He Was a Goner Anyway

Dennis Kucinich had no place else to go, so he might just as well pack it in and enjoy his child bride before she finds somebody else closer to her age, which is just about every man in the country.

"At the end of this term I will have served sixteen years in the House of Representatives, leading the way for peace, to bring an end to the wars, for workers' rights, for health care for all, for monetary policy reform and to end the corrupting influence which money has on our political decision-making process," he said.

Kucinich was known for grandstanding a lot and accomplishing very little.

Once an Egotist, Always an Egotist

Soon-to-be former congressman Dennis Kucinich is looking seriously at a new career as a carpetbagger despite not being welcome in some quarters.

The guy was always a legend in his own mind, and the fact he believes he should run for office in another state proves he has a huge ego:

That drew a horrified reaction from state Democratic Party Chairman Dwight Pelz, who has repeatedly discouraged Kucinich from running here.

"Dennis Kucinich has to decide what his legacy is going to be. Will he be remembered as a principled member of Congress or the narcissist who lost two Congressional races in two states the same year?" Pelz said Sunday afternoon.

We know the answer to that question.

Super Tuesday

It is super as far as I am concerned when the grandstander himself, Dennis Kucinich, was finally put out to pasture thanks to redrawing of his former House district. He had to compete in the Ohio Democratic primary against Marcy Kaptur in the new district, and he lost, thank God.

No more grandstanding and pretending to be the hero of the "progressive left."

Dennis Kucinich is out and Marcy Kaptur has captured the Democratic primary in the new 9th District, according to data analysis from cleveland.com

Kaptur, the longest serving woman in Congress, has apparently won the Democratic primary.

According to The official Ohio Secretary of State site, Kaptur had won four of the five counties -- except for Cuyahoga -- although not all of the ballots have been counted in the five-county district.

link

Maybe he can run for mayor of Cleveland, if the city would have him.

There are rumors running rampant that he is considering rolling up his carpet and bagging it to Washington state to run for Congress there.

Meanwhile, he displayed not only his much-younger, much-taller wife at his "concession" speech, he also displayed the class for which he is so renowned:

Mr. Kucinich returned to a Cleveland restaurant to announce he had lost, again thank supporters, but also had harsh words for Miss Kaptur of Toledo.

"I would like to be able to congratulate Congresswoman Kaptur but I do have to say that she ran a media campaign in the Cleveland media market that was utterly lacking in integrity with false statements half truths, [and] misrepresentations," he said. "I hope that is not the kind of representation she would provide to this community. And I don't think the people of Toledo have any idea of the kind of campaign that was run up in the Cleveland area."

Pure class. I wonder how much longer Elizabeth will stay with him. There are better prospects out there for her.

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In other S.T. news, Romney did manage to eke out a victory in Ohio.

News, Etc.

Birmingham School will be hiring some 60 Temps for America in another example of the undermining of teaching as a profession.
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That'll teach Dennis Kucinich for being a vegan:

U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) is suing the operators of a House cafeteria for alleged negligence stemming from a almost 3-year-old incident involving a sandwich he says left him with significant dental injuries.

And no, the famous McDonald's coffee spilling suit was NOT frivolous, as a new documentary shows. The plaintiff died in 2004.

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Whatever happened to Jacqueline Kennedy's pink pillbox hat that she wore the day her husband was assassinated?
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I Have LONG Since Regarded Dennis Kucinich

as nothing but a grandstanding, New Agey freak of a politician who doesn't get anything done--on purpose.

I don't know what has taken "liberal" and "progressive" people so long to figure out the obvious about him:

On Tuesday night, two liberal favorites got set up to butt heads. Appearing on MSNBC's "Countdown," DailyKos founder Markos Moulitsas was asked by guest host Lawrence O'Donnell about Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich's opposition to President Obama's reform proposal. Moulitsas didn't take it easy on Kucinich in his response.

"[I]t's definitely a very Ralph Nader-esque approach, I think, to politics -- a very unrealistic and self-defeating approach," Moulitsas said.

"And I'm going to hold people, like Dennis Kucinich, responsible for the 40,000 Americans that die each year from a lack of health care. And I don't care if you're a Republican or you're a conservative Democrat or you're somebody like Dennis Kucinich. The fact is, this does a heck of a lot for a lot of people ... It's not the ideal solution. But we have our foot in the door, and if somebody like Kucinich wants to block that, I find that completely reprehensible."

