Well DK is not invited to the JJ dinner

[nadinbrzezinski]

anybody but me see a problem with these? After all, state polls show him to be the dark horse candidate

I mean in any democracy, that functions that is, state parties and the national media would not be trying this hard to control
the results of elections.

By the way... the source of this lack of invite was DK during Democracy Now yesterday.... and I do love my I-POD by the way, I could listen to the show today while getting my mexican bread and fruits at the meet today.

[MADem]

1. Well, the dinner is over. They should have invited him but they didn't.

Guess he doesn't have much going on in Iowa.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. That is the problem, he did

and he does in NH too.

State polls in NH show him quickly getting to the number three spot

He even joked that if he won the NYT would run a story about all the rest that lost.

[MADem]

22. Yahoo says otherwise. Granted they aren't the be-all and end-all, but I think this report is

accurate (it's actually an AP report from the Yahoo page): http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071111/ap_po/democrats_courting_iowa

Advocates for various causes held news conferences seeking a slice of the heavy media attention. Anti-war activists were joined in a protest march by backers of former Sen. Mike Gravel and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who were not invited to the dinner because they don't have active campaign operations in the state.

[burythehatchet]

2. just fosters more apathy - reinforces the rigged system fears

[nadinbrzezinski]

Exactomundo

[BelgianMadCow]

3. Not getting equal time is a killer, that sucks

If Dennis' message would reach the people (at length, not in soundbites), he would stand a good chance.
What a pity.

[magellan]

5. Neither was Gravel

Apparently it was because neither of them have a dedicated campaign staff in IA. To me it's just another high-powered excuse to further marginalize less well known candidates.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. The excuse according to DK is just that, an excuse

[Hippo_Tron]

21. Kucinich doesn't even have an office in Iowa

It's really not that expensive to open up an office and staff it with one or two paid staffers and have volunteers do the rest. That's how you operate a grassroots campaign. Kucinich instead decides to spend his money traveling to Syria. Unfortunately for him, the people of Syria don't get to vote in America's presidential elections.

[MADem]

23. Jesus, I missed that--Syria, you say?

What, was he sending condolences to the family of the wife of Bernie Kerik over the guy's recent indictment? Bernie's long-suffering, cheated-upon wife is Syrian....

[mmonk]

26. Well he's a having a dinner in Asheville tonight.

Maybe I should attend. He's anathema to the corporate party with his healthcare plan, impeachment, and peace message.

[bluedog]

33. yea.no office

wheres his volunteers.couldn't they do it....even pay 1person to set up shop?.........Kooch has been getting monies from his followers.wheres it going........on vacations?

[gateley]

6. There have been a couple of threads on this today. You're not alone in

your not alone in your disgruntlement. (I can't believe 'disgruntlement; is a word - was fully expecting getting busted by spell-check.)

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. Well I just got home

And I find it extremely disturbing... at a mutlitude of levels, just as Ron Paul (who is raising money like gang busters, and no he is not my candidate) has gotten the silent treatment...

[gateley]

18. I was suggesting the other threads because there might be more insight

to be found as to why this happened. I went looking for links for you but got waylaid by other threads... :)

[JTFrog]

27. No profit in peace.

Regardless of their opposition in basic politics, both Kucinich and Paul represent an end to the war. The people cannot be controlled if they believe they have representation in government. The people cannot be controlled if they believe there is hope. If the people cannot be controlled who will help the rich stay rich?

I am not in anyway endorsing Paul here or advocation of his screwed up politics. But he does represent a way out of the war to those republicans that make up the portion of the 70% of Americans who want us out of Iraq.

I wish we had a V that could steal the airways for a day. It would be information overload for most people, I know, but wouldn't it be nice to peel away a few layers of the crap that is being heaped upon the masses?

[EFerrari]

7. But we live in the world's greatest democracy.

:eyes:

[itsrobert]

9. He's was at the kids' table. He's not allowed to eat at the big people's table.

Sorry, was making a joke about his height. I like Kucinich and he should of been there.

[mike_c]

10. this is the democratic party, sabotaging the best democrat of them all....

What's wrong with that picture?

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. Been asking this all week

what is wrong with this picture?

The real question is Cui Bono, who wins?

