Okay, no push polls, no spin. Why doesn't Dennis Kucinich have an Iowa office?

[Occam Bandage]

Serious. No angle here.

I went and searched through some classified ads and found a nice empty storefront outside Des Moines (used to be a pizza place) for $750/mo. Dennis Kucinich has been barred from several events, most notably the upcoming Iowa debate, because he does not have a campaign office in Iowa.

Why doesn't he?

[Mojorabbit]

1. He has a home office

of someone in his campaign which is a good way to save money. Apparently not good enough for the paper.

[JDPriestly]

8. It is also a good way to provide security and 24-hour accessibility.

He could still afford to rent an office for the address somewhere, but why should he? The environmentally correct thing to do is to work out of your home as much as possible.

[Libface]

77. I might be out of touch but I thought

it was becoming pretty widely accepted to work from home with all the technology now available. I saw a story on 20/20 (I think) a few weeks ago where they profiled this semi-big name company (I can't remember which) where they let their people work from wherever they wanted and have whatever hours and so most people chose to do much of their work from home. They said that productivity was up and people were actually working something like 80 hours a week but they all said they enjoyed it because they weren't tied to a desk and could multitask or whatever.

All the things being said about how a home office isn't a real office reminds me of when the internet was "just for nerds and losers" (yeah, or just those smart enough to recognize a good thing early on).

[midlife_mo_Jo]

101. And thirty volunteers are working in that house?

DK just isn't a serious candidate. He's in there to push his agenda ( which is good), but it makes sense not to let everyone 3rd tier candidate with an agenda in the debates.

[Renew Deal]

17. You can't be considered a serious candidate for most offices without an office.

So doesn't this mean that he's not a serious candidate for president?

[rucky]

47. I work from a home office...

am I a serious Project Manager?

don't answer that. I'm supposed to be working right now.

[Renew Deal]

48. lol

:evilgrin:

[midlife_mo_Jo]

102. Do you have thirty volunteers with you at home? :)

[MrMickeysMom]

68. Good God... THAT makes him serious?

Please tell me how that makes his campaign serious. I've seen storefronts and then I've seen home based offices, and I'll be damned if one is better of "more respectable" than the other.

[ShaneGR]

66. So a presidential candidate using someones home address is ok? GARBAGE

Seriously, he could have has a campaign office in Iowa for next to nothing. Why didnt he? Because he's paying off old debt, that's why.

[MrMickeysMom]

69. Thank you, Mr. Know It All!

I feel like Rocky to your Bullwinkle- "Because he's paying off old debt."

Paying off debt gets a thumbs up any day over paying your high rollers by pushing through any fucking thing they want legislated.

[Lucinda]

2. Money. It takes more than rent to fund an office.

[magellan]

3. Better question

Why does he need a storefront? Plenty of diligent, serious Americans work from their homes.

[Occam Bandage]

6. I agree it's a pointless rule, but it's a rule he's aware of.

I don't think he should *have* to, but it would be an effective way of getting his message to more Iowans.

[LSK]

15. so a house is capable of having at least 20 phone lines

Handing huge amounts of mail

Allows for dozens of staffers

Can handle dozens if not hundreds of volunteers

???

Have you ever worked for a campaign?

[magellan]

19. What does it MATTER?

If a candidate chooses to run his campaign out of a DOG house, more power to him/her! Why restrict candidates in this manner? Is there any logical reasoning behind it, or is it just another stupid edict "because they can"?

[Occam Bandage]

21. It's to weed out serious candidates from unserious ones. Dozens of people run for President.

You can't invite all of them, so you have to make some rules about who comes onstage and who doesn't. This keeps Joe Shit the Rag Candidate from wandering onstage. However, DK isn't Joe Shit the Rag Candidate; he has supporters and some funding. He could afford to open an office. He can act like a real candidate, because he is a real candidate (albeit a 2nd/3rd-tier one).

