Dennis Kucinich Argues for No Candidate Left Behind at Steak Fry in Iowa

In a September 16th 2007 Kucinich For President 2008 press release, Senator and presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich argued for a No Candidate Left Behind view of the 2008 Iowa Democratic presidential election activities. He stated that he was excluded from the Democratic events in Iowa while other candidates trailing him in the polls were invited to a steak fry in Indianola, Iowa, on Sunday and to a Democratic Presidential forum on Thursday in Davenport, Iowa.

Kucinich suspected that he was being excluded because he was a viable candidate in Iowa - not because he was not, as suggested by Iowa Democrats. At the time of the press release, the Kucinich For President 2008 spokes people stated that Kucinich was running at 3% of the popular vote for president in a CNN poll while Joe Biden was running with 2% and Dodd was below 1%, both of whom were invited to the steak fry and forum in Iowa. The press release further stated that in a recent Rasmussen Reports poll, Kucinich was tied for fourth place with Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico. Richardson was also invited to the events for which Kucinich was spurned. (The first three places were held by Clinton, Obama and Edwards in the Rasmussen Reports poll referenced.)

"We're doing better than some of the establishment candidates, and we're moving up," Kucinich was reported as saying in the Kucinich For President 2008 press release. He also argued that his organization was a highly dedicated grassroots one rather than a slick, commercialized, political and marketing dollar fueled group such as the campaigns of the candidates ranking higher in the polls.