Kucinich coming to Boulder
Originally published in the Colorado Daily
Kucinich coming to Boulder
By ABBE SMITH Colorado Daily Staff Writer
Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich will deliver his campaign message to Boulder tomorrow, less than a week before Colorado's April 13 caucuses.
But Kucinich isn't out to steal the party's nomination, according to top campaign officials who acknowledge that Sen. John Kerry already has more than enough delegates to get the nod. They said Kucinich will throw his support behind whatever candidate gets the Democratic nomination at the party convention in July.
Scott Hinchee, national liaison for Kucinich's campaign in Colorado and several other states, said Kucinich is moving forward with his campaign in an attempt to influence the Democratic Party platform. Hinchee said the campaign has been seeing better and better results.
"I think it sends a definite message to the party that there are a lot of people that care about these issues," Hinchee told the Colorado Daily on Wednesday.
"If the Democratic Party wants all of these people involved and to keep their support, it might be a good idea to look at some of these ideas like getting out of the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and the WTO (World Trade Organization) and creating a cabinet-level department of peace and having a timely exit plan from Iraq," he said.
Kucinich will give an interview on local radio station KGNU, 88.5 FM from 8:30 to 9 a.m. tomorrow. At 10 a.m., he will speak at a "Get Out the Vote" rally at Naropa University's Performing Arts Center. He will then appear at the Boulder Co-op Market at noon and then he will be off to the former Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant, where he will speak at 2 p.m. about nuclear weaponry, proliferation and contamination. His next scheduled appearance is at 7:30 p.m. at the Dairy Center for the Arts Vox Feminista performance, with a final stop at 9 p.m. at the Fox Theatre, where he will speak before a concert by the Motet.
Kucinich's full schedule coincides with a proliferation of campaign signs, which have popped up in great numbers this week all over the CU-Boulder campus during its Conference on World Affairs.
But not everyone involved with the campaign is ready to drop the idea of a "President Kucinich."
"It is my hope he will win," said Bonnie Mandell-Rice, co-chairperson for the Boulder County Democrats for Kucinich. "But we all acknowledge that Kerry right now has the delegates to win the nomination," she added.
Mandell-Rice said she supports Kucinich because he has been consistent on his platform from the start.
"He voted against the Iraqi War resolution. He voted against the Patriot Act. He has called for the U.N. going in and the U.S. getting out from the moment we started the war," she said.
Mandell-Rice said Kerry has not been so consistent.
"I think he has waffled on a lot of issues," she said about the Massachusetts senator.
One issue close to the hearts of many Americans right now is getting U.S. troops back home from the fighting in Iraq. Kucinich's plan would have troops out of Iraq in 90 days. Hinchee said Kucinich supports rescinding all U.S. rights to oil in Iraq, handing over "real" control to the Iraqi people and apologizing to the world community for unilaterally invading Iraq.
Kucinich also supports getting out of NAFTA and the WTO and creating single-payer universal health care for all Americans.
Jason Hewitt, a volunteer with the Naropa group that organized the "Get Out the Vote" rally, said he has been a Kucinich supporter since before he was a presidential candidate.
"I think Kucinich is forcing a different perspective to come to light," he said. "I think he brings a kind of vision and freshness of view."
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