[magellan]

27. This fancy rule didn't keep Bush** out of office. n/t

[Occam Bandage]

28. It's not designed to weed out bad candidates. I'm sure that many of the nonstarters

would have been better than Bush.

[magellan]

42. Right. And all I'm saying is maybe we should work on making rules to DO that

...keep out the bad candidates, rather than defending arbitrary rules that exclude serious good candidates.

[LSK]

22. yes, its called GOTV

I guess you have never worked on a campaign.

[magellan]

26. Seems to me this country managed to elect presidents

...before multi-line telephones and so forth. But that's obviously besides the point in your argument.

[Occam Bandage]

29. We also managed to elect presidents before televisions and radios,

but a candidate who doesn't buy ads is a candidate who's not likely to win.

[magellan]

34. Modern equipment and a crack campaign HQ is no guarantee of winning, either

Which brings me back to my original point: excluding candidates from debates on the basis of what they use as their campaign headquarters is just another way of ensuring that only those with the most money to spread around have a shot. And that's what I have a problem with.

[Occam Bandage]

38. Failure to have those is a guarantee of losing, though.

A poster below suggests that getting a headquarters would cost $5000 for a few months. DK would have a greater organizational infrastructure as well as a few more invites if he did. And he has over $300,000 cash on hand, and has taken in over two million dollars.

[magellan]

41. Only because the process has become geared that way

The UK manages to handle its general elections without two years of campaigning in advance, campaign ads are only allowed during a short period before the election and are watchdogged to ensure they state the truth, etc. While I realize we aren't the UK, we certainly could do worse than to emulate them in this regard.

And again, I don't see how having a storefront enhances organizational structure. Unless you're of the belief that people who work from home lack the same.

[LSK]

30. yes they did, they managed OFFICES and sent out CANVASSERS

Which is EXACTLY what I am talking about. People who go knock on doors. People do not know where they are going without stopping at the campaign HEADQUARTERS before going out.

You obviously have never worked on a campaign.

[magellan]

39. You can't do that from a HOUSE?

What's so special about a storefront? A house has an address people can find to come calling, too. A house can have a PBX system installed to handle multiple phonelines. And most houses are bigger than some of the storefront offices I've seen.

And since it seems SO very important to you, no, I've never worked on a campaign (except for GOTV for Kerry). And with my new understanding of these asinine rules that discriminate against candidates who won't take corporate funds and aren't independently wealthy, I won't ever waste my time.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

89. Has anyone actually bothered to read what the Des Moines Register said?

did not meet our criteria for a campaign office and full-time paid staff in Iowa."

One person working from home doesn't cut it. That's what they're saying. Do you know WHY he wasn't excluded from the debate in 2004?

http://www.gwu.edu/~action/2004/kucinich/kucinorgia.html

Somehow, in 2004 he managed to have a REAL office with a REAL staff, and miraculously, wasn't excluded from the debate.

[magellan]

95. And yet somehow Alan Keyes got into the Register's Repub debate

...even though he has yet to prove he has a campaign HQ in Iowa and at least one full-time paid staffer. And no one knows what mathematics were used to determine he scored at least 1% of support on the Register's October poll.

If the Des Moines Register wants to apply totally asinine and arbitrary rules to who qualifies for their precious debate, then those rules should at the very least be applied fairly across the board.

The Cosmic Keyes Campaign - Byron York, NR WH Correspondent - December 13, 2007 5:00 AM

snip

The criteria for admission to the debate, according to the Register, were that a candidate must have filed papers with the Federal Election Commission; that he must have publicly announced his candidacy; that he have a campaign office in Iowa as of October 1; that he have at least one full-time paid staff member in Iowa; and that he score at least one percent support in the Register’s October poll.

