Kucinich congressional re-election trouble

Four years Dennis Kucinich was the only Democrat--other than eventual nominee John Kerry--to stay in the Democratic presidential race until the national convention.

Not that in mattered much for the Cleveland area congressman as he gathered single-digit support in the post-Super Tuesday primaries.

But this year Kucinich put the kibosh on his campaign--which was staring certain humiliating defeat, again, in the face--much earlier.

Why?

There was some speculation that the death of Kucinich's younger brother was his motivation to throw in the towel.

But Dennis apparently is facing a stiff primary challenge in Ohio.

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

Earlier in the day, Cleveland Councilman Joe Cimperman, one of four candidates after Kucinch's seat, held a press conference to take Kucinich to task for neglecting the district while he campaigned across the country for president.

Kucinch's overall voting record is 95 percent, but during his current term it dropped to 88.5 percent, a point which Cimperman continually points out on the campaign trail.

"We're elected by terms not by decades, and you look at his last term and he's missed over 130 votes," Cimperman said.

More...

Harriet Applegate, executive secretary of the North Shore AFL-CIO Federation of Labor, said she and other labor leaders met with Kucinich two weeks and asked him to be more attentive to the congressional race.

The paper reports that supporters were handing out solicitations for campaign contributions at the press conference where Kucinich announced his withdrawal from the race.

Related posts:

Kucinich using Homeland Security to investigate opponent

UFO sighter Kucinich questions Bush's mental stability

Thanks for the link:

The Bench

Technorati tags: Kucinich democrats elections 2008 politics Ohio Cleveland Congress