Gore Vidal for Dennis Kucinich: A farsighted populist and pacifist.

This article first appeared in the November 26th issue of The Nation magazine, and is published jointly online in collaboration with Huffington Post and OffTheBus. This is one in a series of eight essays by leading progressive commentators making the affirmative case for each of the Democratic presidential contenders.

For the past two years I've been criss­crossing the United States speaking to crowds of people about our history and politics. At the same time, would-be Presidents of the greatest nation in the country, as silver-tongued Spiro Agnew used to say, have been crowding the trail, while TV journalists sadly shake their heads at how savage the politicos have become in their language. But then, it is the task of TV journalists to foment quarrels where often none properly exist.

As I pass through the stage door of one auditorium after another, I now hear the ominous name of Darth Vader, as edgy audiences shudder at the horrible direction our political discourse has taken. Ever eager as I am to shed light, I sometimes drop the name of the least publicized applicant to the creaky throne of the West: Dennis Kucinich. It takes a moment for the name to sink in. Then genuine applause begins. He is very much a favorite out there in the amber fields of grain, and I work him into the text. A member of the House of Representatives for five terms since 1997, although many of his legislative measures have been too useful and original for our brain-dead media to comprehend. I note his well-wrought articles proposing the impeachment of Vice President Cheney, testing the patriotic nerves of his fellow Democrats, but then the fact of his useful existence often causes distress to those who genuinely hate that democracy he is so eager to extend. "Don't waste your vote," they whine in unison--as if our votes are not quadrennially wasted on those marvelous occasions when they are actually counted and recorded.

Meanwhile, Kucinich is now at least visible in lineups of the Democratic candidates; he tends to be the most eloquent of the lot. So who is he? Something of a political prodigy: at 31 he was elected mayor of Cleveland. Once he had been installed, in 1978, the city's lordly banks wanted the new mayor to sell off the city's municipally owned electric system, Muny Light, to a private competitor in which (Oh, America!) the banks had a financial interest. When Mayor Kucinich refused to sell, the money lords took their revenge, as they are wont to do: they refused to roll over the city's debt, pushing the city into default. The ensuing crisis revealed the banks' criminal involvement with the private utility of their choice, CEI, which, had it acquired Muny Light, would have become a monopoly, as five of the six lordly banks had almost 1.8 million shares of CEI stock: this is Enronesque before the fact.

Mayor Kucinich was not re-elected, but his profile was clearly etched on the consciousness of his city; and in due course he returned to the Cleveland City Council before being elected to the Ohio State Senate and then the US Congress. Kucinich has also written a description of his Dickensian youth, growing up in Cleveland. He has firsthand knowledge of urban poverty in the world's richest nation. Born in 1946 into a Croatian Catholic family, by the time he was 17 he and his family had lived in twenty-one different places, much of which he describes in Dreiserian detail in a just-published memoir.

Kucinich is opposed to the death penalty as well as the USA Patriot Act. In 1998 and 2004 he was a US delegate to the United Nations convention on climate change. At home he has been active in Rust Belt affairs, working to preserve the ninety-year-old Cleveland steel industry, a task of the sort that will confront the next President should he or she have sufficient interest in these details.

I asked a dedicated liberal his impression of Kucinich; he wondered if Kucinich was too slight to lead a nation of truly fat folk. I pointed out that he has the same physical stature as James Madison, as well as a Madisonian commitment to our 1789 Constitution; he is also farsighted, as demonstrated by his resolute opposition to Bush's cries for ever more funding for the illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. More to the point, in October 2002 he opposed the notion of a war then being debated. For those of us at home and in harm's way from disease, he co-wrote HR 676, a bill that would insure all of us within Medicare, just as if we were citizens of a truly civilized nation.

Gore Vidal, a longtime Nation contributing editor, is the author, most recently, of Point to Point Navigation: A Memoir.

Comments

[iamwhatnormalis]

Dennis does have the potential for greatness. With a Democratic congress he just might save this country from sliding into fascism. None of the so called front runners have half the intelligence or integrity this great man has.

