Kucinich releases delegates but can't guarantee they'll back Kerry
Originally published in the Toledo Blade
Article published Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Kucinich releases delegates but can't guarantee they'll back Kerry
By JIM PROVANCE
BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU
BOSTON - Dennis Kucinich isn't acting much like a former presidential candidate.
The Cleveland congressman has maintained a frenetic pace of events in Boston, speaking to progressive Democrats who would prefer a greater policy gap between President Bush and John Kerry on issues like the war in Iraq.
He formally released his 68 delegates to vote for Mr. Kerry yesterday and will speak tonight at the Democratic National Convention urging party unity going into the November battle against Mr. Bush.
But he can't guarantee his small but loyal, left-wing following will follow him to the Massachusetts senator rather than defect to more like-minded independent Ralph Nader, whom many argue may have cost Al Gore the White House in 2000.
"My politics are not just similar [to Mr. Nader's]; they're identical," he said. "As long as there's room for me in the Democratic Party, there's room for people who would support Ralph Nader, or Ralph himself. This isn't an exclusive thing."
Not everybody is getting that message.
"They have Kerry's support for the killing!" shouted one audience member at a panel for peace that Mr. Kucinich participated in outside the convention.
The congressman and former Cleveland mayor formally dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination last week, the last of the Mr. Kerry's competitors to do so.
The congressman said it is not inconsistent for him to continue to pound his fist on the table and adamantly call for universal health care and the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, issues on which Mr. Kerry has taken far more moderate positions, while urging Mr. Kerry's election.
"My value to John Kerry does not come from changing my position on issues," he said. "It comes because I've taken a strong stance on issues, and I bring to him the support of Democrats who want to make sure that these principles are expressed by the leaders in our party.
"My value to the party is because I stand for what I stand," he said. "I'm not setting what I believe in aside to get him elected. Not a chance."
Barry Riesch, a Vietnam veteran from St. Paul, Minn., voted for Mr. Nader in 2000, but this year he says he will follow Mr. Kucinich to Mr. Kerry.
"People are saying there's no difference between Kerry and Bush. I disagree," he said. "But Kerry is pandering to the middle of the road when he doesn't need to."
Mr. Kucinich's 68 delegates represent just 1.6 percent of the voting delegates in Boston. He gathered just four delegates in his home state of Ohio and failed to out poll Mr. Kerry in his own congressional district.
But with the election expected to be extremely close and Mr. Nader adamantly refusing to step aside, Democrats can ill afford defectors.
Mr. Kucinich's speech tonight will characterize Mr. Kerry's election on Nov. 2 as a new start. The debate, he said, would then begin anew over the direction of the country and the party.
"It's entirely consistent for Democrats to choose someone who they feel has the best chance of defeating George Bush and, simultaneously at the grass roots, support the principals that my campaign was about," he said.
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