Keyes has indeed filed the required papers. He did announce, in September, that he is a candidate. And he scored two percent support in the Register’s October poll, although he showed zero percent support in the same poll in November. As far as having a campaign office and at least one full-time paid staffer, well, that’s where things get a little fuzzy. And that, it turns out, is a bit of a sore spot for the candidate, who came to the media Spin Room to confront anyone who had the slightest doubt that he belonged up there with the other candidates.

snip

The Register poll in October surveyed 405 likely Republican caucus goers. Keyes could have gotten two percent of that by having eight people say they supported him. Through the marvels of statistics, it might be that the Register managed to hit eight of the 49 people who had signed Keyes’ pledge. Voila! Keyes took his place on the stage.

more...

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

98. I agree completely.

Keyes shouldn't be there either. About the only reason I can see for their admittance of Keyes is for entertainment value.

[MrMickeysMom]

70. Answer- It doesn't fucking well matter!

:applause:

[GreenArrow]

31. he's not

spending money in Iowa, that's why.

[Bitwit1234]

4. Saving his Money for the important parts of the campaign maybe.

I think that's a terrible reason to exclude him.

[LSK]

11. GOTV is not important???

What the fuck is more important than that???

[Occam Bandage]

12. That's a possibility. I can't imagine what would be more important than

the Iowa caucuses, though. This is where longshots can get catapulted to the front of the pack. I suppose it's a possibility, but I don't know what he'd be saving up for.

[Debi]

81. Like campaign trips to Hawaii, California and Florida

You know...sunny, honeymoony, campaigny places.

[denem]

5. Incompetence

[BridgeTheGap]

7. Still, to have ANY kind of a chance, he needs that presence

so why not do it?
I guess DK also believes he really can't win any way.

[FreeState]

9. He has an office, its just not in rented space

I see excluding him for this as a wealth test to run for president - its disgusting IMO.

I would vote for a person running for office that showed good use of funds - like not renting an office when you can use a house for free - but hey Im not rich so what do I know...

[Tejanocrat]

10. I'm waiting for douchebag to suggest he has an obligation to "risk" his personal "fortune" to rent

an office so he can better run for president in order to serve the public.

[Kucinich4America]

13. Maybe if Rupert Murdoch sent him a few million, he would?

But then he wouldn't be Dennis Kucinich, he would be Hillary Clinton.

[Lerkfish]

16. by jove, I think you've got it!

[denem]

20. Millions? $1000 a month for say, 3 months?

The campaign is incompetent. Failed the same criteria for the AARP debate. Fool me once?

[The Magistrate]

35. As A Matter Of Curiousity, Sir

Can you demonstrate from records or news reports that 'a few million' dollars has been provided Sen. Clinton by Murdoch?

"Enquiring minds want to know!"

[maximusveritas]

43. Dennis has raised over 2 million, almost the same as Huckabee

I think he can afford to have an office in Iowa. If not, what's he doing what that money?

[Vickers]

14. I think he is trying to make a point, but at the cost of self-preservation

as regards the campaign.

(The point being: he has a presence in Iowa without the "frills.")

[Occam Bandage]

18. There's an angle I hadn't considered. I like it.

By excluding himself by not investing in Iowa, he's torpedoing his campaign, but at the same time making a point about the prevalence of money over ideas.

I'd have a ton of respect for him if that's what this was about.

[ChipperbackDemocrat]

25. Dennis has an office in Iowa

He's got one, but it isn't the one the "experts" say you need to be serious. But these are the same people who have built a paradigm that sells us a president the same way they sell us a pair of jeans or a car. Again, this is what Dennis' biggest problem is. He's trying to run a race under their rules, when he needs to be guy breaking all the rules.

Lets face it..Dennis is breaking all the rules.

1. The rules say, "Don't tell Americans that the country is in trouble." even when they know it is.
2. The rules say, "Don't say anything that makes organized capital nervous"
3. The rules say, "Don't even try to get people thinking about health care the way Britain, France or Germany has it"
4. The rules say, "We're staying in Iraq and we're going to Iran. DEAL WITH IT!"
5. The rules say, "If we take step against Global Warming, it'll cost us jobs."
6. The rules say, "Peace? IT'S BAD FOR BUSINESS"

Dennis has called "bullshit" on these rules. So why the hell campaign by the "rules"?

