The problem is not Dennis Kucinich's ideas, its his campaigning.

[rinsd]

So I happen across the recent story of Kucinich being excluded from Harkin's Steak Fry (which I thought was wrong). While reading this story, it comes to my attention that Kucinich has virtually zero official presence in IA. So I go to the Kucinich website, where some supporters are understandably upset. Those threads seem to confirm he had little organization in IA.

Forget the Steak Fry for a second Why does Dennis not have a campaign office up and running full bore in IA? Its only 4 months until voting starts.

This is much like he tepid early efforts at internet fundraising(zero originality and they set the bar far too high for their first event). Other problems early on include his not having much of an official national campaign org until well into the 1st Q of this year (even though he was one of the 1st to officially announce in Dec) and the relaunch of his new website (which is actually quite good) which took until mid-summer. Dennis has many dedicated supporters who saw their energy unharnessed without official direction.

For Dennis to get traction and attention, he needed to bust right out of the gate.

We saw a bit of this in 2004 and we were warned here by two former Kucinich staffers that his campaign and not his ideas were the problem.

I'm not doing this to bag on Dennis who I think is a good man. And its not too late for his campaign to turn in around and gain some traction(though I think his chances are slim at best for the nomination). But I think people need to look at his campaign and look at ways where things can be improved upon instead of dealing in conspiracy stuff.

[graywarrior]

1. According to someone I know who is working his NH campaign,

he doesn't have enough money, so he is picking and choosing where he shows up.

[Tellurian]

2. Someone in IA reported they were "giving" him the resources..

all he needed to do was use them..

[graywarrior]

3. Who is "they".

[peace13]

4. Talk , talk , talk.

What have you done to help the man? Money and time is all it takes. Peace, Kim

[graywarrior]

6. I am headed to NH to work for the man

So much for talk talk talk

[peace13]

8. Sorry I obviously responded to the wrong post.

It is wonderful that you are headed to NH. I have been beating the bushes here in OH looking for like minds. Ended up buying 100 Kucinich buttons. When I find someone who likes it I give some away and when I get the 'unelectable' line I pass the button over with a suggestion that they check out the website. Good luck in NH. Peace, Kim

[graywarrior]

11. .

:loveya:

[redqueen]

5. He never has enough money.

Ah well... guess we get to subsidize corporations for another decade or so...

[Freddie Stubbs]

30. He has enough money to fly out to Hawaii last weekend

[ChipperbackDemocrat]

7. I agree 100%

I support Kucinich and I've put my money where my mouth is...and I agree.


There's an army of volunteers for you nationwide, Dennis...me included... We're mobilized! But you have to be as well.

GET YOUR BUTT TO IOWA AND NEW HAMPSHIRE AND GET DOWN TO BUSINESS.

And don't cry about invitations and money. We're a guerilla campaign. We're outmanned and outgunned. We aren't going to get the big checks and we know it. We have to engage in creative non-violence if were gonna pull this off.

Forget about being invited to a steak fry...Dennis and his people should camp out in an old beat-up car sort of like the one Dennis had to live in as a kid and park it right in front of the Steak Fry and say...

DO YOU WANT A PRESIDENT WHO DOESN'T KNOW WHAT YOU GO THROUGH? OR ONE WHO'S BEEN THROUGH WHAT YOU'RE GOING THROUGH. DO YOU WANT A PRESIDENT FOR THEM? OR FOR YOU?

Be in front of the AARP forum with your supporters right outside and as the people are walking in say...IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR A HEALTH CARE PLAN THAT WORKS FOR YOU...YOU WON'T HEAR ABOUT IN THERE.

They only way we'll get a strength through peace agenda is if we fight for it.

We have to quit whining and get working.

[cobalt1999]

9. Because he is not serious about winning.

His whole "campaign" is to get his message out, not to actually do the hard work of trying to win. If a candidate is short of money, then they SHOULD focus their limited resources on Iowa/NH. Instead Kucinich is flirting around the whole country without doing the heavy lifting in the early primary states.

[penguin7]

13. It seems to me that IA is very expensive with low

return per dollar from the very little I know about it.

[cobalt1999]

15. But he has money to fly around and campaign in large states like Florida and California?

That doesn't make much sense either. How is that a strategy to win? If he doesn't have much money, then he NEEDS to do well in the early states in order to build momentum. If not, how will he compete when the real expensive states start voting? Just what kind of strategy does he have?

Sorry, I don't see anything in his approach/strategy that tells me that he's doing anything except trying to make a few message points. He sure isn't trying to win anything.

[LWolf]

20. I can't speak for Florida, but I do know

that he has a lot of support in CA, and a lot of his funds come from there.

[Freddie Stubbs]

24. A large percentage of a small amount of money is still a small amount of money

As of the last reporting period, he raised less than $100,000 in California:

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/geog.asp?id=N00003572&cycle=2008

[cobalt1999]

27. Odd, Cleveland & Ohio don't even rank in a list with very low numbers.

You'd think his own constituents would pony up at least $8,400 to make the top metro list.

[Freddie Stubbs]

28. He didn't do very well in Ohio in the last presidential primary

Maybe they just don't think that he is presidential material.

[Freddie Stubbs]

23. He was in Hawaii this past weekend

Hawaii is a small state with few delegates, and its primary is in late February, long after the nominee will decided. But I guess they have some nice beaches there.

