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42 °F Forecast | Road Cams Sunday, April 11, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend March 30, 2004 Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich shakes hands with supporters after his speech at Southern Oregon University in Ashland Monday. Mail Tribune / Satsuki Doi Candidate Kucinich spreads his message The Ohio congressman says it’s time Americans change the Democratic Party and the nation By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune Larry Roven couldn’t give a whit that Democratic candidate Dennis Kucinich cannot possibly win the race for the party’s primary delegates nationally. "I will definitely vote for him in the (Oregon) primary," stressed the gray-haired Ashland resident. "It’s a matter of expressing party strength, of focusing on what the Democratic Party should stand for." Roven was among some 300 people gathered outside the Stevenson Union at Southern Oregon University in Ashland early Monday afternoon to hear the four- term Ohio congressman speak on why he is still in the race against Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, who has locked up the party’s presidential nomination. Eight Democrats have dropped out of the race, leaving only Kerry and Kucinich, the former with a commanding lead of delegates. "I’m impressed by the depth of his understanding of what the world really needs," Roven said of Kucinich. "I’m also impressed by his courage, of being willing to stand up and express clearly what his goals are. Advertisement "It’s not a matter of him being elected." Portland resident Janell Jures, who volunteered to help the Kucinich campaign after hearing him speak in Portland late last week, agreed. "I want him to stay in the race because I want the Democratic Party to speak for me," Jures said. "I think John Kerry needs Kucinich." The reason is that Kerry will "cut right" as soon as he can to be in the mainstream, she said. "But if Kerry doesn’t bring in the progressive vote then he won’t win the race (in November)," she said. "I need Dennis Kucinich to broaden the expanse of the party." In his speech, Kucinich made it clear what he wants the party to stand for: ending the war in Iraq by bringing in United Nations peacekeepers; creating a national health care system; repealing the North American Free Trade Agreement; providing free college tuition for all Americans; doing away with the Bush administration’s tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans; repealing the Patriot Act; closing down the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba; and stopping the federal government from spying on its people with "total awareness" computer programs. He freely acknowledged he has no chance of becoming the party’s nominee. "The nomination is decided but the direction of the party is not," he told the crowd, which frequently interrupted his speech with applause. "Oregon has the opportunity to send the Democratic Party in the direction of peace, of fair trade, of civil liberties, of education for all," he said. "This should be a Democratic Party that stands for something, a party that has backbone. . . ." He noted that $87 billion a year is going for tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans while some $200 billion already has been spent on an "illegal" war and the Pentagon now has an annual budget of $421 billion, he said. "We are seeing the militarization of our society," he said. "We are seeing money going to tax cuts and war." "Give ‘em hell, Dennis!" someone yelled. When Kucinich said it was time to make education a priority, including tuition-free college, the crowd roared again. That would cost some $72 billion annually, given the fact there are about 12 million college students nationwide, he estimated. "We have the money," he said. "The question is: Do we have the willingness to take America in a new direction away from tax cuts for the wealthy, away from war, away from a military buildup and towards a society which creates jobs and education and health care and social and economic justice?" Kucinich said the Bush administration has continually lied to the American people. "Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11," he said of the infamous terrorist attack. "Iraq had neither the intention nor the capability of attacking the United States." Yet the Bush administration has tried to take advantage of the public’s fear of terrorism, he said, calling the Homeland Security color-coded alerts "Orwellian weather reports." The nation was born out of hope, not fear-mongering, said Kucinich, who has said he intends to stay in the race until the Democratic convention in July. "You have the ability to set a new agenda for our party and our nation," he told the crowd to another thunderous response. Robert Sperry, a SOU sophomore and a Republican, said he was impressed. "I didn’t know much about his politics because the media doesn’t really focus on him," Sperry said. "But he brought up some good points." Still, the Eugene resident said he wouldn’t vote for Kucinich if he were a candidate come November. Fellow SOU student Nicholas Nanpei, a freshman from Portland, also heard Kucinich’s views for the first time. "I’m a lot more interested in him now," said Nanpei, a Democrat. "But I don’t know yet if I’m going to vote for him in the primary." But Portland area resident Ellen King, 60, said she would definitely support Kucinich. "He’s a winner for the people, whether he wins the election or not," King said. "He wants to get the country back on the right track where it needs to be." 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