And I hate to say it but the term conspiracy in the legal definition, is now fully in the picture

[MonkeyFunk]

13. All of these people are running for the Democratic Nomination, too

Roland Aranjo
Warren R. Ashe
Christina Gerasimos Billings-Elias
Robert E. "Bob" Boyer
Willie F. Carter
Randolph W. "Randy" Crow
Laura Davis-Aaron
Phil Epstein
Michael K. Forrester
Danny M. "Dan" Francis
Wrendo J.P. Godwin
Albert "Big Al" Hamburg
Alfonzo Jones
John Joseph Kennedy
Karl E. Krueger
Dal A. "Tweezerman" LaMagna
R. Frank Lynch
Lee L. Mercer Jr.
Sal Mohamed
Oloveuse O. "Ole" Savior
Jeffrey C. "Jeff" Thomas


and none of them were invited, either. Simply announcng that you're running for President doesn't mean you should be invited to every event.

[Nay]

30. Maybe so, Monkeyfunk, but none on that list is a sitting US senator, either.

That's the difference to me. Kucinich is not some kook from the boonies. He's got the creds, and I don't give a damn whether he had an office in Iowa or not. He should have been invited.

[MonkeyFunk]

31. Well

Kucinich is not a sitting US Senator either.

The fact is, evidently this event, like the Harkin steakfry, has some very minimal standards to meet if the candidates wish to participate. You're not automatically invited just 'cuz.

[bluedog]

34. hes NOT a Senator.Hes a Rep. n/t

[AmBlue]

14. Dennis should have been there.

I'm disgusted to hear that he wasn't invited. Does anyone have a link to this info?

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. Look for it in the Democracy Now website

I heard on my podcast today... and literally I did a SCREECH!... and went WHAT?

[orleans]

16. what is a jj dinner? just juice? jousting jokers? journalist junkies? n/t

[book_worm]

17. pretty much, but it's also the major fund-raiser for the Iowa Dem Party each year.

[silverojo]

19. There might be a legitimate reason

Like, they're afraid he'll do his impromptu "no strings" dance again.

Doing stupid things like that is how DK keeps shooting himself in the foot. :(

[Hippo_Tron]

20. Again, maybe he should open a campaign office in Iowa

[KharmaTrain]

24. Shhhh...Don't Ruin The Pity Party

It must be a "centrist" conspiracy. :rofl:

DU tends to turn into the fantasy league of politics.

[B Calm]

25. Just because DK can't currently afford a campaign office in Iowa,

do you recommend he find some corporate lobby money? Is it Iowa could be a rigged game? Why does Iowa have to have the ability to dictate your campaign strategy when other states don't?

[Hippo_Tron]

28. Dennis has raised $2 million, he could afford an office in Iowa if he wanted to

And Iowa does have the ability to dictate your campaign strategy because it gives candidates a huge boost and largely determines how other states will votes.

Candidates without a lot of money can win elections. Read The Conscience of a Liberal if you haven't. Paul Wellstone's proven formula of winning without a lot of money would work great for Kucinich in Iowa if he would actually apply it. Instead he's decided to piss his money away taking trips to Syria.

[MonkeyFunk]

29. I don't think the State of Iowa did this....

It's the state party, I presume, behind the JJ dinner. They're not obligated to invite every person who's running for President. There are dozens of them, you know.

[fed-up]

32. I called Iowa Democrats to complain and they said-He doesn't have office, didn't sign pledge FL $$

I called the number below last week when the story about DK not being invited to the JJ dinner was first posted on DU.

The person answering the phone said something about Dennis not signing a pledge not to accept campaign money from Florida since they were trying (or did?) to change their primary date

I was very clear that I did not appreciate them leaving out the ONE candidate that is NOT taking huge amounts of corporate $$$ and therefore may not be able to afford an office in Iowa. I said DK was the only candidate that spoke for me on the majority of the issues and it was a shame they chose to in effect silence those views.

Here is their number

http://www.iowademocrats.org /

Iowa Democratic Party
5661 Fleur Dr · Des Moines, IA 50321
515.244.7292 (main) · 515.244.5051 (fax) · [e-mail]

[magellan]

35. WTF?

They're not supposed to accept any money from FL, but it's okay for them to take as much money from the likes of GE, Goldman Sachs, Time Warner, lobbyists, etc and so on, as they can get?

Who the hell are these people supposed to be representing again?