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In reply to the discussion: Dem chief: Kucinich a 'narcissist' [View all]MADem
(135,425 posts)its people. When he was Mayor of Burlington his opponents used to call it the "People's Republic of Burlington" but he was much loved by the population and they would joke about it too--they took the nickname and owned it, and thereby took the sting out of it.
DK, rightly or wrongly, is perceived, with this latest effort, as being a "district shopper"--trying to find a place where he feels he has a chance of getting back to DC. The sense is, it wouldn't matter where, so long as he could "make it work."
I'll be honest, if it were my district, I'd be opposed to his candidacy, for several reasons. First, DK does not know my district, its people, issues, problems, or needs; 2nd, he has a lousy reputation in Congress for working with others, and 3rd, it often--to my mind, mind you--looks like he's grandstanding on the national stage, and could give a shit about the Tip O'Neill maxim that "All politics is local." Bernie Sanders, who no one can say is a "Third Way Dem" or some kind of corporate shill, understands that you need to take care of the folks back home, and he also understands how the legislative system works. You give a little, you get a little, you stay true to your ideals, but you bend on the small shit and play a bit of quid pro quo. Three steps forward, one back. Paul Wellstone got this, too. DK doesn't get it. He's obstreperous and mean, frequently, rigid and bellicose, and he comes off as self-aggrandizing. He's also a flip flopper on the issue of choice--he was ardently opposed to it until he realized it wouldn't play when it came to scrounging up votes, and then he changed his mind rather quickly and cravenly. I don't trust his conversion, frankly. So, mean-spirited, a bit selfish, and occasionally insincere--that's how he strikes me--even when he is saying things that I agree with.
OK--that's my personal opinion. Put that aside, because that doesn't matter in this discussion. Here's what I think of him running in SOMEONE ELSE'S (not MY) district. If the people of the district like the idea, more power to him. Let him go and run, and if he can get the votes, good for him. It's not for me to tell people in another district who they should choose to represent them.