Has Kucinich ever been bashed here on DU?

[T Roosevelt]

And if not, then why? From the time this election season began, Dean (biggest target), Clark (second biggest target?), Lieberman (who really deserved it), and now Edwards and Kerry have been or are being bashed left and right. Yet I can't recall ever seeing a thread bashing Dennis (except when he clarified his stance on abortion).

How is it that he has avoided what almost every other candidate has experienced? Are we simply more respectful of him, or is it that he has never been in the lead and so wasn't a worthy target? Or have I managed to avoid all the Dennis-bashing threads (probably very easy given the Dean-bashing that's gone on here).

[Edge]

1. It's because Dennis is truly a good man...

he doesn't need or deserve to be bashed.

And I think him being behind the others has helped. :shrug:

[Tweed]

2. Nope

Candidates only get bashed when they pose a threat. That's why Sharpton doen't get bashed either. You didn't even mention him.

[liberty rising]

19. Wrong, Tweed...Dennis poses a major threat

to corporate criminals, to the current war machine that is our government, to the corporate owned and run media conglomerate...he's been bashed here also by those whose candidates of choice (except Sharpton) have been stealing Kucinich's words and agenda for the past several months.

a year ago when Kucinich spoke out, loud and clear, against the invasion of iraq, he was the lone voice of courage...now everyone wants to be "JUST LIKE DENNIS"

because of Kucinich, the other candidates feel safe (or pressured) to speak out against NAFTA; to speak out against the war...

regardless of whom feels threatened by Kucinich, he marches on, he will not be silenced and he cannot be bought.

[Fovea]

3. I hear an awful lot of unelectable, but even those are

qualified with an 'i like Dennis' in them somewhere.
If you like him, vote for him, because you are not alone. A lot of folks like Dennis. They have just got to decide to follow their instincts, as opposed to today's conventional wisdom.

[Terwilliger]

4. Tell us...what do you want to bash Dennis on?

:shrug:

[T Roosevelt]

11. I don't want to bash him on anything

It just struck me that he of all the candidates has experienced the least amount, and I was wondering if it was out of respect, or that he has never been in the running.

For the record I support Dean, and would gladly throw my support to Dennis over all others.

[9119495]

5. I recall seeing one or two a while back

They were of the "He can't win so why is he running?" variety.

[Mairead]

24. Yeah, there's some petty mean-spiritedness from some more *cough*

'conservative' participants here.

But DK's not getting battered on anything substantive because he's so straightforward about everything. He doesn't try to woffle or re-write his history. Someone tries with the 'you used to vote against women's rights' and he says 'yes, you're right'. Where does the would-be detractor go from there? :)

He was who he was, he is who he is, we can count on him, and he expects that we'll either take him or leave him as we find him. I find it really refreshing!!

[Melinda]

6. Why would he be?

The only issue I can recall as a point of contention has been his conversion to the "pro-life" platform.

But seriously - that aside, why would any of us bash Dennis K? His "party allegiance" has never been in question - has it? What issues do you disagree with him on?

[youngred]

18. He converted to Pro-Choice

in 2001 after having talked to many women who had abortions, not the other way around

[Melinda]

28. I know that, but my fingers apparently have a mind of their own.

Consider it my Homer Simpson moment; D'oh!!!! ;)

[MAlibdem]

7. If my grandmother was a DUer she would

She's from Cleveland and she HATES him. According to her, he was a really crappy mayor. I dunno the details, but apparently he's called Dennis the Meanace.


Good amount of bashing for you? lol.

[Virgil]

8. All the time

He looks like a Munchkin. He is unelectable. He is for single-payer universal health care, He is unelectable, He is for reducing the bloated military budget, He is unelectable, He is for gay marriage, He is unelectable, He wants to end NAFTA, He is unelectable. Look at these polls, he has no recomendations, he is unelectable. He is short.

[Kanary]

12. You forgot the "elf" thing

And that he's unelectable.

Kanary, who's *reallly* unelectable....... :)

[XanaDUer]

22. I remember the "elf" thing

bogus crap.

[ClintonTyree]

32. I believe someone..............

referred to him as a 'garden gnome' as well. Heartless.

[Kanary]

34. That brings up the phrase

"We get what we deserve"

When that's all people can find to talk about, it's quite an indictment on our society.

Kanary

[Elidor]

9. Indeed he was bashed

One person in particular was reduced to a howling screech-monkey at the mere mention of his name, and made demonstrably dubious claims about him. It was quite rancid.

[DisgustedTX]

10. He's only bashed by single-issue voters

The abortioneers have a problem with Dennis. Other than that, it's primarily personal attacks on his appearance and "electability."

