I do not like Cimperman – I’ve never met him formally though I’ve seen him at least twice meeting with people in coffee shops downtown. I don’t like the stunts he’s pulled or the laissez-faire in some of his attitude and the connections people talk about him having are of concern.

But who am I to say – about him or Kucinich? Really?

If his constituents are liking what he does for them, there’s little more to say. Why I then go and say it, well – that’s my mistake and I should stop I suppose. Lesson learned.

Maybe so few of us are willing to look crazy for what we believe in anymore that we don’t recognize it when passion gets the upperhand – we shouldn’t be so quick to laugh at it.

I could also be wrong since I’ve never worked for him – it’s just a sense I get.

My dad earned a decent living working in the steel mill and my mom worked part-time in the hospital dietary department. They bought a house in an urban neighborhood that was safe for their kids, sent them to an urban school that gave them a good education, and helped them the best they could by giving them room and board while they worked for their tuition and books and commuted from home to local colleges.

Today, the job my dad had doesn’t exist in the United States, and real wages for working people in this country are steadily declining. The neighborhood where I grew up isn’t safe anymore, and the schools I went to aren’t preparing most of the kids for a job that will provide them and their families with a decent living when they grow up.

Dennis represents people like my son who didn’t go to college, but goes to work everyday doing one of those jobs that President Bush claims Americans won’t do. At the wage he makes, it would take him 30 hours of working to pay for one of John Edward’s haircuts.

I know they made fun of Dennis, and he didn’t have a chance of winning, but he got in a few good points during those debates and he got national attention. As far as representing his district, I often watched him speak from the house floor (on C-span) during the time he wasn’t running for president. I just wonder who from his district was tuned in to hear what he had to say. Certainly his comments never appeared on national television until he ran for president.

Dennis had hard working parents like mine, grew up in a neighborhood like mine, and still lives there. I don’t think he has lost touch with the people he represents or their interests.

I’ve played the low buck campaign with a lot more respectful press than Dennis got and even then it’s real tough. The worst thing said about me was that I was the most conservative of 4 Democratic candidates – it was stupid even if it was the state’s biggest paper (oh, that was coupled with “weak on policy”). Back on topic, Dennis himself made things more difficult, but for the NYT to go off on “blame the MSM” is about rudely inaccurate, because it was true. While I haven’t, other people than Dennis have seen unexplained things in the sky, some well respected people; and some people are short and have nice looking wives – some people are married to a person who got in real public messes over being married and… has that been a real campaign topic?

For the MSM to assert in snotty tones that they’ve played straight with Kucinich is laughable on its face. Dennis was not going to win, not from any point, not with favorable media, it wasn’t going to happen. But he did keep dragging the debate left and now we have to count on Edwards who has a lot less record in that respect.

Dennis was wrong on the BOR, specifically #2, and waving a copy of the Constitution and being that wrong on #2 wears on somebody like me, so he wasn’t going to get my vote. Edwards is weak on it, but not stupidly or fanatically so I was headed there anyhow.

I’ve nicely hijacked this, thanks Jill,
Chuck