[Freddie Stubbs]

10. If the man can't organize a camapign, what makes people think he can manage the Executive branch?

:shrug:

[penguin7]

14. He is very short of funds so your criticism is not quite fair.

[Freddie Stubbs]

17. A more competent candidate would be able to raise the necessary funds

Last time the excuse was that Dean stole his thunder. What is his excuse this tiem.

[polichick]

12. That's a pretty low blow...

...being left off the invite list to Harkin's Steak Fry is sort of like being frozen out of the family picnic. Bummer.

[DemBones DemBones]

16. Tells us a lot about Tom Harkin, doesn't it?

I think he's probably supporting Clinton but that doesn't mean he ought to exclude anyone who's running from his famous "Steak Fry."

Some Dems are not really party supporters. Dennis will stay in the party even though it stomps on him. He's a real party supporter. Maybe he shouldn't be.

[polichick]

33. You're right, "Maybe he shouldn't be."

Maybe a lot of us shouldn't be ~ could be the right time for a coup!

[Ninja Jordan]

18. Why would he be invited to the steak fry? (1) He isn't campaigning in Iowa, and (2) he's a vegan.

eom

[LWolf]

19. I wonder if it might be

that without the large corporate purse strings of the other candidates, he doesn't have the resources to set up enough campaign offices.

I wonder if some of what you are talking about is the reason why he has a new campaign manager.

Personally, I'm ambivalent about the "have to be busy in Iowa" thing. I understand the reality. I just really don't think it is democratic to allow one state's votes to influence the outcome of an election more than another.

The Democratic Party ought to be democratic, in my opinion.

That issue aside, I'm sure that if he had the dollars, there would be a bigger presence. I'm a huge DK supporter, and I've hardly sent him anything. He got everything I had in '04, and he'll get everything I have now, but what I have now is almost nothing. I wonder if, being a supporter and defender of the "have nots," he gets less $$ from individual donors because they are poorer than those supporting other candidates; that along with the lack of corporate ties may limit his options.

That's a shame, in my opinion.

Edited to add:

I guess I'll read the many responses already posted now, lol.

[dionysus]

21. he doesn't have basically unlimited dough to spend

like the top 3.

no cash no infastructure like that..

[Freddie Stubbs]

22. But even the lower tier candidates like Dodd, Richardson, and Biden have

made the effort to establish an active campaign organization in the Iowa.

[wuushew]

26. Perhaps you could be more productive emailing his campagin or donating some money

Since your above posts are surely a sign of your noble concern for all the Democratic candidates :sarcasm:

[Freddie Stubbs]

29. I have already donated to a candidate

[Kingofalldems]

31. Why is this guy so concerned with Kucinich?

My opinion---he likes to mess with us. I'm not even a Kucinich supporter and the continual trashing of a loyal Democrat makes me sick.

[zulchzulu]

25. A true story from a Kucinich supporter in September, 2003 with Kucinich

I have a friend who was a die-hard Kucinich fan and had the opportunity to drive Dennis Kucinich to the Fighting Bob Fest in Baraboo, Wisconsin. It's a 45 minute drive from Madison.

He picked up Dennis at the airport and was really enthused about the idea of driving him to the event to speak. When Dennis and another member of his entourage came to the car, the guy handling Dennis basically told him to say nothing, turn off the radio and just drive to the event. So this guy, who was an avid fan, was treated like some kind of lackey. He got no gas money and was told when he got there at the event to stay near the car in case Dennis needed to leave suddenly.

Like a loyal fan, he just sat in his car for four hours and didn't even get a chance to see the speech.

When Dennis and his buddy came to the car after speaking and without even stopping by the Kucinich stand of volunteers in the exhibition hall (they were very nice folks), he was told that they needed to get to the airport pretty quickly (as in speed in a small town waiting to arrest hippies and lefties) and was told not to talk or have the radio on. Both guys just read to each other and Dennis talked a couple times on his cell phone. He gave him a limp handshake and a muttered thank you when he got them to the airport. No photograph... no gas money... nothing...

My friend was so pissed off by the experience. He can't stand Kucinich now because he thinks he's a self-centered prick.

I could imagine what it's like to campaign with him. All campaigns are tense, but while I did some driving and other things for the Kerry campaign, there was at least some civility and actual conversation allowed...and beer.

:thumbsup:

[polichick]

34. I'm surprised about Kucinich, but not about Kerry...

I felt bad for Kerry when the police tasered that kid in his audience ~ it was obvious he wanted to answer the question.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

35. That wasn't my experience at all in the Minnesota campaign

One day he spoke at four events, first a discussion with union leaders, then an audtorium speech, and after the third event, which was a dinner, he stayed afterwards to pose for pictures with the kitchen staff. Then he attended a party and shmoozed with the guests there till nearly midnight.

I was close to the "front lines" for two of his four appearances in Minnesota, and I found him to be admirably approachable.

By the way, last time, a lot of his "Iowa staff" was volunteers from Minnesota. He actually won the county that the Minnesota volunteers concentrated on.

[ddeclue]

32. NO $$$$$$

[martymar64]

36. Other candidates need to coopt some of DK's ideas

It will increase their own standing and it would help to influence the Party platform when the convention comes around. If an active DK contingent get to work then, they could sway what stance the planks will take.