In 2004 and 2008, Dennis Kucinich ran progressive campaigns for President within the Democratic Party. He wasn’t at all close to what anyone could call successful in either campaign.
Is Kucinich now preparing for third party candidacy in 2012?
This kind of tack-from-the-left strategy might be hinted at in a rally that Dennis Kucinich will be headlining tomorrow. The rally, which will criticize the Democratic health care reform legislation from a progressive perspective, is being organized by the Progressive Democrats of Illinois as well as the DuPage County Green Party, and will feature two Green Party candidates: Matt Reichel, candidate for Congress in the 5th district of Illinois, and Rich Whitney, candidate for Governor of Illinois. The Democratic opponents of Whitney and Reichel will not be in attendance.
For this kind of Democratic-Green coalition to hold a political rally against President Obama’s health care policies in Obama’s own home state seems like a sign that it would be foolish for the machine Democrats of Illinois to ignore. A progressive Democratic peel-off to the Green Party in 2010, and again in 2012, doesn’t seem as far fetched now as it did six months ago.
