Kucinich to drop out before convention,claims Cleveland's daily

[Algorem]

Mark Naymik: 2008 Ohio politics - you heard it first here

http://www.cleveland.com/news/naymik/index.ssf?/base/opinion-0/1199179860154790.xml&coll=2&thispage=2

Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Mark Naymik
Plain Dealer Columnist

...Cleveland Congressman Kucinich will not win the Democratic presidential nomination. He also won't keep up the chase until the Democratic National Convention, as he did in 2004.

Kucinich will exit the race early to run for re-election, having drawn several serious opponents. (He'll announce this week.)...

Before anyone has spent a dime to tarnish his name, Kucinich has lost his luster, according to a November poll of 600 registered Democrats his district.

The poll, conducted by the Triad Research Group, shows that voters have a less favorable view of him than they did two years ago. Though still solid, that rating slid from 76 percent to 59 percent. And the percentage of voters who said Kucinich has done a good or excellent job as a congressman has dropped over the last two years from 74 percent to 56 percent, according to the poll...

Naymik is The Plain Dealer's politics reporter.

To reach Mark Naymik:

[email protected], 216-999-4849

Previous columns online:

cleveland.com/columns

[Greeby]

1. Hey, Plain Dealer

Bite me

[geiger]

2. dont kill the messenger; this is just how it goes

[Algorem]

4. sorry about that "this week" thing.will announce congessional run

this week,not drop out this week,i guess,IF this guy,who bashes Kucinich regularly,is right

[LaurenG]

3. I knew that he would, eventually. I really like him.

:(

[DemKR]

5. THANK YOU DENNIS n/t

[ima_sinnic]

9. ? you think the Kucinich supporters are going to switch to Hillary??

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Clintonista2]

36. Yea, all 12 of them will probably switch to Edwards

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[cyclezealot]

11. as it would change my priorites

the rest of the Demomcratic herd excite me not in the least. They shift with the wind. In particular their health care positions are unacceptable. Should this happen, our interests will shift from the presidency to the Congress. Our money and time will go Kucinich for Congress , Tom Allen for US Senate in Maine and Tom Udall in N.M. We will only become more enthusiatic for the presidential race, when their healthcare positions are acceptable. / I hope Ohio voters are not so fickle. I see the Cleveland Federation of Labor has endorsed Dennis overwhealmingly, with over 100,000 members in Dennis' district. One reason Kucinich could have done better in his race for the presidency is, he has not abandoned his congressional duties as has Hillary. Dennis only campaigns on weekends.

[onenote]

20. actually, DK has missed a number of votes

He has missed nearly 12 percent of the House votes this Congress, giving him the 29th worst voting record in Congress. Or, put another way, over 400 members of Congress have missed fewer votes than DK.

And while Clinton has missed a higher percentage of Senate votes (23%), she has a significantly better attendance record than Obama, Dodd, or Biden (each having missed over 35% of Senate votes this session), which thus raises the question of why you singled her out.

[cyclezealot]

24. no particular reason

other than I think her voting record stinks. Too bad she did not miss the vote authroizing Bush's call to start war in Iraq. Kucinich's policy is to be in Congress four days a week. Congress normally meets only four days a week. I see Rep. Ron Paul, this past year missed out on 27.2% of the time.

[HughBeaumont]

6. The Blame Dealer hates, and will always hate, Kucinich.

It's run by curmudgeon angry white men who blame "libruls" for everything wrong, when in reality it's the party they blindly support.

In that same paper today, there was a Bill Safire column predicting that in 2008, our ticket will be Clinton/Obama and they'll lose to President-elect McCain.

:rofl: on both counts.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

7. Safire is syndicated.

I'd hardly blame the Plain Dealer for the amusing contents of his mind. That said it's still a pretty crap paper.

