A Disgrace Kucinich Banned!!! The Best Positions By Far.

I studied the positions of the candidates at the New York Time's Election Guide 2008.

Then I took the test at http://www.dehp.net/candidate/.

And the candidate whose positions I most agreed with was Dennis Kucinich.

I know....I know...we are not allowed to talk about Kucinich because he is not a serious candidate, not electable...it would be a wasted vote.

And I understand the argument that Ralph Nader's miniscule percentage in Florida denied the 2000 election from Al Gore. I would not vote for an independent in the general election.

But these are the primaries and in the primaries you should vote your conscience based on the issues. It's the American Way.

Dennis Kucinich is the only Democrat running for President who has voted against authorizing the war in Iraq and against funding its continuation and who wants to remove all the troops immediately.

Dennis Kucinich is the only candidate for President with a plan for a Universal, Single-Payer, Not-for-Profit health care system. Health care in the US is too expensive and leaves 46 million Americans without insurance and millions more under-insured, causing thousands to die needlessly.

Dennis Kucinich is the only candidate who is not beholden to the corporate interests, who has taken no monies from corporate lobbyists.

Kucinich is the only candidate who voted against the Patriot Act, and wants to restore basic constitutional rights.

Kucinich is the only candidate who supports gay marriage.

This isn't far left stuff. They are simply moderate Democratic positions. This is what the Democratic Party is all about. So why won't the Democrats vote like Democrats?

The reason is that they fear that if they support Democratic positions, they will give the election to the Republicans. They want to settle for the "good" rather than the "perfect."

What is outrageous is that Kucinich is being marginalized and excluded from the debates and media attention .... right at the beginning.

MSNBC invited Rep. Dennis Kucinich to tonight's debate in Las Vegas. Then, less than 48 hours later network brass decided to change their qualification criteria and to limit the debate to the top three candidates. They informed Kucinich he wasn't welcome after all.

Shame on Tim Russert and Brian Williams - the scheduled moderators.

A Nevada judge said Monday that Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich must be included in the Nevada debate.

Kucinich argued that without the inclusion of all "credible candidates," the debate would be "effectively an endorsement of the candidates selected by NBC." He quoted the public interest provisions of the Federal Communications Act of 1934.

It's not that Kucinich hasn't demonstrated considerable popular support. The first ABC debate gave Kucinich very little face time, yet he was the winner of the ABC online poll asking who won the debate. Kucinich has also won or done well in most of the major online polls by large margins: DFA and National Progressive Democrats of America.

So what am I to do?

These primaries are a participatory farce, but will lead to the eventual nominee. The electorate -- and thre Democratic Candidate -- must not be terrified of real New Deal style change, which Kucinich represents.

Kucinich is not running to win the nomination. He knows he is not going to succeed... He is running to influence the political discourse within the Democratic party --- which is critically important. He is running to show the frontrunners what the full spectrum of Democratic opinions might be...in a real debate.

We cannot elect the really "perfect" until we see it. Which is why Kucinich and his Democratic positions are so important. I know that history is on his side and his positions are the right direction for democracy. I can only hope that Hillary and Obama see it too.

One day we will have universal medical care, we will ban corporate control and corrupt financing of the political process, we will legalize gay marriage, we will get rid of the Patriot Act, and we will stop fighting stupid wars.

So thank you Dennis, for speaking truth to power. And you will have my vote in the primaries.

[e-mail]

Comments

[PeaceCzar]

Blake:

You do yourself a grave discredit to even imply that Nader was responsible for Gore's loss in Florida. Just perpetuating the same lies from the Democratic machine:

-Most people that voted for Nader would not have voted at all were he not running.

-If Nader lost Florida for Gore, then you have to take into account the 2 states that Pat Buchanan "spoiled" from Bush.

-How about the 250,000 Democrats in Florida that voted for Bush?

-If Gore requested a state-wide recount, he WOULD HAVE won the recount.

