Imported from Ohio
  • E.S.
  • Imported from Ohio
It occurred to me, after watching Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich flip organic vegan pancakes yesterday morning in Shoreline, that his supposedly-non-campaign for Congress in Washington's 1st District is a bit at odds with some of his core principles.

Kucinich told the Democrats gathered for Sunday brunch at the Richmond Masonic Center—as he tells all people everywhere—that he's opposed to America crossing borders and oceans in order to impose its values in places like Libya, Iraq, or Afghanistan. He even called for the U.S. to withdraw from Germany and Japan. Because, according to Kucinich, the point is not to parachute your values into some foreign place, but to stay where you are, focus on your own problems, fix your own economy, stop wasting fossil fuels, and build locally, in your own back yard, "what would be called a beloved community."

Sure, Washington's not Iraq. But the general principle of fostering local, organic solutions to political problems runs through Kucinich's politics. And yet here is Kucinich, very far from his beloved Ohio, parachuting into Shorline's back yard. He's here because he might lose his Ohio seat to redistricting next year, and in response he's been floating—without explicitly saying he's floating—the very non-local, non-organic notion that he should be the next Congressman from Washington's 1st District.

“I’m hopeful to continue to serve in the United States Congress," Kucinich said in response to a question about his plans for the 2012 election cycle. "I just haven’t made any decisions about where that might be. But I sure am grateful to be here. I’m not here as a candidate. I want to make that clear. I’m not at the point of making a decisions. It’s a big decision. Do I like this area? Of course."

After the brunch, I stood on the front porch of the Masonic Center with Kucinich and asked him what he makes of the opposition to his proto-candidacy from State Democratic Party Chair Dwight Pelz, who essentially believes there are better locally-grown candidates who don't have to fly back and forth from the midwest for meet-and-greets.
"He's the chairman of the party, and I respect that," Kucinich told me. "I called him out of respect, and I think he deserves respect as the chairman of the party."

But does Kucinich feel he has to listen to what Pelz says? Is Pelz's opposition to Kucinich running for Congress here an insurmountable obstacle?

"Next question," Kucinich replied.

When's he coming back to Washington?

"I have many invitations that I have to sort through," Kucinich told me. "It all depends on when Congress is in session and what my responsibilities are in my home district, so I have to think about it. But will I be back? Absolutely... It's nothing new, though. What you have to keep in mind is I'm not a stranger to this area. I know this area. I've been invited here many times."

OK, but wouldn't Kucinich—if he ran—be in a sense colonizing Washington State with his foreign candidacy? Isn't that rather un-Kucinich?

"I said this yesterday," he replied. "Where someone lives is interesting. Where they stand is more instructive. Beyond that, I really don't understand the question."