Dennis, Dennis, he's our man...
Defending Congressman Kucinich

Former Congressman Louis Stokes said it best on election night. Sitting in the Channel 5 studios, he stated that Dennis Kucinich would successfully defend his 10th Congressional seat in the primary because he provides good constituent services. And he does. He has a dedicated staff that quietly but quickly jump at any emergency and request. When Bernie Sokolowski, co-owner of the legendary eatery in Tremont, got the phone call in the middle of the night (that 3AM phone call) that his son had been struck by a car while on a bike trip through the backcountry of Italy and may be near death, Kucinich’s office made passport arrangements instantly, so Bernie and his wife could fly over as quickly as possible.

Personally, I’m not in Dennis’ district, but I have a Dennis bumper sticker on my car. I will always be grateful to Dennis and his staff for helping to resurrect the Free Times when the two corporate newsweekly chains conspired to each close a paper down in the two markets where they were competing, Cleveland and LA. Dennis’ office went to the Department of Justice and an order came that allowed bidding for the Cleveland Free Times name, enabling a smaller company to buy and re-launch the publication I helped start in 1992 -- a paper founded by community activist Richard Siegel to help debate publicly funded deals being cut like the Gateway project for the Indians and a new stadium for the Browns.

So regardless of Dennis‘ seemingly irrational Ralph Nader-like obsession with running for president every four years, that doesn’t really effect anything he’s able to do for the folks he represents in his district. Joe Cimperman’s cartoony commercials about not needing a part-time Congressman, say more to me about his own ambition. Maybe Dennis hasn’t introduced enough meat and potatoes bills, but when you look at the list of House bills introduced on the web, there’s overwhelming number of bills just asking to rename a post office or recognize the historical significance of fill-in-the-blank, by just about every Congressperson.

The reason hardcore anti-war activists like Sean Penn or Michelle Shocked and countless other celebrities have attached themselves to Dennis is because he enters bills that say: we should pull out of Iraq and we should impeach Cheney, with guile and a sense of righteousness that shouldn‘t belong to a little guy from Cleveland with an ethnic name. This brazen attitude has won him fans in places like Austin and San Francisco, where liberal activism and progressive thinking have a bigger stronghold than here in the panic-stricken Midwest.

Lately, the biggest complaint I’ve heard is that Dennis doesn’t return phone calls, especially from the media. But come on, who can blame him for that after the Plain Dealer endorses Cimperman... what, three times? And what was with that yellow highlighter box over the last anti-Dennis rant? I’m sure they were just trying to mimic Dennis’ yellow bumper sticker but I don’t think I’ve ever seen the PD run color on the editorial page, which really made it seem like an over-the-top attack. (Thank you Dick Feigler for providing some balance on the pages of our powerful daily.)

I’d bet, however, that Dennis answers his phone when Bernie Sokolowski calls him. A few weeks ago when Dennis walked into my Beachland Ballroom concert venue unannounced with Sean Penn in tow, one of the people who grabbed his hand and caught his ear was Kiely Cronin, who works in the film industry and just happened to be there. Kiely took the opportunity to tease Dennis about being a fellow union member, since Dennis still holds onto his cinematographer’s union card for Local 600.

Dennis not only remembered Kiely but could instantly recall where and when they first met years ago. Kiely was impressed. And if Kiely called Dennis’ cell, I’m betting he’d take the call. I just called him on Sunday afternoon and he answered the phone. His complaint about the election is that he claims Republican voters were being encouraged to switch to a Democratic ballot in his district so they could vote against him in the primary, much like Republicans in other areas who were switching to Democrat so they could vote for whomever they think gives McCain a better shot in November.

I think the media here is totally missing the boat with Dennis. Instead of trying to run him out of town, we should be celebrating his celebrity. Many musicians from out of town who play my club, have the same curiosity and reverence for Dennis as say Harvey Pekar. He’s so Cleveland. One LA friend who met Dennis at a Hollywood fundraiser, said he’d fly into Cleveland to support Dennis’ Congressional race. To another friend who runs an alternative newsweekly in San Fran, Dennis will forever be a hero for saving Muny Light and keeping it a publicly owned utility in the spirit of Mayor Tom Johnson.

Dennis is the legacy of our progressive, union-supporting roots. He may not be perfect but he’s ours. And fortunately there's alot of Clevelanders who really know Dennis.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Cindy Barber cindyATbeachlandballroom.com
Cindy Barber is the owner of the Beachland Ballroom in Collinwood, a winner of the Cleveland Arts Prize and former editor of the Free Times.
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