Ohio, of all states, should hate Republican rule, because the Republican Recession trashed Ohio’s economy so badly that workers fled the state, and they are losing two congressional districts. To make matters even worse, enough left wing voters foolishly stayed home, that Republicans are firmly in control of the state. And since Dennis Kucinich is such a perennial pain the elephant’s arse, they are neatly gerrymandering his seat out of existence. Now, I may not always agree with Dennis, but nonetheless, his voice is far too valuable to lose, so I say, “Go West, Young Kucinich.” OK, you got me. He isn’t all that young.
Representative Dennis J. Kucinich, the liberal Democrat from Cleveland, was a long way from home — 2,000 miles give or take. But he found plenty of political admirers in this stronghold of progressive political thought.
“Run, Dennis, run,” urged Karen Pooley, a 48-year-old sales representative as Mr. Kucinich addressed her and other chanting protesters who were outside a Chase bank to rally against government policies that favor financial institutions while teachers are being laid off.
Mr. Kucinich is indeed thinking about running, but it would not be another try for president and maybe not even an eighth House race back in Ohio. Instead, the 64-year-old Mr. Kucinich, who first gained fame as the “boy mayor” of Cleveland in the 1970s, is delicately examining the idea of running for Congress here in Washington State next year. Given Ohio’s loss of two House seats, his district is likely to disappear when new map lines are drawn.
But Washington is gaining a seat, and Mr. Kucinich figures his aggressive brand of antiwar, pro-working class politics could sell well in a solidly blue state where he has ideological allies and was popular in his White House bids in 2004 and 2008. It is a somewhat novel idea that could be summed up as: Have seniority, will travel… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <NY Times>
I like his thinking. Washington could be an ideal home for him, plus the state could use another strong progressive voice.
8 Responses to “Go West, Young Kucinich”
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I echo your refrain, TomCat. The House must NOT lose Dennis Kucinich due to Republican gerrymandering!
Amen, Jack!
We need all the strong progressive voices we can get. We need to work to defeat the redistricting efforts whenever, wherever they pop up.
Blue, redistricting happens and can’t be prevented, because representation is based on population. Gerrymandering is what we need to fight. Here in Oregon the Democratic redistricting plan for the state legislature put two incumbent Dems in one district, two incumbent GOPers in one district, and an incumbent Dem and an incumbent GOPer in two districts. That’s fair redistricting. The Republican plan put two incumbent Dems in four districts.
We do need his voice- the Presidency -? Well remains to be seen– but his wisdom , good sense and guts– we need !
We need his voice in the House, but O could not support him for President. In 2008, he said he would choose Ron Paul as his VP candidate.
What a good plan! Mr. Kucinich would be a great asset wherever he chooses to run. His former constituents will soon miss him, though, and he will soon be back where he belongs. By popular demand!
Welcome Dana! 🙂
I wish it was that simple. But unless millions return to or move to Ohio, the seat is lost for good. The minimum to get it back is ten years.