Presidential candidate to speak tonight
By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich, first of the 2004 presidential candidates to visit Hawai'i, will speak at 6 p.m. today at the Church of the Crossroads.
Advertiser library photo • Oct. 13, 2003
Kucinich, a four-term liberal Democrat, voted against the Bush administration's Patriot Act and has vowed to repeal it if elected.
Democratic presidential hopeful Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, a four-term congressman who has been steadfast in his opposition to military operations in Iraq, will speak at 6 tonight at Church of the Crossroads, 1212 University Ave. He is the first of the Democratic contenders to visit Hawai'i.
He opposes military action in Iraq and proposes to pull U.S. troops out and ask the United Nations to send a multinational peacekeeping force, supplemented with Iraqis commissioned as police and military. Under his plan, the United Nations would also temporarily administer the country's oil and other resources.
Kucinich launched his political career in the early 1970s and became mayor of Cleveland, at age 31, in 1977. He was defeated in 1979 after a city financial crisis.
In 1994 he re-entered politics as a state senator, and two years later was elected to Congress. He is chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
He supports universal healthcare, proposes to return the retirement age to 65 and opposes the privatization of Social Security.
He wants to establish a Department of Peace, an office that would serve as a conduit for nonviolent domestic and foreign policies.
Kucinich gave a speech in early 2002 in which he spoke out against measures proposed by the Bush administration as means of combating terrorism, and encouraged others to do the same as a show of patriotism. The speech was disseminated on the Internet and thousands of people e-mailed him and asked him to run.
Kucinich has been a critic of corporate agricultural monopolies and an advocate of food safety and environmental laws for factory farming operations.
He formally declared his candidacy Monday and became the first of the 10 Democratic candidates to visit Hawai'i when he made several appearances in Maui this weekend.
Kucinich is endorsed by part-time Maui resident Willie Nelson, who has been a longtime supporter of small farmers in the United States, regularly setting up Farm Aid concerts to raise money for family farmers.
The Maui trip was planned "basically because of the strong support he has there," said David Swanson, a Kucinich campaign spokesman.
The Church of the Crossroads, 1212 University Ave., is behind Varsity Theater; the speech will be in the Weaver Hall portion of the church. More information about the Kucinich campaign is at www.kucinich.us.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Reach Karen Blakeman at 535-2430 or kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.
