The 2008 presidential campaign of

Dennis Kucinich Dennis John Kucinich ( ; October 8, 1946) is an American politician. Originally a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, Kucinich served as U.S. Representative from Ohio's Ohio's 10th congressional district, 10th congressional district fro ...

, House Representative of Ohio and former mayor of Cleveland, began on December 12, 2006, when he announced that he would seek the nomination for the Democratic Party to run for President of the United States. Although a Democratic candidate, he was not included in the

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

debates on January 4, 2008, or the

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

debates on January 21, 2008, because of his poor showings in the

Iowa caucuses The Iowa caucuses are quadrennial electoral events for the Democratic and Republican parties in the U.S. state of Iowa. Unlike primary elections, where registered voters cast ballots at polling places on election day, Iowa caucuses are ...

and the polls. On Thursday, January 24, 2008, Kucinich dropped his bid for the Democratic nomination after failing to draw more than 10% of the vote in a single contest. In withdrawing from the race, he cited his exclusion from Presidential debates and his desire to continue his service in Congress.

Campaign platform

On December 11, 2006, in a speech delivered at Cleveland City Hall, Kucinich announced he would seek the nomination of the Democratic Party for President in 2008. His platform for 2008 included: *Creating a single-payer system of

universal health care Universal health care (also called universal health coverage, universal coverage, or universal care) is a health care system in which all residents of a particular country or region are assured access to health care. It is generally organized a ...

that provides full coverage for all Americans by passage of the United States National Health Care Act. *The immediate, phased withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Iraq; replacing them with an international security force. *Guaranteed quality education for all; including free

pre-kindergarten Pre-kindergarten (also called pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool ...

and college for all who want it. *Immediate withdrawal from the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that g ...

(WTO) and

North American Free Trade Agreement The North American Free Trade Agreement (, TLCAN; , ALÉNA), referred to colloquially in the Anglosphere as NAFTA, ( ) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that created a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The ...

(NAFTA). *Immediate repeal of the USA PATRIOT Act. *Fostering a world of international cooperation. *Abolishing the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

. *Environmental renewal and

clean energy Energy is sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Definitions of sustainable energy usually look at its effects on the environment, the economy, and s ...

. *Preventing the

privatization Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

social security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...

. *Providing full

benefits at age 65. *Creating a cabinet-level "

Department of Peace The Department of Peace is a proposed United States Cabinet, cabinet-level department of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States. History The peace movement in the United States has a proposed legislative history that ...

" *Ratifying the ABM Treaty and the

Kyoto Protocol The was an international treaty which extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that global warming is oc ...

. *Introducing reforms to bring about

instant-runoff voting Instant-runoff voting (IRV; ranked-choice voting (RCV), preferential voting, alternative vote) is a single-winner ranked voting election system where Sequential loser method, one or more eliminations are used to simulate Runoff (election), ...

. *Protecting a woman's right to choose while decreasing the number of

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

s performed in the U.S. *Ending the War on Drugs. *Legalizing

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

. *Lowering the voting age to 16 and the drinking age to 18 *Strongly promoting worker's rights. *Ending the H-1B and L-1 visa Programs *Restoring rural communities and

family farm A family farm is generally understood to be a farm owned and/or operated by a family. It is sometimes considered to be an Estate (land), estate passed down by inheritance. Although a recurring conceptual model, conceptual and archetype, archet ...

s. *Strengthening

gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms and ammunition by civilians. Most countries allow civilians to own firearms, bu ...

. *Legalizing medicinal

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

and decriminalizing non-medical possession. Kucinich describes his stance on the issues as mainstream. "My politics are center for the Democratic party," he said in an interview before an AFL-CIO sponsored debate.

