Reply #59: DK not Left or Right?

[iowapeacechief]

Kanary wrote: "What Dennis stands for isn't LEFT or RIGHT or CENTRIST: It's people centered. Always has been for him, and always will be. BEcause HE LISTENS."


A personal testimony:

During the night and early morning of May 5-6, 2003, I enjoyed the privilege of several hours up close to Dennis Kucinich, first watching him speak to antiwar students in Iowa City and union supporters in Cedar Rapids and then driving him to Chicago.

Riding through the night, just the two of us, we talked long about the evolution of the man and his ideas since his Cleveland-mayor years. We talked about being out of work and out of favor, about working for peace as a practical pursuit, about trying to be good dads while working for social change.

For me it was a remarkable meeting of minds and spirits. He listened to me, and I felt profoundly heard. And I realized it wasn't just about me. I felt this was a man who connects deeply with people--as individual persons--hour after hour, day after day. (Since then I've seen enough more of him to be sure of it.)

When I urged him to tip back his seat and sleep (he would get no more than three hours' sleep before his early flight to Washington, DC), he said he didn't need much sleep, and we kept talking. He did tip back finally during the last hour, but even then spoke up several times to ask whether I was staying awake okay! (I was. I am a professional driver. We talked about his father the truck driver, too.)

Looking back, I think the moment I really decided I was on his team came early in our conversation (before he could have known where I was coming from), when I asked whether he really considers himself "on the Left" or whether those labels mean anything to him.

"On what topic?" he countered. For me, that was exactly the right answer, and our exchange rolled on from there.