 
Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich (left photo) stood out among the six of the nine Democratic presidential hopefuls who participated in National Public Radio's debate today in Des Moines, Iowa (right photo; from left to right are Richard Gephardt, Kucinich, John Kerry, NPR moderator Neal Conan, Joseph Lieberman, Carol Moseley Braun and Howard Dean). (Associated Press photos)
And the winner is...
I listened to National Public Radio's Democratic debate in Des Moines, Iowa, today and found Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich to be the most compelling of the six debaters by far. (Participating besides Kucinich were former ambassador and former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, Missouri Rep. Richard Gephardt, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry and Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman. Most notably missing in action from today's debate was retired Gen. Wesley Clark -- he wants to be president how badly?)
While Dean, Gephardt, Kerry and Lieberman mostly duked it out over important but dull and often arcane public policy matters -- such as taxes, Medicare, more taxes, Social Security and even more taxes -- and while Braun frequently protested that she was being slighted during the debate, whether she was or not (a victim mentality is not exactly, um, presidential), Kucinich not only competently discussed public policy matters, but he made some brilliant comments about bringing spirituality to politics and taking Christianity back from the "Christian" right (my interpretation).
From the Washington Post's transcript of the debate:
Kucinich: When our country was founded, our founders anticipated a separation of church and state, but they never anticipated that we would be separate from spiritual values. And my spiritual principles, I try to bring them into the material world. I think that's actually why we're here on this planet, so that we can bring spiritual principles into the material world and thereby help to sanctify or uplift the material world.
The Gospel of St. Matthew, in Matthew 25, where he talks about, you know, "Whatever you do for the least of the brethren," ought to be -- that ought to guide some of our social and economic policy in this country: "When I was hungry, did you feed me? When I was homeless, did you shelter me?" You know, there are things that we ought to do to bring spiritual principles into our public policy.
Kucinich is probably the furthest to the left of the nine Democratic candidates, so it's great -- and sublime -- to hear him correctly interpret the quite liberal and socialist teachings of Jesus Christ, which the "Christian" right long ago co-opted and perverted to support its very un-Christian creed of fear, hatred, ignorance, selfishness and greed.
Kucinich handily displayed the most vision at the debate, which set him apart from his fellow debaters. His closing statement demonstrates:
The Iowa and the New Hampshire elections are, in effect, a referendum on this country's policies in Iraq. I stand alone among all the candidates in this race in Iowa in calling for the United States to get out of Iraq. I've had a plan on my Web site now for almost three months, which explains how we can get the U.N. in and the U.S. out of Iraq. It's possible to do that.
And we have a 130,000 troops who are counting on us -- many of them mothers and fathers -- who are counting on us to bring them home, not to leave them there for any reason whatsoever. We need to get the U.N. in and the U.S. out.
My election is going to be a continuation of my leadership. I was the first with a plan to get out of Iraq, the first to oppose the war, the only one in this race who actually voted against the war, the first to oppose the Patriot Act, the only one in this race who voted against the Patriot Act, the first to promote withdrawal from NAFTA and the WTO, the first to draft a plan for single-payer universal health care, and the first to talk about 100 percent parity for our farmers.
This is an election where we can reclaim America. My election is about the end of fear, the beginning of hope and reclaiming our great country. Thank you.
Kucinich is the true anti-Gulf War II candidate, not poser Howard Dean, whose word that if he had been in the the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives he'd have voted against the Iraq war we can only take on faith. (It's easy to claim that one would have made a potentially politically harmful vote, just as it's easy to claim that one would have fought in Vietnam instead, of say, gone skiing in Aspen.) Neither does Dean call for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq like Kucinich does, because that stance would be too unpopular, and when pushed up against the wall, Dean is going to go in whichever direction the wind is blowing.
(Similarly, while Dean poses as the gay-friendly candidate, Dean actually opposes same-sex marriage [he favors "civil unions," a watered-down, namby-pamby version of marriage that is more palatable to homophobes], because to support same-sex marriage is too much of a political liability. Kucinich, who has balls and is willing to take politically risky stances, supports same-sex marriage.)
While Kucinich demonstrated true vision during today's debate, Dean, Gephardt, Kerry and Lieberman's obsession with taxes reminds me of the Republicans' obsession with taxes. Surely there is more to life and there are more pressing matters than taxes, and if that's all that the Democrats want to talk about, then they can't bitch and moan when disaffected people talk about the disappearing differences between Democrats and Republicans.
Kucinich also delivered the funniest line during the debate, a line that The Associated Press made a small news story all by itself:
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Federal spending was the topic and Democratic presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich came prepared with a pie chart to argue his point about a bloated Pentagon budget.
But although many listened to Tuesday's presidential debate, few could see the Ohio congressman's prop.
The debate was broadcast only on National Public Radio.
As Kucinich challenged Democratic front-runner Howard Dean for refusing to acknowledge that the Pentagon budget needs to be cut, debate moderator Neal Conan of NPR interrupted.
"Congressman Kucinich is holding up a pie chart, which is not truly effective on radio," Conan told his listeners.
Kucinich was not deterred.
"Well, it's effective if Howard can see it," he replied.
It's no wonder that I was so impressed with Kucinich today. (I must confess that today's Democratic debate was the first of the Democratic debates I've listened to because I watch very little television but listen to NPR at work.) Back in July, I took SelectSmart.com's "2004 American Presidential Candidate Selector," a 16-question online quiz that determines with which 2004 presidential candidate your views most agree. My top five results (which I posted) were: Kucinich, in 96 percent agreement with my views; Kerry, in 85 percent agreement; Gephardt, 77 percent; and Lieberman and Dean, tied at 75 percent (funny that Lieberman casts himself as the ultimate anti-Dean when they ranked the same for me).
But, alas, Kucinich is too brilliant -- and probably too good -- to ever be president of the United States. (If brilliance and goodness are disqualifications for the presidency, then our current "president" is eminently qualified.) While I was eating up what Kucinich said today, your average American (who wouldn't be listening to a debate on National Public Radio, of course), if he or she heard what Kucinich said today, would think him a geek or a wimp or both. (I'll bet that Dennis was beat up a lot in school.)
So why am I supporting John Kerry for the Democratic presidential nomination when I'm so impressed with Kucinich? Well, as I noted in July:
Kucinich is among the bottom of the nine Democratic presidential contenders where fundraising is concerned, and although he took second place in moveon.org's online pre-Democratic primary last month [Dean took first place and Kerry took third], nationally he polls only in single digits among registered Democrats and registered voters who lean toward Democrats. The majority of Americans -- who think that Iraq had something to do with the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and who give "President" Bush favorable approval ratings (more than 60 percent) -- are not evolved enough to elect a President Kucinich.
So if I eliminate Kucinich because I'm not going to give my time and energy and money to a candidate whom I like but who cannot win the Democratic nomination, next on my list is -- John Kerry, who can win.
Kucinich, along with Braun and Al Sharpton, remains a low-tier candidate where fundraising and polls are concerned, and I still believe that of the nine candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination, Kerry has the best chance of beating Bush, so Kerry still has my support. (Sadly, because he interrupted his fellow debaters so much that the moderator had to ask him at least a few times to stop, Kerry arguably performed worst in today's debate. I was disappointed, because anyone who had never heard of John Kerry and/or had never heard him speak before easily could have concluded -- quite incorrectly, in my opinion -- from today's debate that he is an asshole.)
But if it were solely up to me to pick the next president of the United States -- like it was solely up to the five members of the U.S. Supreme Court who were appointed by Republican presidents to pick our current "president" -- it would be Dennis Kucinich.
11:50:32 PM 
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