So consider those facts, and let's be candid to the fact that Bush stole 2000 AND 2004.

**Also, one other online poll worth taking:

http://www.vajoe.com

The top match on this poll? MIKE GRAVEL. All the polls either have him or Kucinich as the top matches. Gravel also supports gay marriage, total opposition to the war and the military-industrial-complex, and the protection of the Constitution and civil liberties.

[JayHubbell]

I totally agree with Mr. Fleetwood. Yes, there is a vast conspiracy of the wealthy corporate elites who constitute the oligarchy that controls both major parties and their annointed
trio. The whole party primary process is a rigged game controlled from the top down by the establishment elites.

I have lost all respect for the terrible trio who have no more substance than a saccharine puff pastry. All three are shills for the corporate oligarchy and need to be resoundingly rejected at the polls with our votes for Dennis Kucinich. Protest the corporate media and their three stooges by voting for Kucinich. He is the only one who has the courage to stand up for Constitutional democracy.

Jay Hubbell

[vote4kucinich]

When I was a kid in the 50's we were taught that the soviet Union was evil-that its people were not allowed to know the truth, that the government, without the participation of its citizens, called all the shots. I remember feeling so sorry for those poor Russians and so grateful that I lived in America the Perfect. It is with sorrow that my eyes have been opened to our own version of the USSR. But now it is the corporations in collusion with the government who want to deprive us of the truth. Dennis Kucinich is a threat to that unholy alliance and for those who say he had a chance to get his message out, I say he was marginalized, minimized, and ridiculed from the first debate. The media tells us what to think, and most Americans lap it up. Makes me want to hide under my school desk again. Very frightening.

[barriosbabe]

Did anybody else read the the Nevada overturning decision? I did. The ultimate irony, it was decided on the basis that DK "HAD NO CONTRACT" and not on any deeper reason basis (I am a lawyer, I "get" the decision, it could've been overridden on equity or other broader grounds). Get it? Our country ruined by corporatist pigs and DK excluded from the debate by the corporate commercialists on commercial grounds. His ultimate exclusion is a dark day for us. DK is a moderate Dem with new deal leanings, being portrayed as some leftie nut, it's so sad. ALSO, it seems to me that besides the huge MSM corporatist corruption at play, our values have gone down the toilet with a weird nasty streak of the Meritocracy: be the best, win the game, you get yours, I'll get mine, win obsession and so forth and that has been used (misused) to marginalize DK as the "guy who can't win." I need DK in the race to help shape the platform!

[CaBeachBum]

Blake,

I applaud the fact that you have written such a positive piece on Dennis Kucinich and the importance of his positions. However, I question a few things you have said. Stating that you would not vote for an independent candidate in the general election is tantamount to conscribing to the two party corporate run government we have had throughout much of our history. Clinton and Obama are both in "deep pockets" with corporate America. As we continue to alternate election cycles between Democrats and Republicans, what will ever change without an independent candidate detached from the tentacles of large corporations?

You are correct that Dennis is speaking truth to power. But, until a candidate like Dennis can develop enough of a voter base to influence an election, his prescient positions will be obscured by the "frontrunners" and a compliant press. You are one of the few on HuffPo to commend Dennis on his vision; yet you also aided the perception of his "non-viability" as a candidate. Dennis has been marginalized by the MSM and centrist politicians who are afraid to offend any of their public or private constituencies.
While you are hoping that Clinton and Obama see that his positions are right for our democracy, I"m doubtful that they can see past the strategy of the DLC and their overpaid consultants.

It would have been nice, in the spirit of the Democratic Party, if Clinton, Obama, and Edwards had asked G.E. and MSNBC to allow Dennis to participate in the debate with them. I wonder why they didn"t?