Dennis Kucinich needs to be in Iowa and New Hampshire and be aggressive. Be bold. Instead of worrying about not being in the "game", he needs to stretch out and change the game.
He has the people and the message to do it. He just need to do it.

[FlyingSquirrel]

74. DECEMBER 15 2007 .COM

Even if you have a different favorite candidate, please read this.

Please donate to Kucinich's campaign on December 15. This is the same day in 1791 upon which the Bill of Rights took effect. If he can collect $10 million in one day (or a sufficient amount to get the attention of the media like Ron Paul did) perhaps Kucinich's days of being excluded from debates will be over. Even if you prefer another Democratic candidate, please donate because what he has to say needs to be heard, and because it will HELP BUILD MOMENTUM FOR IMPEACHMENT. Go to December152007.com to pledge by signing up on the email list. You'll get a reminder email on December 15. Donations must be made through his official website, dennis4president.com, or call 877-41-DENNIS (877-413-3664.

Thanks for your attention.

[maxanne]

23. seriously

what do you care?

You continually spend time telling us what a loser Kucinich is - why bother?
If what you say is true - why do you feel compelled to spend so much time saying so?

[Occam Bandage]

24. Loser? I don't think he's a loser.

I think he's unpopular, because he is. I think his message doesn't resonate with most voters, because it doesn't. At the same time, I think he's a needed counterbalance on the debate stage. We need serious "leaders" planning the nation's path day by day, and we need idealists like Dennis to remind us where we're going. I don't think he's got a shot in hell of winning, and I don't agree when people suggest that the top tier should adopt his methods, because the differences between our candidates are miniscule compared to the difference between any of ours and any of the Republicans'. But that doesn't mean that I don't think he's a valuable presence on the stage. I'm disappointed he won't be invited, and I think the rules are stupid. But at the same time, they're stupid rules he was aware of.

And I want to know why DK is allowing himself to be silenced by not following them. Even if you think he's running a vanity campaign, as his vocal bashers do, wouldn't it stand to reason that he would want more debate time?

[Truth2Tell]

44. message doesn't resonate with most voters ???

Not true. Single payer heath care resonates with most voters. Ending the war resonates with most voters.

Most voters just don't happen to have the slightest idea what Dennis Kucinich's message is. Most voters get their political news from a small number of corporate TeeeVeeee networks - and they ignore Dennis and his message. Of course I'm sure they do that because he doesn't have a storefront in Iowa. If only he had one then surely they would pay attention. :eyes:

[Occam Bandage]

49. Just going by his

favorable/unfavorable and "would vote for" / "wouldn't vote for" numbers, both of which only count those who have opinions towards him.

[Truth2Tell]

50. would vote for / wouldn't vote for

is far different than favorable / unfavorable

Many voters have favorable views about Kucinich but don't believe he can overcome the mainstream media machine so they "wouldn't vote for" him.

It's funny - the media ignores him, thus insuring low poll numbers - then opposing Democrats point to the poll numbers and proclaim that voters must not agree with his agenda.

I guess it takes a team effort to undercut the democratic process. Hillary thanks you.

[Occam Bandage]

54. Yes, the two are different. And in Dennis' case, both are atrocious.

"Many" voters have favorable views of him. 24%, to be exact, with 47% disliking him. And only 8% of voters say they'd certainly vote for him in the General, compared to 46% who would certainly vote against him. That has nothing to do with "I don't think he can overcome the MSM." He gets destroyed in head-to-heads vs. Republicans.

There is not a single candidate in either party with a worse favorable/unfavorable net. Not one. He is the most unpopular man running for President.Voters don't like him. You can spin those numbers however you like, but he is not resonating at all.

