DENNIS VOTES THE WAY VOINOVICH WILL - NO

Ran into an old friend this morning at University Hospital where we older people are likely to meet. Boy was she angry. At Dennis Kucinich, a favorite of hers.

 

Kucinich, as you may have noted, vote NO on the health care bill the other night. He gave good reasons. It squeaked in by a couple of votes. So his NO vote was a typical Kucinich vote.

 

But this fan said she had given him her last dime. And I’m sure she’s given him a lot more than that.

 

I don’t know if Kucinich would have voted NO if his was a deciding vote. Maybe not.

 

But his NO vote isn’t a surprise to me. Kucinich is playing to the crowd. His crowd. And he’s a hero with his crowd.

 

They respond. They love the little fighter. Kucinich drew immediate attention on the local Cleveland Leader web site. Today there are nearly 7,500 hits on the posting about his vote. Most I’ve ever seen. I assume that many people around the nation have Dennis Kucinich on a Google alert. Every time his name appears they get a Google alert.  They click and read about their hero.  

 

It attests to his national drawing power as a political celebrity.

 

I can’t find fault with his desire for more comprehensive health care. However, where’s the magic wand that will get us there? Does he have it? Of course not.

 

We take baby steps, unfortunately. Some can argue that that’s the problem; we never get to adult steps. What we actually need.

 

Dennis has always played to his crowd, a limited crowd to be sure.

 

However, the image that clicks to my mind is a State of the Union speech during the George Bush years. I cannot get out of my mind a smiling, seemingly elated Kucinich, hand extended. To George Bush.