[undeterred]

23. Exactly. They want him to drop out.

[Freddie Stubbs]

50. I want him to stay in

[Annces]

8. I don't suppose the messenger actually wants Kucinich to drop out

No he is just reporting the facts faithfully. (sarcasm)

[stillcool]

10. Claims "Mark Naymik"

with his crystal ball.

[flvegan]

12. If it's true, it's our loss. And we will deserve what we wind up with.

Alas, we'll all still get to come here to piss 'n moan about how * got away with it, how our health insurance sucks, how we're still funding at least the one war, and on and on.

[cyclezealot]

13. for three years we piss and moan.

and when we have a chance to vote for, what a vast majority seem to want; they betray their views and go with the pretty face.

[robcon]

15. "vast majority seem to want"???????

About 1% of Democrats want Kucinich - fewer than in '04 if my memory is correct.

Delusional much?

[cyclezealot]

18. not delusional

I say its that we have standards. Some of us are not so easily swayed by imagery.

[robcon]

30. duplicate post

n/t

[robcon]

31. You act as if Kucinich hasn't been rejected based on issues.

If you read his proposal for a Dept of Peace, the stupidest and most naive political proposal I have read in my life, you'd understand that much of the resistance to DK's charms is based on his lack of intellect and substance.

As I've written on DU before, he'd be a danger to our country as president. Nice guy, strong on integrity, weak on brains and he'd be eaten alive by every other leader in the world. He's the only Democrat I would not vote for in the GE - not that he's going to win the nomination.

[cyclezealot]

32. He has not been allowed an honest chance to speak

since the beginning. First there was the hassles with Blitzer. The likes of Matthews prepped the meida's conditioning of Kucinich's ideas before the whole primary season started. There is nothing wrong with the idea of a Dept of Peace. At least in some form. A chance to review the war making goals of the Dept of Defense. Ceratinly after the shooting incidencts of the last couple weeks, some kind of support for stressed out American's need be considered. As to his views on healthcare and Iraq, polls show he is in the majority. Kucinich is about the only one many of will vote for.

[robcon]

37. "many" will vote for him!!!!!! (about 1% of Democrats)

and I suppose you wonder why I call you delusional.

{as far as the Dept of Peace - read the write-up on his site. Look at its purpose and rationale, and how it would "work." I challenge you to find a stupider proposal, or one more dripping in naivete.]

[midlife_mo_Jo]

45. Yeah, his department of peace is a joke to me, too

Sorry, I've never been able to muster up real enthusiasm for him. He's a flake who has no chances of winning, even if some of his ideas are good. Dreamers always have good ideas, but I want a DO-ER, not a dreamer.

[Echo In Light]

19. = America. Sleep tight...

[mmonk]

14. If true, Godspeed Dennis. I'll send you contributions

to hold your seat. Truth tellers are often called quacks and Quixotic, especially in heavily propagandized populations. But always walk the right path and never yield up or forsake the truth for political convenience.

[cyclezealot]

17. We give to the Kucinich presidential race more than we can afford

It's our hope should this story turn out to be true, that our funds that went to his presidential race would be transferred to his Congressional race. Not that we won't try to contribute a little more to either race.

[book_worm]

16. I don't think DK has been making a serious bid for the nomination anyway, so he may as well run

to try and retain his congressional seat.

[mdmc]

21. I hope he backs Edwards

I am all for DK, but there is no shot at anything for him.

[fujiyama]

22. Kucinich should focus on his congressional seat

and the opposition he has in the primary.

[cyclezealot]

26. as long as he is a reliable force for

Single Payer and Peace, what is important is he be there . No matter from what podium. Because few others can count on being reliable.

[NorthernSpy]

25. he wrecked his campaign with the Ron Paul fiasco...

That harshed the buzz for me, and for a lot of his base.


Consequently, when Kucinich needed overwhelming support to get him into that Iowa debate, a lot of us who had previously supported him had already moved on to the lesser-evil stage with the remaining candidates.


His own fault, really.

