tom_thinks
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Did Dennis Kucinich Sell Out Anti-War Democrats?
Check out this interview by Amy Goodman of Democracy Now and Dennic Kucinich
Well to answer the question posed in the title of this post: I don't think so. I think Dennis gets it. We need to get Bush out of the White house. Kucinich fought the good fight, he tried harder than anyone else, with a persistence that brings tears to my eyes, to lead the Democratic party on the path to peace. But he didn't win. In our two party system (which needs to change) we're left with only one viable option for removing Bush from the White House.
If you haven't already please read "The Push" by William Rivers Pitt. There's an excerpt in the post below. Recently Howard Dean, in reference to this election, "When the house is on fire, its not time to fix the furniture." He's right. I would have loved it if Dean was the nominee, he's the first politician I've financially supported. But he isn't the nominee and rather then have my vote allow Bush to remain in power, I'm going to take my chances with Kerry.
Does that mean when Kerry wins I can relax? Not at all. While I might be celebrating wildly on the night of November 2, when I wake up on November 3 I'll be holding Kerry's feet to the fire. I won't be satisfied with giving him a free ride, and neither should anyone else. We all need to keep on working and struggling for peace, social equality, protecting the environment, health care, education, Instant Run-off Voting and a whole host of other issues. Electing John Kerry as president is just one step in the right direction.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, what about the charge that your delegates-- that you backed down because you didn't want to have a platform fight over what many considered a key peace plank in the platform that they wanted to get in.
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH: Well, I still consider the withdrawal from Iraq as being central not only to America's security, but to peace in the world. However, we didn't have the votes to be successful in a platform fight. You know, we barely had enough to start the discussion. I've carried this campaign in challenging the war for two and a half years. But there comes a point where we have to realize, whether we have the votes or not, to be able to prevail in insisting on our point of view, or if we're going to create a rupture that would make it impossible for a Democrat to be elected president.
Well to answer the question posed in the title of this post: I don't think so. I think Dennis gets it. We need to get Bush out of the White house. Kucinich fought the good fight, he tried harder than anyone else, with a persistence that brings tears to my eyes, to lead the Democratic party on the path to peace. But he didn't win. In our two party system (which needs to change) we're left with only one viable option for removing Bush from the White House.
If you haven't already please read "The Push" by William Rivers Pitt. There's an excerpt in the post below. Recently Howard Dean, in reference to this election, "When the house is on fire, its not time to fix the furniture." He's right. I would have loved it if Dean was the nominee, he's the first politician I've financially supported. But he isn't the nominee and rather then have my vote allow Bush to remain in power, I'm going to take my chances with Kerry.
Does that mean when Kerry wins I can relax? Not at all. While I might be celebrating wildly on the night of November 2, when I wake up on November 3 I'll be holding Kerry's feet to the fire. I won't be satisfied with giving him a free ride, and neither should anyone else. We all need to keep on working and struggling for peace, social equality, protecting the environment, health care, education, Instant Run-off Voting and a whole host of other issues. Electing John Kerry as president is just one step in the right direction.
posted by Tom, 7/14/2004 10:42:00 PM
