A Profile of Dennis Kucinich
Anyone interested in the history of Cleveland politics should read this surprisingly good profile piece on Dennis Kucinich from Denise Grollmus in the far-left Cleveland Scene. America has been introduced to him as a caricature of a liberal, but I bet many people would be surprised that not only was he once pro-life and pro-traditional marriage, but he also got involved in racial politics!
Here are two interesting paragraphs:
At the time, Kucinich was running for Congress. Perk’s campaign proved a perfect aqueduct for spreading Kucinich’s own word — which increasingly played on race. At one point, Kucinich even ridiculed his congressional opponent, Robert Minshall, for supporting the creation of a Martin Luther King holiday. To West Side ethnics, the message was clear.
And
With his run for president, Kucinich is no longer catering to the blue-collar West Side, but the American left. He’s no longer anti-gay, anti-abortion Cleveland Catholic, but a pro-choice, anti-war vegan bent on being the most liberal of the Democratic field. Ask supporters for his greatest accomplishments, and they’ll inevitably raise the myth of Muny Light. But Kucinich carefully avoids the rest of his past.
Read the rest here. Could you imagine a Republican being elected as a big-city mayor and hiring a bunch of snot nosed undergrads to run the city government?