[ceu]

Agreed. I'll be voting for Kucinich in CT's Feb 5th primary. Just yesterday a co-worker, wear an Obama button, told me it would be a "wasted" vote. Heck, it's MY vote & I get to use it to vote for the candidate that best represents MY views. I'm convinced that half the problems in this country are caused because too many people vote for the person who's "electable" - based on what the media tell them is electable! - rather than voting in their own self-interests. Me - I need health coverage, I want the US out of Iraq, and I want the so-called Patriot Act repealed & the Constitution to once again be the law of the land!
On another note, does NBC have a clue how petty and downright stupid they look by first uninviting Kuchinich to the debate and then appealing the judge's order?? It's disgusting!

[justfine]

A more accurate and honest piece about Kucinich than I have seen anywhere to date. I am so tired of the UFO shtick that he's been labeled with since that debate. If one saw it, heard him, watched him--it was obvious exactly what he meant as he rolled his eyes and said, "Yes. I saw an unidentified object. [period]." He's certainly the only candidate anywhere with a sense of humor.

Thanks, Blake, for expressing exactly how many of us feel. I'm also quite certain that he would never pull a Nader. He's not at all an egomaniacal spoiler.

[Advocate123]

They want to ban him because he is alternative to Hillary.

[digitboy]

What many don't get is that, voting in the primary for a person who doesn't win IS NOT a wasted vote. You are basically voting for the ideology that your selected candidate represents. Even if your candidate doesn't win, their level of support will help to determine the party platform. This is a message that should be heard by every american loud and clear.

If Dennis doesn't show much support in the primaries, then the Democcratic party will (rightfully) say that "nobody wanted to end the war", "nobody wanted real change", "nobody wanted single-payer health", etc. Ultimately, we will get what we ask (vote) for -- well, assuming we have lawful elections.

Now, how do I get international oversight for this farce of an election?

"If you don't vote your heart, your heart never wins." -- Dennis Kucinich

[davidly]

How dare you!

[Pdubya]

you dabble in between the qualification of "only democrat candidate" and "only candidate". this is incorrect.

paul is another candidate that speaks to many, many of kucinich's positions. they just have differences on HOW to fund them...not their principles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJz81lAwY0M&NR=1

[Pdubya]

same reason faux is banning paul:

they don't buy into the New World Order.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py8cXlLyX18

[freespeach]

Good stuff Mr. Fleetwood.

Tonight's debate is going to be fantastic.

Impeachment will be ON the debate table, and so will honest talk about the Iraq occupation and health care.

Democracy, not quite dead yet.

[Annoula]

I agree 100%, Blake! Why should one settle for a candidate who needs to diguise him/herself as a Republican-light in order to please everybody and appear more "electable"?
If you want more of the same, just vote for the Republicans.
Kucinich is the ONLY candidate whose plan represents REAL CHANGE. That's why he is so THREATENING to the establishment.

[Oscarrob]

First, the electorate does not have to do anything like recognize Kucinich. As you admit the liklihood is when it counts, they won't.

Second, I hate to mention it but the New Deal was almost 70 years ago -- this is somehow broadening the discourse? This is somehow "new" and "change"?

Americans are too disenchanted with Government to believe as they did with the New Deal, that the Government can help. We democrats, not Republicans are becoming the new conservatives as we yearn for the good old days three quarters of a century ago. If Kucinich's New Deal policies are "new" and "change" then we are an unoriginal bunch of losers. Kucinich is out because he can't garner enough votes to get in. That's kind of what democracy is all about.

JR
http://aplagueonbothyourhouses.typepad.com

[grod]

If MSNBC is succeeds in interfering with our democratic process by keeping Dennis out, this is the darkest day for America since 9-11.

[Thorn]

So ... because you agree with Kucinich, he has "the best positions." Hey, that's great.

[Mike5000]

Glad that online candidate test worked out for you but please beware of them. Many are biased. I've put the exact position of candidate X into some of those sites and been told that Y is my dream candidate.

It's a cheap way for campaigns to sway voters who don't have the time or inclination to read candidates' platforms.