Ignored by the media. Written off by the Democratic Party elite. Damned with faint praise by many liberals. Dennis Kucinich's campaign for president sends a clear message: End the war now. Single-payer, not-for-profit universal health care. Impeach the Bush administration.
For this message, many core Democratic and left-leaning voters say they support Rep. Kucinich and have even voted for him in several Internet surveys.
Last July, Kucinich polled well in MoveOn.org's online poll following its presidential forum, placing second behind behind John Edwards.
In an online survey following a presidential forum last August sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign and broadcast online by MTV's Logo, Kucinich polled second behind Sen. Barack Obama.
More recently, however, Kucinich has won large support in online surveys conducted by Internet-based organizations. Kucinich captured 41 percent of the vote in an online survey conducted by the Progressive Democrats of America, nearly doubling John Edwards' second-place finish.
In December, Kucinich scored very well in an online poll sponsored by Democracy for America, an Internet-based advocacy organization headed by Jim Dean, brother of Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean. Kucinich won 32 percent of the 150,000 votes cast, outscoring both Obama and Edwards.
Also, a poll conducted by the The Nation magazine some time back showed Kucinich with 35 percent of the vote, Obama second with 24 percent and Edwards third with 13 percent.
The Nation writer John Nichols said, “The DFA and PDA poll results give Kucinich an additional measure of credibility as he reaches out to key activists, including Democrats who are currently leaning toward other contenders.”
According to the Kucinich campaign, "Kucinich has won more than a dozen major on-line polls and post-debate surveys, including one conducted by ABC News."
Unfortunately, Rep. Kucinich's Internet-based support has not translated well into a strong showing in the polls. An ABC poll conducted just prior to the New Hampshire debates last week put the Ohio representative at 3 percent. The poll was part of the ABC/Facebook "Election Pulse." On Facebook, Kucinich polled 6.67 percent.
What is startling about these facts, however, is that despite coming in behind Kucinich in this "Election Pulse" both on Facebook and the ABC poll, ABC included Gov. Bill Richardson in ABC's Democratic debate last Saturday night, while excluding Rep. Kucinich.
Ironically, the debate was billed as a debate of the leading candidates.
In response to ABC's troubling decision to exclude Rep. Kucinich, the Kucinich campaign filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission, claiming that the ABC television network “is violating its obligation to operate in the public interest."
The Kucinich campaign further argued that the event “is not a true presidential primary debate without including all credible candidates, but instead is effectively an endorsement of the candidates selected by ABC.”
The campaign also cited a conflict of interest on the part of ABC, which “is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Walt Disney, Co., whose executives have contributed heavily to other Democratic presidential primary candidates, including Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, former Senator John Edwards, and Governor Bill Richardson.”
The corporate media simply cannot be allowed to choose who the candidates in the election race are. That should be left to voters, contends the Kucinich campaign.
