Kucinich for President?

Are you aware that Sen. Barack Obama is an "inexperienced, insulated, arrogant, unabashed liberal"? Well, it's true.

Did you know that former Sen. John Edwards is a "hypocritical, inexperienced liberal with a new negative attitude"? Yep, that appears to be the case.

And get this; Sen. Joe Biden is nothing more than an "undisciplined, self-described northeast liberal, in love with the sound of his own voice."

Say it ain't so, Joe! Say it ain't so!

I was as shocked as you probably are when I first read these press releases from the Republican National Committee last week.

Issued the same day as this year's first Democratic presidential candidate's forum, the cleverly worded statements reflect the RNC's desire to assist voters in making informed decisions.

So, how many adjectives preceded the word "liberal" in the RNC's synopsis of our very own Dennis Kucinich?

Not one. They didn't even bother to mention him. As The Plain Dealer's Stephen Koff put it, the GOP "dissed" Dennis.

After receiving only 40 of the 2,162 delegates necessary to win the Democratic nomination for president in 2004, and telling voters as late as October of last year that he had "no plans" to do so, Kucinich has once again thrown his hat into the race.

Hooray.

Some say that without a Howard Dean to compete with this time around, Dennis can expect to see more support from the liberal activist wing of the party.

And as he's quick to point out (over and over again), that he turned out to be right about that whole Iraq war thing being a really bad idea.

But is his being in this race really doing anybody any good? Is it going to help the residents of America's poorest city if he only comes up 2,110 delegates shy of a win instead of 2,120?

Sadly, no.

As the 10th district withers on the vine, Congressman Kucinich squanders the opportunities that his party's new majority status presents by gallivanting around the country in a vain attempt to capture the White House.

Supporters of his candidacy insist that he's got just as much of a right as any other legislator to take time away from his current job and campaign. After all, nobody's accusing Barack Obama of neglecting Illinois as he stumps for president.

The difference, however, is that Obama may very well win this thing. Kucinich, on the other hand, will not even come close.

Up until late last year it was widely believed that Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, another Democrat who is very popular with liberal activists, would seek the nomination for president.

But after the Senate turned blue in '06, Feingold decided to forego what he admitted would be a long-shot bid in order to focus 100% of his time and energy on his responsibilities in the Senate.

It's too bad for Cleveland that Dennis didn't come to a similar realization.

But what if he actually won? What if he pulled a Jimmy Carter and sprinted past the front-runrunners, leaving Clinton, Obama and Edwards wondering what hit 'em? What then?

I'll tell you what then; he'd pull a George McGovern and get destroyed in the general election.

The GOP would tear him apart.

If you've read this far, you're either thinking; "Leave Dennis alone already! Why do you hate him so?" or, "Yeah! Down with Dennis and his liberal agenda!"

Well my friends, I do not hate Kucinich. Far from it, actually. Not only have I voted for him, I've campaigned for him. Hell, I've got a picture of him and I at a town meeting on healthcare reform hanging on my wall right now.

But as much as I may agree with many of his positions and respect him for sticking to his principles, it has become clear to me that he takes his constituents for granted.

Kucinich has been a household name in this city for decades. He is Cleveland. He knows this. He also knows that as long as Barbara Ann Ferris continues to be his most formidable Democratic challenger, we will continue to send him back to congress, because Lord knows the 10th district will never elect a Republican.

It's been rumored that Parma Mayor Dean DePiero might consider a run against Dennis in 2008's congressional primary.

Run Dean, run.