Kucinich campaign does it one handshake at a time
Originally published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel
January 23, 2008
Kucinich campaign does it one handshake at a time
BRIAN SEALS
SENTINEL STAFF WRITER
As she walked into the foyer at Astra-Lite Inc., Elizabeth Kucinich took time to greet each of the 30 or so supporters gathered before she began speaking.
Lagging in the polls, locked out of nationally televised debates and even unable to be the sole focus in a small-sized media market Tuesday as candidate Hillary Clinton hit the Central Coast, U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich's bid for the Democratic presidential nomination still campaigns, in part, the old-fashioned way -- word of mouth, one handshake at a time.
Elizabeth Kucinich was in Watsonville touting her husband, a former mayor of Cleveland, as the candidate with the best proposal for single-payer health insurance, canceling what he sees as unproductive foreign trade agreements and a pledge to bring the troops home from Iraq immediately.
"The only candidate that represents mainstream thinking in this country is being locked out of the debate," she told the group.
She also highlighted an endorsement last week by the Mexican American Political Association. As Clinton was in town to pick up a United Farm Workers endorsement, Kucinich said her husband has a long track record of being pro-labor and supportive of workers' rights.
Kucinich's platform is solidly to the left of the other Democratic front-runners.
Among his proposals:
• Cancel the North American Free Trade Agreement passed during the Clinton administration and withdraw the United States from the World Trade Organization. NAFTA has prompted jobs to flee the country while also sparking increased illegal immigration -- a term she disdains -- from neighboring countries by those who can't find jobs to pay the bills. It has also gutted environmental protections and workers' rights, Elizabeth Kucinich said.
"The real issue is economic refugees, economic migrants," she said.
• Kucinich is a sponsor of a bill, HR 676, that would establish a universal, single-payer health plan for all residents of the United States.
• Immediately bring troops home from. Iraq
• He would seek to repeal the No Child Left Behind federal education act passed early in the current Bush administration, which she said has placed too much emphasis on standardized tests.
She asked one girl in attendance what education should mean and if she wanted to "be taught to be a test taker."
Isabel Corpus, 13, replied: "So you can have a good career. In your job, you don't take tests all the time."
While not a frontrunner nationally, Kucinich enjoys a visible degree of support in Santa Cruz County.
"He votes exactly what he speaks, there's no double-talk," said Robert Herrera, CEO of Astra-Lite. "He's the man for the job."
Watsonville resident Francisca Corpus said she agreed with Kucinich's stances on health care and education, but most especially liked his stand on the Iraq war.
"He's my candidate," she said. "He's willing to do whatever he can to bring the troops home from Iraq."
Kucinich grabbed 8,000 votes in Santa Cruz County in the 2004 primary. He is scheduled to be in the area Friday night for the Santa Cruz County Democratic Party's annual fundraising dinner.
Subscribe to this blog's feed