Now, don't take this as a claim that he doesn't have good ideas, or that his ideas don't have appeal. But they're not resonating, and I think that's because he's not running a very smart campaign.

[Truth2Tell]

55. Where are you getting

your numbers? Got Link?

[Occam Bandage]

57. Rasmussen.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/favorables/election_2008_democratic_candidates_running_in_2008_presidential_election

[Truth2Tell]

58. Ras ass

Also note overall unfavorable percentages, which demonstrate that Kucinich's unfavorables are equal to Edwards and 7% lower than Hillary (assuming you believe ras ass).

[Occam Bandage]

59. Overalls are meaningless, because (as DK's supporters are quick to point out when

discussing his sub-Bush overall favorability rating) many people don't have an opinion on him. To see how favorable/unfavorable a candidate's image actually is, you have to look at the net favorability--that is, subtract the unfavorability from the favorability. You won't find a candidate with as negative an image as DK.


Now, I agree with what you said earlier; I don't think it's because of his platform, because single-payer healthcare is a popular idea, as is a withdrawal from Iraq. It would have to be because of his campaign (which includes media interaction). And with my OP, I'm looking at a very simple thing he could have done to help his campaign, and asking why he chose not to.

[Truth2Tell]

62. Maybe he couldn't imagine

that any of his fellow Democrats - many of whom claim to actually believe in small d democracy - would actually use such an arbitrary, dishonest and duplicitous measure of the "seriousness" of his campaign?

Maybe he felt that pursuing a nation-wide strategy of controlling his office expenses was a more serious and realistic way to run a campaign all the way to Denver?

Maybe he overestimated the moral character and commitment to democracy of the power brokers in his own Party?

But really, I don't know the answer to your question. Do you really care? Or was this thread simply intended to try and make Kucinich seem un-serious and incompetent? I think that's an easier question to answer.

[Occam Bandage]

63. He's not unserious, and he's certainly not incompetent.

I don't think he's in it to win, but at the same time, if he's shown anything in his time in office, it's that he's:

1. Smart.
2. Shrewd.

I know he has an angle here. I know he's aiming at something. But I don't know what it is. Every other candidate is easy to figure out, to a certain extent. You know where Clinton's aiming, where Obama's aiming. You know where Edwards is pinning his hopes. But DK?

He's the kinda guy that you can look at, and know that he feels like everything's going according to plan. You could feel desperation coming out of Edwards' camp when he started to slip in Iowa, and you can see it now in Hillary. You could feel Richardson floundering; you can hear Gravel's anger. But Kucinich? Other than when he got snubbed in the last debate, he's seemed like he's got a plan. I don't know what he's aiming for.

[tekisui]

32. He is teaching us all an important lesson.

We ask why aren't there more like DK? Why CAN'T someone like DK win the Presidency?

Someone as known as Kucinich, a respected Congressman, can be shut out and have his message suppressed. How could anyone without Corporate Sponsorship have a serious chance?

[fed-up]

33. having rented an office for our GE-Free campaign you left out insurance, heat, business phone

expenses (yes, those rates are much higher) water and garbage . We found out the hard way that insurance did NOT cover the very large broken window when some bored group of punks went on a window breaking spree in town (we're pretty sure it was not campaign related). I think the cost of that was about $400.

Then there is the issue of a one year lease that most landlords want, we got lucky and found a spot for only 3 months, but then again the rent was a little higher.

Then figure on having enough volunteers to man the office.

So really you are looking in the neighborhood of $5,000 for a few months...or $20K for a year.

[MuseRider]

36. True

but that is small potatoes for a corporate shill. Why can't he be more like them and buy his way into office?

[Occam Bandage]

37. I'll defer to your knowledge there; I've never had to operate a storefront.

So, we'll say $5000. He's taken in $2,109,738, and has $327,094 on hand. It would be a sizable investment, but I don't think a difficult one.