Dennis is the TRUE Democratic candidate in this race. An old school PROGRESSIVE Democrat in the same vein that the paleocons worship Raygun.

[Clark Can WIN]

35. The "abortioneers"? Could you clarify that?

Curious.

[Darranar]

13. Yes.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

14. Go check out the thread...

on the Kucinich bashing those lovely folks at the DLC are doing!

It is butt ugly. :(

[roughsatori]

15. Yes NT

[Armstead]

16. He was the subject of bitter flame fests last year

I know because I was praising him before he announced for President, and got caught in the middle of a bunch of fleme fests over hos abortion record.

Kucinich's pro-life positions really raised the rafters here for a few weeks.

[fujiyama]

39. It took me a while...

to forgive him on voting against various family planning aid abroad and stem cell research...oh and then there was flag burning...

No candidate is perfect...but I appreciate having one person in the race that actfually voted AGAINST the PATRIOT Act...

[youngred]

17. You've missed it

there have been plenty.

[TheWebHead]

20. as a presidential candidate he should be bashed

he is useful as a member of the house, but the guy would be an economic disaster as president. You'd literally see a stampede of businesses leaving the U.S., the stock market would crash if he were elected and crash further if he were able to get any of his policies through congress -- which would never happen anyways.

Kucinich's extreme fiscal policies would be the equivalent of dropping a block of ice in a boiling glass of water -- it shatters, when the more logical choice is to just turn down the oven... You'd also see a jump in terrorism because he's too much of a dove for a leadership position.

[Virgil]

23. What extreme policies?

Ending NAFTA? Cutting back on record defense spending? The stock market will go down if they ever properly tax dividends anyway. Companies are leaving. That is why NAFTA and the tariff free trade agreements must end.

[Mairead]

25. Make unsupported allegations much? :-)

[XanaDUer]

21. Oh , YEAH.

I specifically remember DK, one of the finest liberal candidates, being reamed for his , ahem, "screaming" and how embarassing it was when he did that.

Also, low-down cracks about his looks. Total crappola.

[diamondsoul]

27. Hee hee! Shoot,

I'm madly in love with the man and even I told him not to slap or bang his fist on the podium anymore!

I forgot about some of the "screaming" stuff, though.

[Endangered Specie]

26. Ive been known to bash Dennis SUPPORTERS...

and those that actually think he stands/stood a chance, but never the man himself.

[no name no slogan]

31. and you're STILL wrong

...because there's still 90% of the delegates to be awarded in this race. Plus, at the rate they're dropping out, DK could be the only candidate left besides Kerry come convention time.

Don't count your chickens etc....

[corporatewhore]

29. malevolent elf comes to mind ...lets forget about how he has stood up for

us time after time lets make fun of him because he looks "weird" :eyes:

[no name no slogan]

30. Oh yes he has

Search the GD:2004 and C&E sections, and you'll find plenty of examples of DK bashing.

And as for the Dean-bashing, all you have to do is go back a couple months. When Dean was leading in the polls, you could hardly get a word in edgewise over the Kerry-bashing threads.

Also, there has been some Sharpton bashing too. Not as much as the others, but you'll get the occassional Sharpton bash in for good measure.

[Nebraska_Liberal]

33. Sharpton

It isnt hard to bash on Al. Do I have to bring up Tawana Bradley...

Ned

[dawn]

36. If he was one of the top three, he would definitely be bashed.

People would say he's unelectable, too far-left, etc. They'd bring up his divorces, his height, his ears. (kidding on the last two.)

[tmwat]

37. No bashing here about "spirit and stardust"?

I'm a rookie here but that's a big bash from a lot of other quarters.

[Zomby Woof]

38. oh hell yes

Recently some disgruntled supporters of another candidate kept harping about him "selling out" because of the deal with Edwards in Iowa. Wow! Much ado about less than nothing.

As for his record as mayor of Cleveland, he has long been vindicated for saving Muny Light. The banking and private utility interests smeared him awful in the local press - and it ruined his career. No matter, for the people enjoying affordable power now in Cleveland can thank him. He rode that redemption into a 4 term (so far) Congressional career.

[ThirdWheelLegend]

40. Certain people like to ignore that Cleveland awarded Kucinich..

Cleveland, in 1998, actually awarded Kucinich for his foresight in saving the municipal electric company. Kind of ruins that 'bash'.

TWL

p.s. It took me way to long to type that, I am drunk, backspace is my friend.

[LWolf]

41. You must not read many threads

dedicated to Dennis.

He has been bashed, ridiculed, and patronized consistently for the last year.

I don't know if this is different; I could name a list of DUers who regularly show up to bash Dennis, regardless of the topic. Maybe they are a smaller, more vocal group of bashers.