Kucinich cedes contest on home turf in Ohio

[Freddie Stubbs]

02/26/04

Sabrina Eaton
Plain Dealer Bureau


Washington - Most political candidates view winning on their home turf as a point of honor.

Sen. John Edwards, who was born in South Carolina, called the state a "must win" for his campaign and threw his resources into prevailing there. Al Gore's political credibility was crushed when he lost his native Tennessee to George Bush in the 2000 presidential campaign.

Then there's the White House bid of Dennis Kucinich, the Democratic congressman from Cleveland's West Side.

When Edwards and Sen. John Kerry, the front-runner in the Democratic race, visited Cleveland, Toledo and Youngstown this week to court voters for Tuesday's delegate-rich Ohio primary, Kucinich was thousands of miles away. Rather than stump on his own turf while his competitors spoke at Ohio factories, union halls and colleges, Kucinich ceded his home state.

more: http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1077791586314951.xml

[Kanary]

1. Now *there's* an unbiased media report

No spin there. :eyes:

Hawai'i kicked the fear up a notch, eh?

Kanary, watching Seabiscuit run

[no name no slogan]

12. It did. Edwards is COMING BACK to MN this week

Edwards was just here on Saturday, and he's coming back again this FRIDAY after DK outdrew him with almost no attention from the big media players in town. Edwards' wife appearance in Duluth only drew 75 people Monday, after DK drew 300 the previous Friday.

Kerry was just here last night and drew the same amount of people to his event that DK did to his event last Saturday. Of course, all the local Dem bigwigs were there, and he got several columns on the front page-- while DK got NOTHING about his major event.

This could become a two-man race very soon.......a Kerry/Kucinich race!

[morgan2]

2. how ridiculous

kucinich has spent more time campaigning there than any other candidate... These people have no shame

[Freddie Stubbs]

5. So I suppose that he will have no trouble carrying his home state

the place where they know him best.

[asthmaticeog]

3. Eh, consider the source.

The Plain Dealer is the only daily in Cleveland. It's ridiculously pro-corporate, totally in the pocket of the development sector that always wants (and gets) tax abatements, but don't live here or send their kids to our schools, which are being wrecked by the lack of property taxes from development. Keep that perspective in mind when you read any single thing in that abominable rag - it exists solely to serve business-sector cash-sponges. Dennis was here in Cleveburg for much of the last two freakin' weeks.

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

4. Didnt the PD oppose Kucincih while he was mayor?

I thought that they did. But then wrote some good things about him later.

This does sound like a hit piece. Kucinich was in Dayton last week campaigning.

[diamondsoul]

6. No kidding! He was just THERE

on the 18th! I know because I was ticked off that I couldn't get over there to see him speak!

[asthmaticeog]

13. Yeah, they opposed him...

....but so did everyone. It's ironic; he was in fact a crap mayor (too young, no administrative experience, tried to do too much with too few people with zero governing experience, I could go on...), but the one thing he did of enduring value - saving the public power utility, still incredibly important to this day - was the thing that sparked the recall attempt that he barely survived, and sealed his loss to the The Weenie George Voinovich in the next election year. He's been nothing short of superlative in Congress, though. If all he had on his resume was his tenure as mayor, I'd be supporting someone else, but he grew up and he totally rocks now. Screw the P.D.

[goodhue]

7. inaccurate story

ignores fact that Dennis has been campaigning in Ohio a lot over the last two weeks. Late last week he was in Ohio for at least several days. Certainly Kucinich is not favored to win Ohio, but he has absolutely not "ceded" anything.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

8. Yesterday's New York Times

had a front-page article on Dems campaigning in Ohio to appeal to labor. It was all about Kerry and Edwards. The only mention of Kucinich was that the Plain Dealer had written a dismissive headline about him.

No, the New York Times isn't biased. Their attitude towards DK is, "If you can't say something snide, don't say anything at all."

On edit: By the way, that's $90 for Dennis.

[revcarol]

9. Those $5.00 contributions do mount up!!

Seriously though, labor has been sold down the river with a candidate who voted wholeheartedly for all the free trade that is accelerating the loss of manufacturing.

'Bout time labor started listening to the REAL labor candidate and CONTRIBUTING to his campaign.

$5.00 MORE for Dennis, NEXT MONTH, yukko, my finances are shot down by two doctor visits and medicine.

[no name no slogan]

10. Have you seen the totals in the last 24 hours?

I read something on one of the DK listservs that his fundraising total has shot up over $750,000 in the last 24 hours!

That's excellent news!

[redqueen]

11. Are you sure that's not from the Onion?

Man, the media is really starting to get scared, aren't they?

A second-place finish for Dennis in HI must have got them on Red Alert!

I wonder how many Democrats are picking up on the difference in treatment he receives.

I know it's hard for a lot of them to do so, as it requires that they recognize past dismissals of the antagonistic way the media treats Dennis as totally and completely wrong. And God knows people can't stand to admit they're wrong.

Go Dennis!

:loveya:

[WI_DEM]

14. Dennis will get quite a few delegates from Ohio

Plus look for him to do well in Vermont, Massachusetts, and Minnesota. I think he will get over 30% in Kerry's homestate and come in second there--and help keep Kerry under 50%.

[asthmaticeog]

15. A BIT MORE INFO

The author of that piece is in the Washington Bureau - she probably sees DK campaigning elsewhere this week, and didn't know about the last couple of weeks. Editing & vetting between bureaus is crummy at that paper.

ALSO - the same reporter was writing a feature-length pro-DK piece for Mother Jones, but was prevented from doing so by her higher-ups at the P.D. Scuttlebutt has it she's looking for work elsewhere because of being forbidden to freelance for a higher-profile pub. This piece might be more of a regrettable fuckup than a hatchet piece.