- U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich knows that Sen. John Kerry
has enough delegates to win the Democratic Party nomination for president.
That didn't stop the Ohio native and former Cleveland mayor, however, from
coming to Roseburg on Sunday evening and addressing a standing-room-only
crowd at the Douglas County Library on issues that he feels should shape
the party platform. In doing so, Kucinich said there is still plenty up
for grabs in Oregon's May 18 primary.
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- "New Hampshire and Iowa helped to decide the nomination.
The direction of the Democratic Party is far from settled. The vote Oregonians
have is important to the direction of the Democratic Party," Kucinich
said in addressing more than 250 people who crammed into the Ford Community
Room.
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- Kucinich advocates universal health care for all Americans.
More than 43 million residents do not have health insurance, Kucinich said,
and basic medical, dental and vision treatment can cost several thousand
dollars.
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- Growing up poor in Cleveland, where he lived in 21 different
places and even out of a car a couple of times, Kucinich said he understood
the problems of not being able to afford adequate health care. For his
family, there were higher priorities.
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- "Americans have found they can't afford to be sick
and they can't afford to be well," Kucinich said.
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- Even among those with health insurance, coverage continues
to shrink while premiums, co-payments and deductibles for service continue
to rise, he said. Meanwhile, profits for insurance and pharmaceutical companies
have also increased. Insurance companies, he said, are making money by
not providing services.
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- Kucinich said the $1.6 trillion spent annually on health
services in the United States could adequately fund universal coverage.
But the United States would have to change the way it operates the system.
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- Kucinich came to Roseburg after giving a speech and sitting
down for an hourlong radio interview earlier in the day in Eugene. About
1,700 people attended his speech there at Lane Community College, campaign
officials said.
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- Sunday was the third of four days Kucinich was scheduled
to be in Oregon. He spent Friday and Saturday in Portland, Salem and Corvallis.
He will end his tour today with stops in Ashland and Medford.
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- Kucinich spoke for about a half-hour at the Roseburg
library and then spent another hour answering questions from the crowd.
When he was finished, he went to the outside door of the library and thanked
and shook hands with each person leaving.
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- "Thank you so much people of Douglas County, Roseburg
and surrounding areas for taking this opportunity to talk about this nation
we love so much," Kucinich said.
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- Kathy Dailey, who joined a group of local Kucinich supporters
that have been meeting since last fall, said she was impressed. Kucinich
spoke in a conversational tone that revealed his passion for the issues
he felt were important, she said.
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- "I was so elated. I was just blown away," Dailey
said. "He was obviously affected by the mood in there."
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- By appearing in Roseburg, Kucinich will renew the enthusiasm
of supporters who may have been disappointed when Kerry wrapped up the
nomination, she said.
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- "I think the Kucinich supporters will be energized,"
she said.
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- Elma Trotter, a Roseburg resident who had supported former
Vermont Gov. Howard Dean in his presidential campaign, said she was swayed
to vote for Kucinich in the primary based on his speech Sunday.
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- Kerry, Kucinich and Lyndon Larouche Jr. will appear on
the Oregon primary ballot. Kucinich is the last remaining Democrat officially
campaigning against Kerry, although he has not won a single primary.
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- "I was real impressed with him," Trotter said
of Kucinich. "I think he would make a good president."
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- Trotter said she does plan to support Kerry in the general
election.
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- Kucinich said that Americans should be able to receive
full Social Security benefits at age 65. He said it's unfair that the government
has begun increasing the age at which full benefits can be obtained.
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- On the North American Free Trade Agreement and the World
Trade Organization, Kucinich said they're to blame for the large number
of American companies taking jobs oversees. It all comes down to cheap
labor, he said.
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- "The pyramids were built with cheap labor, slave
labor," Kucinich said.
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- Under those treaties, workers do not have the right to
bargain collectively, to strike or to receive retirement benefits, Kucinich
said. There's also no provisions for worker safety or for environmental
protections.
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- NAFTA does not even allow the United States to take action
to prevent companies from moving factories overseas or taking other measures.
That, Kucinich said, would be considered an unfair trade barrier.
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- "This is no longer nation versus nation -- that's
old hat. This is just about corporations maximizing profits," he said.
"We need to take a new direction here."
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- He suggested dropping out of NAFTA and the WHO and setting
up separate trade agreements. Trade should be a two-way street, he said.
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- "Every nation wants to buy from the United States.
But they should have to buy something from us to gain access to this market,"
Kucinich said, to applause.
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- He told the audience the United States should get out
of Iraq as soon as possible. Kucinich opposed the war in Iraq from the
beginning and he hasn't changed his mind since.
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- "Iraq had nothing to do with 911, with al-Qaida,
with anthrax," he said. "This whole war was based on lies. It
was wrong to get in and it's wrong to stay there."
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- Kucinich noted that his first job was as a copy boy for
the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper. He drove to the homes of families
with sons killed in Vietnam and asked for a photograph to publish in the
paper. The experience of seeing those families in their grief touched him
greatly, he said.
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- "Once again we're placing the treasure of our nation
at risk. That's wrong," he said.
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- Kucinich, who has raised between $13 million and $14
million, half through contributions of less than $200, advocated the public
financing of presidential races. President George W. Bush will spend $200
million on his campaign and that makes any candidate beholden to large
corporate interests, he said.
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- Kucinich said he hopes the Democratic Party will embrace
his ideas when it works to develop the platform. He said if that happens,
it will give voters less of a reason to vote for independent candidate
Ralph Nader.
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- Nader's candidacy as the 2000 Green Party nominee was
widely seen as propelling Bush to the White House by siphoning votes that
would have otherwise gone to Democratic Party nominee and former Vice President
Al Gore.
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- "My candidacy gives you the opportunity to take
the Democratic Party in a different direction," he said.
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