Dennis Kucinich in 2004

All information adapted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If you remember back to the 2004 election, Dennis Kucinich was written off from the start. He was given as little attention as possible in the debates, and was treated as a joke from the outset. The positive points of his campaign were ignored, but I think they are relevant now, since he's doing well in the debates.
Remember there were 10 candidates running for the Democratic nomination, Nx his name never appeared with fewer than 4 opposing candidates.

First, Kucinich did well in the online polls:

He placed 2nd in MoveOn.org's primary, behind Dean.
He also placed 1st in other polls, particularly Internet-based ones.
"Support for Kucinich was most prevalent in the caucuses around the country." In other words, the people liked him.

Washington, D.C. primary 8% of the vote.
In the Iowa caucuses 1% of the state delegates.
New Hampshire 1%

In the Mini-Tuesday primaries:
MO 1.2%
SC 0.4%
AZ 1.6%
OK 0.86%
DE 1%
New Mexico 5.5%
North Dakota 2.9%
Michigan 3%
Washington 8%

-- Notice that, in spite of low percentages earlier, his support is growing as the voting moves West to Greener states and that people are starting to take him more seriously as the campaign progresses.

Hawaii 31% (coming in second place only to Senator John Kerry)
Maine 16%
TN 1%
VA 1%
NV 7%
WI 3%
Idaho 6%
Utah 7%

Super Tuesday:
CA 5%
CN 3%
GA 1%
MD 2%
MA 4%
Minnesota caucus 17%
NY 5%
Ohio 9%
RI 3%
VT 4%


American Samoa caucus 17%
FL 2%
LA 1%
MS 1%
TX 2%
KS 10%
IL 2%
Alaska 27%
WY 6%
Expatriates caucus 5%
CO 13%
NC 12%
PA 4%
IN 2%
NE 2%
WV 2%
Arkansas 5%
KY 2%
Oregon 17%
Alabama4%
SD 2%
Montana 11%
NJ 4%

He placed SECOND in Delegates Earned in 10 states.

Not bad for a guy with virtually no press coverage. We've got a year left to build support, and he's kicking ass in the debates. A couple of significant endorsements - are you listening, AFL-CIO? Gay community? Feminists? - and he's a contender and we won't have to settle for a corporate tool.