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/summary.asp?id=N00003572&cycle=2008

[TreasonousBastard]

40. I'd be tempted to say it's because he's an idiot...

the rules may be arbitrary and silly, but they are the rules and you either follow them or you are big enough and bad enough to overturn them. Otherwise you are just making a fool of yourself tilting at windmills.

And nobody has been shown to be that big or bad lately.

Of course, it could be said that he's being pure and refusing to go after the big money or waste whatever little he has, and hopes to gain traction running a tight and honest campaign, blah, blah, blah... But, we all know that's bullshit. He just can't run a Presidential campaign-- hasn't learned a thing from his last time out.

And damn few people outside of his Chosen Few seem to want him to, as his approval numbers amongst the general public hang somewhere between tornadoes and gonorrhea.

[Truth2Tell]

45. If Dennis had a storefront office in Iowa

they would move the goalposts - just as they have always done in the past. The criteria would become some poll numbers higher than 2%. If his numbers rose above 2% the criteria would become money raised (they've used that in the past). If he raised enough money the goalposts would move again. He's just quit fucking with it - he knows he's not welcome on stage at the corporate sell-out clown show and he's over it.

[Debi]

51. the goal posts weren't moved in 2004 when he had an office and actually

campaigned in Iowa. This cycle he is ignoring Iowa. Forget the office/staff issue, he doesn't come to Iowa unless he knows he'll get national exposure for coming here. Yet he goes to many other states (that he also has staff/offices in) where there are no national press. He's not running for President here in Iowa, which is fine nobody said he had to. But it's hard to take his complaints of being banned from events here seriously when he isn't running here.

[Truth2Tell]

53. Not running?

Really? Did he say that? Maybe he's not throwing some hugely disproportionate piece of his resources into Iowa, but surely you're not so ignorant as to believe that he's "not running?"

Maybe, just maybe, his strategy isn't to throw every last dime he has into a few early states and then either drop out or seek more corporate money? Maybe he's planning a 50 state strategy and Iowa only counts as 1/50th of that? Does that make you mad?

Not running. Spare me the hyperbole :eyes:

[Occam Bandage]

56. $5000 out of $2,000,000 is not "hugely disproportionate."

He's not running in Iowa, and I don't know why.

Multi-state strategies are the domain of the wealthy and corporate. Grassroots favorites, dark horses, and longshots focus on taking their message to one state and then snowballing an upset victory into an avalanche by Super Tuesday; coming in 1st in one state can win you the Presidency, whereas aiming for 6th in 30 states will make you a non-player.

Kucinich doesn't have a discernible strategy. He may be in it to advance his ideals. He may be in it to hold the other guys' feet to the fire. He isn't in it to win it, and I don't understand that. He's run such a strange campaign.

[Truth2Tell]

60. Really?

"Grassroots favorites, dark horses, and longshots focus on taking their message to one state and then snowballing an upset victory into an avalanche by Super Tuesday..." Really?

Obviously this one doesn't, so your statement is false.

And where do you get $5000 spent or budgeted in Iowa? Gota link? And money in the bank? You think he still has 2 mil?

Strange, strange, strange. If you and Wolf Blitzer keep saying "strange" about Kucinich enough more times, who knows, maybe it will catch on with everyone.

[Occam Bandage]

61. When I say,

"Kucinich is not running a campaign, because long-shots do X and DK isn't doing X," an appropriate response is not to say "DK isn't doing X and therefore your statement is false."

The entire point of this thread is that DK is not running the type of campaign that would make him competitive. (Huckabee, for instance, has raised the same amount as Dennis, and yet has campaigned intelligently and may win it, despite an early media blackout and intense opposition from party's financial backers.) Kucinich is not running the type of campaign that low-budget candidates have had any degree of success with. He's not running with any discernible strategy.

The $5000 figure was from a correction given to me in this thread. It does not represent his money spent, but rather the cost of renting, heating, and supplying, and staffing a small office for a few months. In a campaign in which he has taken in two million dollars, spending $5000 for some basic infrastructure in Iowa would not be unreasonable, and would have qualified him for invites to several debates and fundraisers.

