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January 21, 2008 —
The Michigan primary has come and gone. On the Republican side we have the victor, Mitt Romney, with John McCain in close second. On the Democratic side, before the primary, we had a zoo's worth of debate over whether it mattered if voters preferred Clinton over "uncommitted." In the end, Michigan democrats (or those posing as democrats, you can never tell in an open primary) decided by a wide margin they preferred Hillary Clinton over "uncommitted," Dennis Kucinich, Chris Dodd, and Mike Gravel.
The big deal over the "uncommitted" vote for the democratic side involved a dispute between Michigan and the Democratic National Convention over the date of the Michigan primary. In the end, Michigan moved up its primary to gain importance.
As a penalty, the DNC stripped Michigan of its delegates. Because of this, Michigan became a political wasteland that most Democratic candidates avoided like the plague. Presidential hopefuls Barrack Obama and John Edwards actually pulled their names off of the Michigan ballot and urged their supporters to vote "uncommitted" instead of voting for Clinton or any of the lesser-known candidates.
I don't suppose I blame them. For a candidate to be involved in a party's primary means they have to strategically manage their campaign funds. If a state isn't worth the money, why bother?
Dennis Kucinich, however, the only Democratic candidate who actually campaigned in and visited Michigan during the primary, had originally tried to follow suit with Obama and Edwards by taking his name off of the ballot as well. For some reason, he didn't succeed, and his name remained on the Michigan Democratic primary ballot. However, what is even more surprising is that he used his failure at removal as an opportunity.
Let me explain: There I was, sitting at my computer like always, and I see a television commercial for Dennis Kucinich. In the commercial you only see Kucinich on camera claiming he was the only true Democrat running in the election.
I was perplexed as to why any Democrat would even bother paying for commercial time in a state without delegates. Is it at all possible this Kucinich guy was just out of his mind? Was he truly unable to comprehend that Michigan wouldn't count for any delegates? Did he really see that UFO?
Or, another option, is it possible Kucinich truly has guts? In the course of studying politics, I've come across a lot of candidates, whether they be third party or the bottom rung of the Democrat or Republican parties, that have had absolutely no chance at winning an election or even a nomination, for that matter. But what is infinitely more interesting is that many of these individuals decide to run in a primary or an election despite the fact that national polls leave them at the bottom.
These people have no chance of winning, but they run anyway. More often than not, they run to make a statement about something. They run to express an issue the more popular mainstream candidates aren't speaking about in hopes the issue will eventually be adopted by a major candidate.
This is what I think Kucinich was aiming at while campaigning in Michigan. He was running to show the Michigan people that he had ideas (many of them good) that the other Democratic candidates weren't willing to carry. I may not agree with every single thing Kucinich stands for, but I commend him for coming out swinging when he knows he cannot possibly win.
These people do not spend their hard earned money, energy, and time on a campaign because they think they have a chance. The little guys, like Dennis Kucinich, do it, at least to some degree, in hopes the major candidates will take on some of their positions. This to me isn't political suicide, it's political sacrifice, and it shows the people who sacrifice so much just to ensure an issue is brought to the table are the ones with real character.