Kucinich also has Noam Chomsky's endorsment, I believe, and Michael Moore has endorsed his health care plan.

I'm doing all I can to see him elected.

[HTooley]

I remember when they called Jerry Brown "Moonbeam" and yet at the Democratic convention (1980 I believe) he was the only candidate talking about many of the issues we are dealing with today. Many of his ideas were implemented and have become a part of our lifestyle. He was ridiculed at the time.

Kucinich and his ideas will endure. In nature it's called natural selection, in politics, it is that the best ideas win (sometimes it take awhile...). This age of greed will end up being what is ridiculed, not Mr. Kucinich. Like Galileo and the sun, truth will win out over ignorance and fear.

[Harry3Lime]

All praise Gore.
I just finished re-reading 'Lincoln,' and there's never been anything like it. All of his historical novels, in fact, are matchless as are his wit, sophistication and broad understanding of American history.

[marty335]

Kucinich,A true jewel in the midst of many semi precious stones. When I was 13 or so, Myself and others experienced a saucer type object that floated above our town in Connecticut. It stayed about an hour and then disappeared in an instant faster than I have ever seen anything go. I think it was 1964. Seeing as I spent 1 1/2 years in Vietnam as a helicopter crew chief and door gunner I knew a bit about how fast the machines can go. Plenty of jets around to check out. How little we know of our world and how much we think we know it all. Ah! To be a human.

[VivaZapata]

General Electric via NBC went out of its way to discredit Kucinich in an attempt to trivialize his candidacy. Tim Russert gets media whore creds for that one. We need more respected thinkers like Mr. Vidal to step up and relegitimatize Kucinich. People should do it even if they support other candidates. They should also write in and demand that Gravel be reinstated for as long as he remains a candidate. Yes. General Electric owns NBC and they can do what they want, but, for starters, we can buy other appliances.

[QueenCeleste]

Vidal, as ever, is so wise. I will vote with glee for Kucinich. And it will most definitely not be a wasted vote!

And what a shallow nation we are that looks should even be considered. But for the record, I think he is adorable.

[shinybear]

He and Shirley MacLaine see spaceships over Shirley's home!

[Shanti]

DIOGENES WOULD BE PROUD OF DENNIS!

[CoulterIsASuccubus]

I live in Ohio, grew up in Cleveland and have known Dennis Kucinich since I was a kid. He is a true populist and a truly kind and decent man. His vision is inspiring. He has my vote in the primary. From experience though, I feel I will be holding my nose and pulling the lever for the "Republican Lite" candidate next November.

[Nobodytoo]

It seems to me that everyone is trying to "get" Hillary or Obama to say the things that Dennis is actually saying and doing. Kucinich has my vote and confidence as no other Democrat since Howard Dean.

[jcmoore99]

Like 2000 and 2004, a very good man is standing to be elected when so many say there are no good choices. In the previous two elections, there was Ralph Nader. Now we have Dennis Kucinich (and, for that matter, Ron Paul for the Righties).
I'm putting my money and effort towards getting Kucinich in the race.

After working so hard in 2006 to get a Democratic majority only be be sorely disappointed in their behavior, I won't help them until they start doing what they've been asked to do. It's Kucinich or nothing.

[GoodGuysandBadGuys]

almost all of the other candidates are extremely mediocre. as I've said here before, it seems like the slogan for the 2008 elections should be "The Campaign for Mediocrity."

now really, is that acceptable? is that what people really want?

This country could rise to greatness with kucinich as president. he is clearly the only one of the bunch who understands the issues inside and out and how they are all connected to each other.

with an emphasis on cooperation with the world, instead of control and domination, things could really start looking up for this planet and all of its inhabitants.

Go Kucinich!

[captnEarl]

Dennis is the best cannidate from either party that would offer REAL change for our country.John E. would be a close second.

[JustADumbFireman]

Dennis Kucinich will be viewed as a hero by some future, smarter generation.

[SweetJudith]

He is my man.
This is the person that will bring strength for peace. We don't hear that word peace anymore.
Dennis Kucinich shall bring peace once again.
We believe in him and always have.
KUCINICH
2008