He Can't Win
How do we know Kucinich can't win? A few reasons come to mind.
- He lost badly in 2004.
- He's too crazy and liberal to get elected.
- He lacks necessities like money.
Kucinich's 2004 performance would be a strong argument for why he can't win. His 2004 performance is closely related to the too crazy and liberal reason; he did badly because people thought he was too crazy to get elected. But the political environment is different today than it was in 2004.
The mainstream Democratic position in 2004 was similar to the mainstream Republican position today. The Iraq war was a mistake but US troops have to stay because pulling out would cause chaos in Iraq. Kucinich's pull out of Iraq now position seemed crazy and ultra-liberal in 2004, but it doesn't sound so crazy now. If 100,000 troops are still in Iraq in 2008, Kucinich's position will be mainstream.
But the windbags on the 24-hour news networks will say Kucinich can't win because nobody knows who he is and he can't raise enough money. If nobody know who Kucinich is, that means the news networks aren't doing their jobs. Part of their job is to inform the people about candidates so they can make an informed decision when voting.
Television networks have a conflict of interest when they obsess about raising money. Where does most of the money go that candidates raise? To television networks for air time to show commercials. The networks have a financial incentive to give the most news coverage to candidates who raise the most money. Why cover a candidate who can't afford TV ads when you can cover one who will buy lots of commercial time on your network?
He's Hurting His District
People who oppose Kucinich's candidacy say the time he spends running for President is time he doesn't spend representing his congressional district, which hurts the people in his district. By this logic nobody who holds elective office should run for President, which would eliminate most potential candidates: Hilary Clinton, John McCain, John Kerry, Barack Obama, Tom Vilsack, Mike Huckabee, and Mitt Romney. John Edwards and Al Gore would fight for the Democratic nomination while Rudolph Giuliani, Colin Powell, and Newt Gingrich fight for the Republican nomination.
Why does Kucinich running hurt his district but Hilary Clinton and John McCain running doesn't hurt the people of New York and Arizona?
