Dennis Kucinich visits Fresno

KUCINICH SPEAKS IN FRESNO
By Mike Rhodes
May 27, 2003

Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich came to Fresno today with a message of peace. Kucinich, who is speaking throughout Northern California this week, told the enthusiastic crowd of over 600 at the CSU-Fresno satellite student union what they wanted to hear. There is a Democratic candidate that supports health care for all, nuclear disarmament, and an economic policy that would put people before profits. He would take money from the defense budget and re-direct that money for education, health care, and other programs that will meet peoples needs.

“As a candidate for President, I offer a different vision for America, one which separates me from the other candidates. I am the only candidate for President who will take this country away from fear and war and tax giveaways, and use America's peace dividend for guaranteed health care for all, ending health care for profit. I am the only candidate who will stop the privatization of social security and bring the retirement age back to 65.

As President, I will cancel NAFTA and the WTO, restore our manufacturing jobs, save our family farms, create full employment programs, create new jobs by rebuilding our cities and schools. As President, I will repeal the Patriot Act to regain for all Americans the sacred right of privacy in our homes, our libraries, our schools.”

Dennis Kucinich was singing the song that progressives in this community wanted to hear. During the question and answer period he was asked by Jeff Eisinger, who is on the Fresno County Green Party County Council, if he would consider running as a Green. Jeff suggested that Kucinich’s populist politics were to the left of the party leadership and that he sounded more like a Green. Kucinich said that he thought of himself as “a Green Democrat.” He said that he believes his message will resonate with voters and that people who never bothered to vote before will be given a clear choice when he runs against Bush, or whoever the Republican’s run for president.

Chris Schneider, director of Central California Legal Services, asked what Kucinich would do about the chronic double digit unemployment in the Central Valley. “On the West Side of this Valley unemployment is 30-40%,” Chris told him. Kucinich said that he would create a work program similar to Roosevelt’s WPA during the 1930's. He said that he would not give tax breaks to the wealthy and would re-direct money from the military to projects that would help to rebuild this country and meet people’s needs.

Dennis Kucinich came to Fresno and renewed our hope. He spoke about the urgency for peace and re-focusing national priorities. It was a message that the audience was hungry to hear. Oddly enough, or perhaps not so strange, the corporate media did not spend a lot of time covering the Kucinich campaign stop in Fresno. In fact, The Fresno Bee (this areas only daily newspaper) did not even mention the event. This makes the coverage given by alternative media (like this story on Indymedia) all the more important. Somehow, the message of peace, economic and social justice must get out. To find out more about Dennis Kucinich’s campaign, go to: http://www.kucinich.net/