Of course I don't regard Moulitsas as any more relevant than Kucinich. They actually deserve each other.

Campaign Follies.

A group of Ron Paul supporters in northern Nevada held a "renegade" convention.
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If Kucinich hadn't been so busy shitting all over John Edwards during the campaign on behalf of Obama, maybe he would have known Obama was no liberal.

Far From

being a symbol of courage, Dennis Kucinich, in the eyes of the WSWS, is merely a tool of the Democratic Party to provide nominal "left" opposition to a war the party supports.

Actually Kucinich isn't so much a tool than he is a showboating, self-aggrandizing fool. I will never forget the way he treated people who showed up at his pre-caucus appearance last December, some of whom traveled out of state and in the snow and ice to come and see him. He couldn't be bothered with them following his speech. Kucinich claimed he had to make an appearance with a local radio station, and never mind the fact the station could and did wait for him and his wife to show up. He proved to me beyond all doubt his cause is himself and screw everybody else.

If you want to be considered a real candidate for any political office, you make the time to meet and greet with supporters afterwards. It is part of making the sale. Everybody does it, no matter if they are sitting presidents of the United States or mayors. But for briefly, and I do mean briefly, meeting with a handful of supporters and signing autographs, Kucinich couldn't be bothered.

Well, fuck him. No wonder he was considered one of the worst mayors in American history, and part of the reason for his name being on the list was his temperament.

This Link

is to Dennis Kucinich's official remarks about dropping out of the presidential race to try to defend his House seat.

For Those Who Give a Shit,

and for those who don't, here is the video of Kucinich dropping out of the race, courtesty of the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

Thank God,

the ass has finally dropped out.

Good riddance. I hope he gets beat in the primary. All of this showboating shit and nothing to show for it gets rather old.

Of all of the candidates I met in person, both Democrats and Republicans, Kucinich was the one I didn't care for.

He thought he was hot shit, and he wouldn't even make time to meet and greet with people when he and Elizabeth were in Reno last month. The excuse he and his handlers gave was he had a radio interview, but other candidates FOUND the time regardless.

The announcement is supposed to be official tomorrow. He'll probably endorse Rezko Obama then.

Campaign Notes.

NBC has filed an appeal to keep the Delusional One out of tonight's debate.

All Kucinich will do is try to shit on John Edwards to help his "friend" Barack Obama, who cannot debate worth a damn.

I hope NBC doesn't back down.
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Rangel tells it like it is regarding Obama's remarks on Clinton's supposedly "racist" remarks, which of course were not.
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Nevada Caucus.

A Las Vegas judge has decided to let that shithead come onstage at tomorrow night's debate for the sole reason of crapping on John Edwards.

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Obama was in Vegas Sunday making his pitch to whoever was listening.
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Republican candidate Ron Paul had good taste when he made a visit to the now-legendary Peg's Glorified Ham & Eggs on Sierra Street.
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Obama packed the house in Churchill County, with more than 1,000 there, and an estimated 2,200 were in Carson City at the event I attended tonight.

Obama ran 80 minutes behind, but you don't hear the media bitch about that. Only if Edwards does it is it newsworthy.

Strangely enough, just 1,100 people showed up in Reno to hear him, but considering it was a workday, perhaps not so strange.

Everybody decided to go to Carson City instead.
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Grandstanding Dennis Kucinich

doesn't believe there was "fraud" in New Hampshire; he's trying to showboat and draw attention to himself instead of focusing on his House seat.

What a goddamned loser. I got sick of him when he attacked Edwards.

It Sounds Like

Kucinich knows for a fact Obama is behind in Iowa and is trying to make him more competitive, the DMR poll notwithstanding.

Edit: The more I think about this, the dumber this "endorsement" is. Kucinich isn't even COMPETING IN IOWA in the first place, unlike 2004 when he gave his "blessing" to John Edwards. Back then, Kucinich was in all of the debates both in and out of Iowa. This time he's running a half-assed campaign.

It's actually hilarious, come right down to it.

Campaign Notes.

Obama supporters can never convince me their candidate, who is basically in DINO, isn't somehow a ringer for the GOP.

I can't believe anybody would support that guy.

More evidence he is more GOP than Dem.

I can't believe anybody could be that stupid as to back him.
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Nothing would please me more than a primary defeat (in the congressional race) for Dennis Kucinich.

