Vote For Kucinich

When I vote in the primary, I want to vote for someone whose issues I agree with. I want to send delegates to the Democratic Convention who will move the Democratic Party in a progressive direction. That man is Congressman Dennis Kucinich, the co-chair of Progressive Caucus in Congress and the only presidential candidate who voted against the war on Iraq. Studs Terkel and Ed Garvey agree and are also promoting Dennis. I find it astounding that the two top vote getters in Iowa, Senators Kerry and Edwards, both voted to give Bush power to decide to go to war on Iraq. Isn’t that contrary to the intentions of the Founding Fathers, who wanted Congress to decide war? Dennis understands that there will never be peace in Iraq as long as there is a U.S. occupation. Dean and others (except for Sharpton) want us to stay in Iraq for an extended period. Dennis is also pushing for a single payer national health insurance program. The rest of the candidates (except perhaps for Sharpton) want to extend our broken system and give for-profit insurance companies a major role.

Dennis also understands that we cannot reach full employment without first withdrawing from trade agreements that encourage jobs to leave and workers to be exploited. He wants to negotiate agreements that protect worker rights and the environment. He also understands that we need a jobs program similar to the jobs program we had in the Great Depression to end the depression level unemployment we have in our cities.

In 1996 I initiated the campaign in Wisconsin to put Nader on the ballot. In 2000 I helped organize the Nader campaign in Milwaukee. But in this election I think the best way to move politics in the progressive direction is to send Kucinich delegates to the Democratic Convention.

Jim Carpenter
Former Green Party Candidate for State Senate