Dennis Kucinich Enters 2008 Presidential Race

When Democratic Rep Dennis Kucinich ran for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, he was dismissed as an anti-war nut. He garnered only 70 of the 2,162 delegates he would have needed to secure the nod.

Kucinich was undeterred by a press that ignored his campaign and a Democratic party that acted as if he didn’t exist. The noble maverick remained in the race to the bitter end.

But the political landscape has dramatically changed as the situation in Iraq continues to slide into anarchy. Now most politicians, including some Republicans, have adopted an anti-war stance.

But politicians, including most Democrats, who rail against the Iraq war, are all hot air and no substance. Their bluster is not matched by any substantial proposals to bring the war to an immediate end. Indeed, not a single Democrat in Congress, as far as I know, has called for an end to the funding of the war.

Dennis Kucinich is running for president again, and this time he is not tilting at windmills. I must admit that I didn’t take him seriously in 2004, but this time I will give his campaign a serious look.

Kucinich has little chance of winning the Democratic nomination, but hopefully his candidacy will shame the Democrats who support funding an immoral and illegal war.

Dennis Kucinich eloquently argues:

Unless and until Congress decides to force a new direction by cutting off funds, the United States will continue to occupy Iraq and have a destabilizing presence in the Middle East region.”

This time most of the American voters agree with Kucinich that the Iraq war is a disaster. Kucinich may not win the Democratic nomination, but he will get a lot more than 70 delegates and his anti-war oratory will influence the course of the campaign.

A vote for Kucinich will not be an act of futility, but a clarion call to bring this insane war to an immediate end.