He currently has just over $300,000 in the bank.

[Freddie Stubbs]

80. Does it appear that Kucinich's '50 state strategy' is working?

;)

[slipslidingaway]

65. Just wondering why Alan Keyes was included in the debate

today, I tried to search for his office in Iowa but came up empty handed. Has Keyes been campaigning actively in Iowa? Just thought you might have some additional local information and if you think he should have included while Dennis was not.

Dennis has not spent the time and money in Iowa that he did last time I agree. The fact that so many states have moved up their primary dates and a need for a different approach this time might have something to do with it.

:shrug:

[Occam Bandage]

75. I've got no idea why Keyes was included in his debate, and IMO

he shouldn't have been. Keyes is a joke candidate with no support, no fundraising, no infrastructure, and no legitimate reason to be allowed in the same room as Huckabee, McCain, Romney, and Giuliani.

The fact that states have moved up and bunched up increases Iowa's importance in my eyes. With less time between contests, and with more occurring faster, momentum seems like it would play a bigger role. I would think the pressure would be on DK to charge hard in Iowa, not to play it half-assed.

[slipslidingaway]

87. We should wonder if the criteria was applied equally to all

candidates. With so many states voting shortly after Iowa maybe Dennis is looking slightly ahead as he must know it would be very difficult to compete with the big money being spent in that state???

Still wondering where the rented office space for Keyes is in Iowa that allowed him to take part in the debate. I tried calling the main campaign number yesterday for information, but there was just a message machine.

[Occam Bandage]

91. Undoubtedly not. The paper should have to answer for his inclusion in the light of

DK's exclusion.

[slipslidingaway]

92. Glad you agree and maybe you will take the same amount of

time in another thread asking why Keyes was included when Kucinich was excluded???

[Occam Bandage]

93. Sure.

[slipslidingaway]

94. That's great, if you post the thread link here I'll give it a K&R. n/t

[Occam Bandage]

96. Here. Keyes' inclusion paints this in a whole different light.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3831366

[slipslidingaway]

97. Thanks again! n/t

[Debi]

79. I agree that Keyes being included is interesting - hopefully the DMR can answer why that happened

Kucinich cannot use the excuse of the other states moving up their primaries as all the other Democratic candidates have been able to be here (except for Gravel). Why not Kucinich?

[slipslidingaway]

88. The DMR could not answer the question yesterday and the

main number for the Keyes campaign only had a machine answering yesterday.

Not making an excuse and do not know what the strategy is re: not spending more time and money in Iowa, just throwing out the idea that he might want to get a jump on other states that come shortly after Iowa???

[Debi]

103. That totally could be his strategy

But then why complain about Iowa if he's not running in Iowa?

[slipslidingaway]

104. It is how the rules change from including one candidate and

excluding another, also I do not know when the DMR decided that the office had to be a rented space instead of a home office.

He has campaigned in Iowa, not much, but I would imagine more than Keyes has campaigned in your state. Personally I think the criteria should be applied equally to all and that should be the focus of discussion.

And as I said in another thread, not having Dennis in the debate has removed a few unpleasant topics from being addressed in front of a national audience.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=3836146&mesg_id=3836999


---Single-payer health care

---Accountability/impeachment

---Draft Iraq Oil Law which facilitates foreign companies in the control and profit of Iraq's natural resources.

---Past voting records of other candidates which might be inconsistent with their current stance on a variety of issues. Not sure about Richardson, but almost every candidate given the chance to vote on an issue voted together, except the candidate who was just excluded from this debate.

[stray cat]

46. Because he doesn't run a serious national campaign

He serves a useful purpose for discussion but doesn't appear organized enough to run a serious national campaign.

[AlertLurker]

52. I think he tried.

I think that he made a conscious decision to maintain the legal minimum he needed to in order to compete minimally in Iowa and participate in the debates. It is clear to me that he isn't particularly interested in campaigning in Iowa, except when it raises his national profile and helps him in other early primary states.

