Pacific Views

'Congressman Kucinich, why are you here?'

A sympathetic look at Dennis Kucinich's run for the White House from Israel's Haaretz newspaper.

Both Kucinich's positions and his style are unconventional. He is the most vociferous opponent of the war in Iraq, and the most vociferous critic of the Bush administration's preemptive strike; and he has very atypical positions also about internal and economic affairs. While the other candidates have called warily for some kind of general health insurance for every citizen, Kucinich believes that the federal government should take charge of such insurance, an idea which Americans, who believe in a non-interventive administration, can hardly comprehend.

Moreover, at a time when Kerry and Edwards have barely touched on the subject of American trade agreements and their effect on the economy, Kucinich has a clear picture of what should be done: to pull immediately out of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the World Trade Organization and all other economic treaties to which Washington is a signatory.