» Home
» Air Conditioner
» Translation
» Downloads
» Book Publishing
» Printing
» Health
» Cell Phone
» Weight Loss

Kucinich Lashes Out at Limiting Debates

NEW YORK -

Democrat Dennis Kucinich responded angrily Friday to a conversation overheard between Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards, in which the two spoke of limiting the number of candidates invited to participate in presidential forums.

"Candidates, no matter how important or influential they perceive themselves to be, do not have and should not have the power to determine who is allowed to speak to the American public and who is not," Kucinich said in a statement released by his campaign.

Asked about Kucinich's complaint during a campaign stop in Iowa, Edwards insisted that what he said to Clinton had been misinterpreted.

Edwards said he wasn't in favor of barring any of the eight Democrats from future gatherings, but rather wanted to see them separated into two groups of four each, chosen randomly.

"The result would be that we would have a much more serious discussion and people would actually be able to see what the differences are between us," he said.

The Edwards-Clinton exchange was picked up by several broadcasters on an open microphone after an NAACP forum in Detroit on Thursday. All the Democratic contenders took part in the program, including Barack Obama, Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd, Joe Biden, Mike Gravel and Kucinich.

As the candidates exchanged greetings when the forum ended, Edwards was heard telling Clinton that by fall, "We should try to have a more serious and a smaller group."

Clinton agreed, saying the forums were "trivialized" with too many candidates crowding the stage.

Kucinich, who typically polls in the low single digits, clearly felt the slight was directed at him.

"Imperial candidates are as repugnant to the American people and to our democracy as an imperial president," Kucinich said, adding that his campaign would take steps to stop any effort to limit participation in the forums.

BOSTON (AP) - The Massachusetts Republican Party, in a potential blow to former Gov. Mitt Romney, has heeded the call of a supporter of Rudy Giuliani and reversed a decade-old policy of committing all convention delegates to the winner of the state's presidential primary.

Instead, the state committee will award the state's 43 delegates based on the proportion of vote each candidate gets, which could undercut the institutional advantage Romney has enjoyed in his home state.

The change would allow outsiders such as Giuliani, the former New York mayor, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to convert even a small measure of support in Romney's state into convention delegates, rather than those delegates being pledged only to whomever garners the top vote in the state. Delegates will be awarded to any candidate receiving at least 15 percent of the March 2008 primary vote.

"In all of the debate there was no discussion of like or dislike of any of the presidential candidates," said Brian Dodge, executive director of the Massachusetts Republican Party.

The winner-take-all system has been pushed in recent years by Republican governors seeking to help their favored presidential candidates, but the state is now led by a Democrat and the former GOP governors who used to exert influence on party activists are no longer in power.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - The producer of Michael Moore's documentary on the nation's health-care system, "Sicko," suggested that Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee's criticism of the filmmaker's weight may be motivated more by his need for campaign funds than his concerns for Americans' health.

The former Arkansas governor told reporters in a conference call Wednesday that Moore is an example of why the health care system costs so much in this country."

No comment could be obtained from Moore, but Meghan O'Hara, producer of "Sicko," questioned Huckabee's motives in criticizing Moore.

"Looks like Mike Huckabee is auditioning for some insurance company dough, since he's raised just about no money and sparked zero interest since jumping into the race," O'Hara said. "I wonder what the good governor would say to the French, who drink more, smoke more, eat more cheese and still live longer than us despite paying less for health care?"

Huckabee lost more than 110 pounds and became an avid runner after he was diagnosed with diabetes. He barely registers in national opinion polls and trails far behind the top GOP candidates in fundraising.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson says he would fund a slew of federal education programs and set a minimum teachers' salary of $40,000 a year by ending the unpopular war in Iraq.

"We have spent $450 billion on this war," Richardson said Friday. "Take the money from that war ... and spend it on our own people."

The average salary for teachers of all experience levels for the 2004-2005 school year was $47,602, according to the American Federation of Teachers.

Richardson made the comments at the Utah Democratic Party's annual Jefferson-Jackson fundraising dinner. He called for offering preschool and all-day kindergarten and creating a universal health care program.

"We need universal health care. This is a moral imperative," he said.

Associated Press writers Glen Johnson in Boston, Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Ark., Amy Lorentzen in Humboldt, Iowa, and Brock Vergakis in Salt Lake City contributed to this report.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed