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| Congressman Dennis Kucinich,
who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, spoke before
an enthusiastic crowd of more than 200 in downtown Yellow Springs
last Wednesday. Kucinich also addressed an assembly at YSHS. |
A spirited welcome for candidate Kucinich
According to The New York Times on Wednesday, Feb. 18,
Dennis Kucinich had three stops in Ohio scheduled that day: Dayton, Cincinnati
and Yellow Springs. And Yellow Springs gave a warm and spirited welcome
to the congressman from Cleveland who chose to visit a village in his
campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.
“What better place than Yellow Springs to talk
about a new vision for America?” said Kucinich, who expressed surprise
at the size of the crowd that greeted him outside the Epic Book Shop at
2 p.m. Saying he had expected to be signing books in a little book store,
he instead hopped up onto the brick wall outside the store on Dayton Street
to deliver an impromptu speech to the 200 enthusiastic people gathered there.
Later, he spoke at Yellow Springs High School.
That many in town support Kucinich was clear when
70 people showed up a half hour before he was scheduled to appear at Epic.
And people kept streaming in, some wearing Kucinich buttons or carrying
the candidate’s signs, which read “Fear Ends. Hope Begins.”
It was a warm and sunny day and the atmosphere was festive.
The crowd included people of all ages, including
some Yellow Springs High School students who took advantage of the rare
opportunity to see a presidential candidate up close, to shake his hand
and ask questions.
“An opportunity like this doesn’t roll
around very often,” said YSHS junior Scott Keyes, who wanted to meet
the candidate even though Keyes said he supports Democratic Senator. John
Edwards of North Carolina. And while most of his peers won’t be old
enough to vote in November, YSHS senior Alex Melecki will be, and he was
giving Kucinich a serious look.
“It’s interesting to be able to see one
of the most influential people in Washington,” said Melecki. “He’s
a very principled man, an intelligent man.”
Also attending were Older Group Students from the
Antioch School. The children came because “we’ve been following
the campaign,” teacher Chris Powell said. “There’s a great
deal of interest in hearing Kucinich and what he has to say.”
Many who attended said they intend to vote for Kucinich
even though he’s portrayed by the media as unelectable due to his
liberal political views. Jennifer Meier of Yellow Springs said she decided
to cast her vote for Kucinich when a friend advised her that “if you
don’t vote with your heart, your heart always loses.”
To John Eastman, who ran for governor as a Natural
Law Party candidate in 2002, Kucinich is the best choice for president because
“he’s the only candidate who really represents the new creative
alignment that will take on and solve the problems of the nation and the
world.”
Some who gathered had driven miles to see Kucinich.
“How can someone be so right on so many issues
and no one’s listening to him?” said Phil Fry of St. Paris.
Pete Hill, who came from Athens County, said, “Everything
I’ve heard him say I wish I’d said.” And Geoff Mavis,
a Republican, said he traveled to see Kucinich because “I’m
a farmer who believes his policies will help the country.”
Kucinich responded to the crowd’s enthusiasm
with an inspirational talk.
“If we want a new vision of America we have
to believe in the authenticity of our dreams,” Kucinich said.
“We have to address the fear that has dropped
over our country like a dark cloth. We’re going to challenge that
fear,” he said. “As president I’ll work with the world
community so that we can be safe here at home.”
The candidate said that if elected he would create
a department of peace. “We need to make nonviolence an organizing
principle in our society, for domestic issues as well as international issues,”
he said. “War is not inevitable unless we believe it’s inevitable.”
Kucinich took issue with the Bush administration’s
new policy of pre-emption.
“We have an obligation to defend ourselves,”
he said. “But as a country we need to know the difference between
offense and defense.”
Kucinich also declared his intention of providing
a single-payer health-care insurance program for Americans, as well as “creating
a system in which every young person can go to college for free.”
He expressed his opposition to NAFTA and his intention to “reclaim
who we are as a nation. Workers must have the right to organize and to make
a decent wage.”
He is the only candidate in the presidential contest,
he said, who voted against the Iraq war, against the Patriot Act and to
cancel NAFTA. And addressing the electibility issue, Kucinich said, “I’m
electable if you vote for me.”
After about 15 minutes, the candidate shook many
hands and was then hustled away by his handlers to Yellow Springs High School,
where the YSHS and McKinney School student body was waiting in the gym.
After a short speech, he responded to students’ questions. High on
his list of priorities, he said, is a renewed vision of education.
“I want education to be based on bringing forth
young people’s creativity,” said Kucinich, who seemed to gain
favor with some teachers when he stated, “I don’t want a test-based
approach to education which squelches young people’s desire to learn
and makes teachers teach to the test.”
Asked by eighth-grader Andy Peters about how Kucinich
would deal with nuclear weapons, the candidate described growing up during
the Cold War, when children were taught in school to “duck and cover”
in case of a nuclear attack.
“We were told we had to expect a nuclear attack,”
he said. “That caused a lot of fear, a lot of nightmares.”
Stating that there are still thousands of nuclear
weapons in the world, Kucinich announced his desire to rid the world of
nuclear weapons.
“They’re a threat to our future, to your
future,” he told the students. “I don’t want our young
people to have to do duck and cover. We need to free ourselves from that
fear.”
Twice Kucinich complimented the students on their
questions.
“I’m going to remember coming here because
these questions are right on about national and international matters,”
he said.
When his talk at the high school was over, Kucinich
again shook hands, posed for a few photos and was hustled away. But before
leaving, he said he’d enjoyed his visit to the village.
“There’s a free, creative and independent
spirit here,” he said. “I fit in Yellow Springs.”
—Diane Chiddister |
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