Polling

Kucinich ranked close to last place (ranging from 8 to 12th) in early polls but got stronger by June and July climbed to 4th and 5th in several polls. In the Rasmussen Reports poll of August 14, 2007, he was tied for 5th place, behind Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator Barack Obama, former Senator John Edwards, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, and tied with Senator Joe Biden. Data from Rasmussen Reports A Rasmussen poll of Democratic candidates, released on September 5, 2007, showed Kucinich in a tie for fourth place with Governor Richardson with 4% of Democratic voters saying they support him. The latest

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

poll that did not include former Vice President

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...

placed Kucinich with 4% of registered Democratic voters, behind Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards. Including Gore, Kucinich is tied with Governor Richardson. In the early primary state of

, Kucinich polled as high as tied for 4th place at 7%. Kucinich has fared much better with unofficial online polls of "netroots" voters, winning the November 2007 Democracy for America "pulse poll", taking first place in over 40 state

Likewise, Kucinich took first in a

Daily Kos Daily Kos ( ) is a group blog and internet forum focused on the U.S. Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party and Modern liberalism in the United States, liberal American politics. The site publishes blog posts, polls, election and cam ...

poll of who won the Las Vegas presidential primary debat

Endorsements

Kucinich's campaign was endorsed by

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal ( ; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his acerbic epigrammatic wit. His novels and essays interrogated the Social norm, social and sexual ...

Shelley Morrison Shelley Morrison (born Rachel Mitrani; October 26, 1936 – December 1, 2019) was an American actress. Morrison was known for her role as maid Rosario Salazar in the NBC comedy ''Will & Grace'', which she played from 1999 to 2006. She was also ...

Viggo Mortensen Viggo Peter Mortensen Jr. (; born October 20, 1958) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received nominations for three Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. Mortensen made his film debut with a small role in ...

Sean Penn Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He is known for his intense leading man roles in film. List of awards and nominations received by Sean Penn, His accolades include two Academy Awards, a Golden Gl ...

, the

Mexican American Political Association The Mexican American Political Association (MAPA) is an organization based in California that promotes the interests of Mexican-Americans, Mexicans, Hispanic and Latino Americans, Latinos, Chicanos, Hispanics, and Latino economic refugees in the U ...

, Atlanta Progressive News, and Bill Rosendahl.

Exclusions from debates and primaries

Kucinich was excluded from the January 15, 2008 debate in Las Vegas, Nevada. Kucinich sued for the right to participate in the debate, but the Nevada Supreme Court ruled in favor of

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

. Kucinich was excluded from Texas Democratic Primary because he refused to sign a so-called "loyalty oath," which required the signers to "fully support the Democratic nominee for president, whoever that shall be." Kucinich lost his federal suit to be included on the ballot. Kucinich appealed the decision to the United States Supreme Court, which denied his emergency motion for injunction appeal. Kucinich was not included on the ballot.

Withdrawal from race

On January 24, 2008, Dennis Kucinich dropped his presidential bid.Kucinich withdraws from Presidential race
at dennis4president.com. Retrieved 2008-01-29.

Endorsements of other candidates

Kucinich suggested

Ron Paul Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, activist, and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977, and again from 1979 to 1985, as well as for Texas' ...

as his choice running mate in November 2007. In a January 1, 2008, press release Kucinich asked his Iowa supporters to make Barack Obama their second choice as he endorsed Obama. On August 26, 2008, at the

2008 Democratic National Convention The 2008 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial United States presidential nominating convention, presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party where it adopted its national platform an ...

, Kucinich gave a spirited speech structured around the refrain "Wake up America!" The speech levies trenchant criticism of the perceived abuses of power of the

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

administration, attacks the corporate control of the American political and economic systems, and rallies for a program of universal health coverage, universal higher education, tax reform, trade policy reform, energy regulation, civil liberties and de-militarization. At the end of the speech, Kucinich reiterates his endorsement for

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

and

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

for president and vice-president. His words electrified the audience who began delivering a standing ovation midway through the speech and continued cheering past its closure.Associated Press. "Remarks delivered by Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday." 8/26/08, 9:12 PM EDT. Archived on Politico.com. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12854.html. Accessed 1/10/11, 12:37 AM EDT.

Delegate count

Notes and references

External links

*"Wake up America!
speech transcript
an
video archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dennis Kucinich Presidential Campaign, 2008 Kucinich Presidential campaign, 2008 2000s in LGBTQ history Abortion-rights movement in the United States Cannabis law reform in the United States Capital punishment in the United States Opposition to the Iraq War Same-sex marriage in the United States Universal health care