Kucinich withdraws, What now?

author : Candace Milne topic : Democratic Party | Corporate media | Dennis Kucinich | 2008 Presidential Campaign

By Candace Milne

Kucinich, always on the right side of every issue

Recently I came across a Nov. 19, 2007 photo of Dennis Kucinich marching arm in arm with Father Bourgeois at the 18th annual protest at the School of the Americas at Ft Benning, Georgia. It reminded me of other photos I’ve seen of Dennis addressing thousands at anti-war rallies, on picket lines, on the streets of Seattle during the 1999 WTO protests and others. That’s Dennis. In the streets with us. Speaking for us in Congress. Speaking for us in the Democratic Party debates. Always on the right side of every issue. Always working for the world we need and the world we want.

Dennis has always tried to turn our country away from empire-building, from Big Brother, from fascism and towards peace, jobs, justice, healthcare and democracy.

On the issue of Iraq he argued against going to war, dissected the War Powers Resolution that authorized the invasion, introduced legislation that would swiftly end the occupation and provide reparations to the Iraqi people, voted against all funding, exposed and denounced the privatization of the Iraqi oil industry, and held a Congressional hearing to highlight the Iraqi death toll.

On the issue of civil liberties he voted against the “USA Patriot Act”, the “Military Commissions Act of 2006”, and the more recent “Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007” while also introducing Articles of Impeachment against Cheney, and then Bush.

And on the health care crisis Kucinich co-authored H.R.676, the bill that would bring socialized healthcare to our country.

These are only a few of the issues Kucinich has raised and positions he has taken.

We who work for peace, multinational disarmament, a non-nuclear world, peace in Iraq, no war with Iran, justice for Palestinians, the restoration of our laws, impeachment of Bush and Cheney, healthcare-for-all, equal rights for Lesbians, Gays and Transgendered, fair trade, rebuilding our manufacturing base and infrastructure, a Green WPA program, an environmentally-friendly economic system, media reform, IRV, publicly funded campaigns, a secure Social Security System with retirement age set at 65, public education through college and peace and justice in general had the perfect candidate in Dennis Kucinich. He is one of the few candidates that are acceptable to us and he has been removed from the presidential field by the corporate media in cooperation with the corporatized Democratic Party.

What now?

As I write this Kucinich supporters across America are asking themselves this question, “What now?”

One thing we know for sure is that we must not lose this voice in Congress. Kucinich has been elected six times to his US Congressional seat for the 10th District in Ohio, but his victory in the primary this March 4 is far from certain. He faces four opponents and the corporations want him out. Donations are needed.

Another thing we know for sure is that we will caucus for him on February 9. Some of us will “caucus” and “convention” for Dennis as far as we can throughout the whole Democratic Party “delegate selection process” that will terminate in August at the Democratic Party National Convention.

I urge everyone to set aside this one afternoon to keep Dennis’s message, our message alive. Kucinich’s effect on the national discourse is inestimable. Keep it strong! In the event that your sign-in preference for Dennis does not translate into a delegate move into the “uncommitted” camp and run for the position of delegate there, supporters will be able to come together with other “uncommitted” Kucinich supporters at higher level conventions and will be able to “bargain” elements of Dennis’ agenda into the Democratic Party platform.

On Feb. 9, some Kucinich supporters may move into either the camp of Obama or Edwards in order to push the candidate they find least objectionable forward. I personally do not take this ABC “Anyone but Clinton” stand. I have never supported the lesser of evils and I will not start now. I will sign in for Kucinich, give a one-minute speech in favor of Kucinich, lobby others to switch their sign-in preference to Kucinich and take it from there. I will not support Obama or Edwards.

The great lessons; what is next?

The great lessons of this campaign are that we need to work harder to move the corporations out of our media and our electoral processes as a prerequisite to getting them out of our government. Without comprehensive media reform, without publicly funded electoral campaigns, without public sponsored political debates we activists will never see the peace and justice we desire. Many Kucinich supporters will prioritize these issue as we transition from the Kucinich campaign into other venues for activism. We may work within Kucinich’s new organization “Integrity Now” or we may work within existing organizations or both.

Another lesson (to some) is how thoroughly corporatized the Democratic Party is. Rather than creating a level playing field the Democratic National Committee and all leaders within the Democratic Party did nothing to ensure that all of the Democratic Party candidates were included in the debates and that all candidates were given equal time. They stood silently by while the MSM silenced Kucinich and Gravel. And in Washington State the Chair of the Washington State Democratic Party, Dwight Pelz, did his best to suppress the fact that Kucinich won an online poll conducted on the party’s website. Faced with these facts some Kucinich supporters will, after the caucuses, cease to work within the Democratic Party while others will continue with attempts to reform it.

I personally will be moving from the Democratic Party into the Green Party to work on the campaign of Professor Gary Murrell who as a Green will be challenging Norm Dicks in the 6th Congressional District. Leaving the Grays Harbor Democrats will be very sad for me for these are my friends. I respect them deeply and have enjoyed working with them on many important issues.

I’ve campaigned for Dennis Kucinich since 2003. I am sorry he won’t be our next President. I regard him as a great man with a far-reaching, humanitarian and holistic worldview. He has all the right policies. I’m sorry we lost him as a Presidential candidate. Let’s keep him as a Congressman. And let’s turn out on Feb. 9.

Candace Milne is a resident of Grays Harbor. For more information on Kucinich:

Congressional Campaign

http://www.kucinich.us

Presidential Campaign

http://www.dennis4president.com

Washington State Campaign

http://www.dennis4president.com/go/state-by-state/washington/

Kucinich’s new organization

http://www.integritynow.org

Gary Murrell Campaign

http://www.garymurrell2008.com