You may have heard about Barack Obama’s big win in Iowa last week. Obama won this Democratic Caucus, and with it the attention and adoration of the mainstream press, for a number of reasons: His message of change, his charisma, his debate performances, his desire for unity and his stance on the issues. But Obama may also owe his surprising victory to none other than national punch line Dennis Kucinich.
Days before the Iowa caucuses, the much-maligned Kucinich asked his supporters to pick Obama as their second choice (under the bizarre caucus rules, if a candidate doesn’t garner 15 percent of the vote, their supporters are told to back someone else). While the backing of Kucinich’s supporters certainly wasn’t the deciding factor in Obama’s victory, it did provide a nice boost. Even more, it was a setback for John Edwards, who enjoyed a surprising second-place finish in the 2004 caucus with the support of Kucinich’s voters.
The pact between Kucinich and Obama had both candidates praising each other and got some eager pundits talking about the prospect of an admittedly unlikely Obama-Kucinich ticket. It also gave Kucinich some much-needed press after being shut out of Iowa debates. The diminutive Ohio congressman usually only gets mentioned as part of a joke, whether its about his hobbit-like stature, his microscopic poll numbers or his bombshell wife. But as the campaign wears on, Kucinich may become an important player.
When Kucinich made his pro-Obama announcement last week, he said he was making the move because he and Obama both shared a desire for change. Change has now become the buzzword of 2008 and is rapidly becoming a synonym for ‘electability’ (hence the Iowa win for Mike Huckabee). But even though Obama may be the leading “change” candidate, no one differs from the status quo more than Kucinich. Let’s ignore for a minute his obvious differences from the mainstream candidates: The fact that he claims to have seen a UFO, that he had a mob hit put out on him, that he lived with Shirley MacLaine for years and that he played quarterback in high school despite being built like an elf. On the real issues, he even represents a radical shift from the norm. He has advocated shrinking the military in favor of creating a Department of Peace. He wants to end the war on drugs and abolish the death penalty. He supports universal health care and wants to reduce the number of abortions, while still keeping them legal.
Even though some of Kucinich’s policies seem a bit radical for most voters, an online poll over the summer found that, based solely on the issues, most Americans were actually aligned most with Kucinich. Sure, the site isn’t too reliable, but the results still show that Kucinich has the potential for being popular. Kucinich’s outsider status and oft-ignored campaign prevent him from getting his proposals out, some of which would likely garner a good deal of support. He’s in favor of universal health care. Even more, he supports expanding the education budget so that all students could go to college for free.
Even though Huckabee made the astronomic leap from second-tier candidate to front runner, nobody really thinks Kucinich has a realistic shot at the nomination. But he can still get his message out and will likely have some impact on the race. In 2004, he kept campaigning until four days before the convention, months after John Kerry had locked up the nomination. With nothing to lose this year, he’ll probably stick it out just as long. With all the talk of change, his radical message will become harder to ignore. He might even turn into this year’s Ralph Nader – an outsider candidate who attracts voters looking for an alternative. At the very least, his interesting policies will get some more supporters, injecting some real radicalism into a race that’s all about being different.