[undeterred]

27. The only place it was a big deal was on DU

and with other people who live their lives on the internet.

[NorthernSpy]

46. yeah -- like the Kucinich campaign itself...

I remember one post that declared that the race was down to Dennis Kucinich versus Ron Paul for "President of the Internets".


It was apt, much as I didn't like to acknowledge it at the time.


If you bill yourself as an uncompromising progressive, and then go on to make overtures to the far right, don't be too shocked if your supporters get angry. Speaking for myself, that whole episode was extremely alienating.

[book_worm]

28. I'm not so sure that was all it

obviously it didn't help, but I don't think he has been making as much of a run as he did in '04. I think that he would or will do worse this time than even in '04. He has no real strategy. If he were serious the question is "where are you going to make your stand and show that you can do well?" I haven't seen that. Also, I do think Paul has preempted his anti-war, anti-establishment message.

[Kucinich4America]

35. Please... that thing was more distorted than the "Dean Scream"

He never even said anything about making Mr. Libertarian Delusion man his running mate.

Most of the people pushing that bullshit story were the same ones defending the Clintons for saying they would use Poppy Bush and Colon Bowels to "restore America's standing in the world" (which the two of them - along with the rest of their crime family - fucked up in the first place.)

[PeaceNikki]

38. Yes, he did say it.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2007/11/the-buzz-about.html
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/119606963456620.xml&coll=2


"I'm thinking about Ron Paul" as a running mate, Kucinich told a crowd of about 70 supporters at a house party here, one of numerous stops throughout New Hampshire over the Thanksgiving weekend. A Kucinich-Paul administration could bring people together "to balance the energies in this country," Kucinich said.

[Freddie Stubbs]

47. Do you really think that he would have been a viable candidate if not for the Ron Paul thing?

He wasn't raising any more money or polling higher than he did last time.

[NorthernSpy]

49. I think we could have gotten him into the Iowa debate...

That would have given the progressive point of view a voice in that forum.


That's worth something, right?

[Eurobabe]

29. We need Dennis in Congress, this is a smart move

He wants to keep his seat, and Ohio needs him. Go Dennis!

FWIW, if my candidate Biden doesn't crack the top 3, I believe he will drop out too, he has said so.

[Freddie Stubbs]

41. Yes, he has been quite effective there

[Kucinich4America]

33. Reading Kucinich articles in the Plain Crack Dealer is like reading reviews of hip-hop albums

in the "Daily Klansman".

[Individualist]

34. DK isn't a quitter

[Freddie Stubbs]

48. He quit his seat on the Cleveland City Council in the mid-eighties to

run for Ohio Governor, but than quit that race.

[SoCalDem]

39. If he looked like and was as tall as Mittens, he could be our front-runner

yes we (Americans) ARE that shallow :(

[PeaceNikki]

40. I doubt that very much

He holds some radical views and the inability to negotiate. He's very much of an "all or nothing" kinda guy.

And we all know what that kind of inability to "budge" has gotten us in the past 8 years. :eyes:

[OzarkDem]

42. Naymik is such an a**

pimping for Nazis is the name of his game.

Pee Dee has also been regularly bashing SOS Jennifer Brunner and the Cuy Co BOE for rejecting Diebold electronic voting machines. They've been pretty relentless, a good sign that it has really hurt the GOP efforts to steal Ohio again.

[Stinky The Clown]

43. The Plain Dealer is nothing more than fish wrapper

It used to be a respected paper. It was sold recently and is now run by members of The Vast Right Wing Conspiracy or whateverethefuck they call themselves these days.

That's not to say the underlying story is right or wrong. It IS to say that if the PD says it ....... ask follow-up questions.

[Yael]

44. I think this is a smart move

Dennis lost me with his declaration that he would institute reparations. Just a thing with me, I guess.

He has my undivided attention on HR 676 and we can't afford to lose that voice. Once he announces, I will be donating to his reelection bid.