and he's not going to tell you what you expect to hear."
Dennis Kucinich, the candidate, is scheduled to hold a campus rally in the Shepardson Building, room 118, on Thursday at 3 p.m.
Although John Kerry has secured the Democratic presidential nomination, Kucinich continues to campaign.
"I tend to take more seriously people who are campaigning who have the least chance of winning," Moore said. "He's got a message and he believes in it."
Kucinich generally takes liberal stances on issues such as the World Trade Organization, the Iraq War, labor issues and environmental issues. Due to his belief in sustainability, Kucinich is even a vegan, meaning he does not eat meat or any animal by-products like eggs and milk.
"He'll probably try to poke a hole in the conventional wisdom, and there's no better place to do that than on a college campus," Moore said.
The College Republicans have reacted by not reacting.
"In all honesty, personally the guy's a joke," said Robert Lee, former state vice chairman for the College Republicans. "His policies are so left leaning the Democrat Party won't listen to him at all."
Lee said Kucinich has no effect on college students in Colorado.
"If he wants to kind of continue to feed his ego then he can continue to spend his money, but he's nothing that I or any other Colorado Republican or any Republican outside of Cleveland have to worry about," Lee said.
Cheryl Beckett, a campaign worker for the Kucinich campaign, said Kucinich is here more to bring light to issues than to actually campaign.
"If he gets caucus support then they are basically able to say that it has been shown that people are interested in these points," Beckett said.
According to Beckett, the media has ignored Kucinich.
"People are not getting any of the messages that are coming forward," Beckett said. "The media is making up its mind about who they are going to support and bring forward in this presidential election."
Beckett said exposure could help bring Kucinich's points to the national democratic platform.
"He's a person that's worth hearing, because he's proven himself to be strong against corporate interests," Beckett said.
Ashleigh McBeth, president of the Young Democrats, said they do not currently endorse any one candidate because the Democratic National Convention has yet to be held. Therefore, they do not support Kucinich, but are excited about his visit.
McBeth encouraged students to open their minds and listen to some of Kucinich's ideas.
"Basically (the Young Democrats are) here to educate the students," McBeth said.
The Young Democrats have also helped publicize his visit in minimal ways.
"I will definitely be there," McBeth said. "He's still one of the government leaders. Running for president is a big deal."
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