What's going on in Cleveland? And why should you care?

What's going on in Ohio? Dennis Kucinich was forced to call off his increasingly marginalized (more on that in a minute) presidential campaign to focus on his congressional primary. A heavy-hitting challenger, Councilman Joe Cimperman, showed up and began a serious run, although incumbent congressmen in a "safe district" like the Ohio 10th, rarely lose their seats. Kucinich was being outspent 5-to-1, and it didn't take long for people to start to wonder where Cimperman's support was coming from.

Joe Queenan of the UK newspaper The Guardian wrote a couple of weeks ago:

Be that as it may, his campaign was a source of frustration to at least one of the three high-profile attorneys seeking the nomination, because Kucinich kept pulling the conversation leftwards, a direction Hillary Clinton did not want to go.

And he added:

Some of us who are not men of the left are sorry to see Kucinich throw in the towel. This is not only because we believe that the 12% or so of Americans who consider themselves "very liberal" deserve a champion, but because gadflys such as Kucinich and Al Sharpton prevent presidential campaigns from becoming ideologically monochromatic.

Nor is it healthy for TV networks to stage-manage democracy. The candidate furthest to the left after Kucinich's exit, the man who vowed "to give voice to all those whose voices aren't being heard", is Edwards - a fabulously wealthy trial lawyer and hedge fund alumnus who lives in a mansion Kublai Khan would find roomy. Now he has dropped out too. Viable leftwing candidates in the US are now spotted less often than UFOs. And creatures in UFOs would have a better chance of getting invited to the debates.

Was Clinton glad to see him go? It certainly seems to be true that Kucinich's appearances in the debates - before the giant media companies began not just not asking him questions, but actually not letting him in the room. MSNBC actually went to court to keep him out - did force some leftward motion (though Edwards, right of Kucinich but left of the other two, helped with that). Now Clinton and Obama can "debate" the nuances of their terribly similar positions, while any genuine difference is gone.

It seems very clear to very many people that the DNC is happy to see Cimperman in the race. Certainly, big business - invested in NAFTA and other off-shoring legislation - is. Is there evidence that Pelosi is more than irritated at the gadfly who won't let "off the table" be the last word? Is there evidence she and the DNC aren't?

There are a lot of emails and posts going around flat out accusing Pelosi and the DNC of orchestrating this challenge (Google "Kucinich McKinneyed" and look at the results just for people using that term). It's not hard to understand why.

Let's take a look at a few positions. Kucinich

* Supports withdrawing from NAFTA and the WTO;

* Has no corporate strings - takes money only from individuals;

* Calls for true universal health care - no more big private insurers;

* Voted against the Patriot Act; and (most damningly?)

* Has called for impeachment of the Vice President and the President despite Speaker Pelosi's insistence that impeachment "is off the table."

In other words, Kucinich is an actual progressive, something the ever-right-moving Democratic Party has some trouble getting along with. Are they actually trying to unseat him, to replace him with someone who will be beholden to all the interests Kucinich spurns and who will be too junior to cause problems if by some chance he wanted to? You know, it wouldn't be the first time. (See: McKinney)

Just today, David Swanson of Democratic Underground shows us something about the man - and why it might not be that easy to get rid of him:

This past Tuesday morning, in the rain, in front of the U.S. Capitol, Kucinich took time off from campaigning in Cleveland and from his busy schedule on the Hill to join a handful of New York Congress Members in an event that no other representative from outside New York attended. Gathered on the Capitol lawn were hundreds of 9-11 rescue workers suffering from health problems dating from that toxic day, heroes lacking affordable health care. These people risked their lives for others and suffer every day for having done so.

Every district in this nation would vote to give these people health care for life. Many in Congress cheer for them and support the occupation of foreign nations in their name. But only Dennis Kucinich showed up, spoke, encouraged, and committed to holding the city of New York accountable through committee investigations. The people of Cleveland should be proud. The people of America should be proud. And everyone should give what they can to keep this courageous voice in our government.

This call echoes across the Internet, and it seems to be working. On Feb 22nd, Karen Schaefer of WKSU (NPR at Kent State in Ohio) reported that Kucinich had raised over $700,000 in the last six weeks, though most of his big supporters live outside Ohio, while most of Cimperman's live in the state.

In fact, it looks like he's doing well enough to frighten the admittedly right wing: Clear Channel's radio station WTAM is openly encouraging Republicans to participate in the Democratic primary and vote against Kucinich. (They must figure McCain to be a lock, eh?)

We can hope the professor quoted in RealClearPolitics (22 Feb) is right:

Still, Kucinich is popular in his district, and Cimperman will have to win over a large percentage of the electorate that has voted for the incumbent since he was first elected to the Cleveland City Council in 1970. Kucinich has many loyalists in the district who like his independent style, including local unions, to whom he has endeared himself because of his stance on trade issues.

"Cimperman's chances of beating Kucinich are remote, and, of course, even more remote for the others," said Alec Lamis, a political science professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. "Obviously, Kucinich has lost support as a result of his presidential bid, but not enough to defeat him."

Losing Kucinich would be more than a blow to the people of Cleveland. It would be a knife to the heart of progressive politics, a sign that the right wing of the Democratic Party won't tolerate dissenting voices - even if (maybe especially if) those voices are on the left.