Incredibly, this do-nothing congressman has high support in his district.
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John Nichols sees through Obama's campaign and doesn't like what he sees.
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Edwards is calling for a quick withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
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Obituaries.

Chicago's "Pigeon Man," Joseph Zeman, 77, was struck and killed by a van.
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I heard that earlier Perry Kucinich, younger brother of Congressman Dennis Kucinich, was found dead at the age of 52.

No cause of death has been determined.
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More Campaign Notes.

I missed the GOP debate today, and apparently I didn't miss much.
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Dana Milbank trashes and lies about John Edwards for fun and profit.
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Kucinich will not appear in tomorrow's Democratic debate.
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Campaign Notes.

Mitt Romney may have an easier time in Nevada than in Iowa, especially given the fact the state is still conservative and there are quite a few Mormons.
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The Reno Gazette-Journal has some photos up of Dennis Kucinich's appearance yesterday.
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Yours truly is in this article from the Sparks Tribune:

Kucinich did not address education. Susan Nunes, a Sun Valley teacher who is undecided about whom she is supporting, said she has been going to all of the candidate appearances because she wants to see No Child Left Behind abolished.

"All it is is an attempt to privatize public schools by setting (them) up for failure," she said.

Kucinich's scheduled appearance Saturday at the Democratic Headquarters had been switched to the Reno-Sparks Convention Center to provide more space, said Diana Smith, co-coordinator of the Nevada Campaign for Kucinich, after the response to his appearance drew a tremendous response.

Kucinich supporters such as Swain say he has been marginalized by the mainstream media "because of the powerful elements within the Democratic Party ... and (therefore) in the media there has been a deliberate attempt to marginalize him."

The question of viability was on the minds of some in the audience.

"I really want Kucinich," said Sparks resident Jeane Jacobs, "but I think Edwards is more viable."

Jacobs said she thought the Republicans are pushing for Clinton, "because they will get their people out to vote against her." Also, she said, it appeared that "the media is pushing the Obama-Hillary thing because people are afraid of Edwards and Kucinich."

A lot of people I have talked to in this event and in others have picked Edwards as their second choice.
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S.F. Mayor Gavin Newsom's support of Hillary Clinton may not help her.
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Hillary Clinton has been battle scarred all of these years, but she also has a soft side. The trouble is she must somehow be softhearted without being too much of a wimp, and she must have enough toughness not to be a calculating bitch.
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His biggest supporter gives him a big round of applause.



He swears to tell the truth about what he would do as president.



Elizabeth likes what her husband is saying here.





The candidate makes the case for single-payer insurance.




It's time to get a close-up of Dennis Kucinich.





I told you Elizabeth was nuts about him.




It was a pleasant surprise to see Elizabeth there with him.





It was a packed house at the convention center. It was held in rooms D9 and D10, with a folding wall in between. More than a few people there were from California.




Some pictures of the Kucinich event of today at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center. His campaign slogan is "Strength Through Peace."

I Really Hope

I recorded the Kucinich speech in Reno today, but it's a possibility I screwed up with my new camcorder. I will have to investigate.

Anyway, considering it was shitty outside, Kucinich drew quite a crowd at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center, and, as an added bonus, his far-younger wife Elizabeth showed up as well. She was in town during the morning attending a "mockus" or two in preparation for the January 19 caucus. Yes, she is very pretty and seems to be nice, and probably too good for him. It makes one wonder why somebody with so much going for her would hitch up to an old coot like that. But seeing her there, she was clearly nuts about him. She sat on the stage where he was, and she was looking up at him with that look that reminded me of Nancy Reagan looking at Ronnie. She also had a nice wedding ring on, and I don't recall the stone she was wearing, some kind of birthstone, I believe. It was a good-sized one.

As for the old man, he looks far better in person than on television. I don't know what it is about television that makes people look so bad, but it does. It distorts something awful. The Kooch is only slightly taller than I am, and his wife is around six feet, around Michelle Obama's height, and a full head taller than the Kooch.

Kooch talked about Iraq and mostly about health care and how his plan was better than the other candidates. He answered a few questions from the audience, including one from a person sitting next to me about civil unions. Unfortunately, after he was done he didn't stick around too long because he and Elizabeth were going to do a radio interview with KJFK radio in Reno. However, I was lucky enough to get his autograph. He signs his autograph simply "Dennis" with what looks like an exclamation point at the end. I was one of the very lucky few who received an autograph and shook his hand. He has a good grip, especially for a vegan.