He has said before that the Iowa caucus has "rigged" the convention in order to feed their candidate to the other primary states, so I am pretty sure he knew he didn't stand a chance there.

Still - it's pretty small-minded and pathetic for the Register to do this to him one day before the debate after he clearly met the minimum requirements - it says nowhere in the debte rules that a campaign office has to be rented - only "maintained."

[Libface]

78. I personally

like the idea of running a national campaign in a national election.

[MrMickeysMom]

84. It takes a Canadian to point this out! ... :-^O

Still - it's pretty small-minded and pathetic for the Register to do this to him one day before the debate after he clearly met the minimum requirements - it says nowhere in the debte rules that a campaign office has to be rented - only "maintained."

Why, or WHY do we other North Americans, especially so called "progressives", buy into the marketing of what an office IS or IS NOT? Do we even know what the rules say or don't say? Do we examine who is included in R or D debates, or who is not.. and reason why that might be?

Bottom line, the "different" (read: non-traditional, constitutionally relevent) leaders in our Democratic party are conspired against by the "norm", (read: the giant marketing and media) machine!

Welcome, my friends, welcome to the machine...

...It's okay, we know where you've been... (apologies to Pink Floyd)

[ecstatic]

64. Does anyone know what his campaign donations are used for?

:shrug: It also shows that Kucinich is not serious about winning, because he'd have a great chance in Iowa if he'd put in just a tiny bit of effort.

[Yukari Yakumo]

72. Good point

He raised $2 mil for the campaign, and he now has $300K left. Where the Hell did the money go?

[MrMickeysMom]

85. You are right- the truth hurts alot. You want a band-aid?

You shrug off that Kucinich is not serious about winning, and yet don't make an effort to know (I have donated) where money is targeted. You obviously have never taken part in a political campaign.

Try it sometime... If you think the voluntary and paid staffers aren't working at near 100% capacity? If that is your verdict, you are seriously hurting between the ears.

[saltpoint]

67. Some high-tech street theater might serve Congressman Kucinich well in

Des Moines.

As the debate is going on inside the hall, Kucinich street guerillas should project giant images of their candidate onto the outside walls.

This would be critical, because the national media will be there, and all kinds of Iowa towns' media vans, etc.

At other points in Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Iowa city, Dubuque, etc., same thing: project images of Congressman Kucinich on the walls of buildings as protest to the exclusion by the REGISTER and to provoke comment on why an important voice should be silenced at such an important time.

Imagine 200 such giant, lit-up images of Kucinich on downtown building walls.

Of course there will be the predictable tussles with the authorities about taking the images down, but by that time the point will have been made, and made very largely.

When the Mapplethorpe exhibit was banned at the Corcoran Museum, his fans and other free-speech advocates projected images of his photographs onto the walls of the Corcoran.

[Name removed]

71. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

73. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[eridani]

76. He does have an office

A home office of a volunteer is an office by any modern definition.

[eridani]

82. The IRS says that a home office is an office

What's good enough for the IRS ought to be good enough for the Des Moines Register, who invited Alan Keyes despite the fact that Keyes doesn't even have that much.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

83. Because he isn't running a serious campaign.

I go back and forth between believing that he's doing this as an attempt to shape the debate (and failing pretty badly if that's the case) and believing that it's a pure vanity campaign (how many people outside of Cleveland and DU would have ever heard his name were it not for his presidential campaigns?)

There is a third possibility, which I began to consider after his bizarre demand that ABC treat his winning their post-debate online poll as serious news, which is that he's just fucking nuts.

[BigDDem]

86. It's very simple...he doesn't have an Iowa office

because he's not a serious candidate.
Period.

[Moochy]

90. Long Live the Zandor

[uppityperson]

99. !

:spank: :toast:

[seemslikeadream]

100. ....