May 23, 2011

Ohio is losing 2 districts, including Kucinich's, and Kucinich might run for a seat in Washington state...

... which is picking up a district:
... Mr. Kucinich figures his aggressive brand of antiwar, pro-working class politics could sell well in a solidly blue state where he has ideological allies and was popular during his unsuccessful White House bids in 2004 and 2008. It is a somewhat novel idea that could be summed up as: Have seniority, will travel...
Mr. Kucinich’s attempt would certainly be unusual. In the early days of Congress, a few House members won election years apart in two different states. But Ed Foreman, now a motivational speaker, was the last to do so more than 40 years ago; elected as a Republican from Texas in 1962, he lost his re-election attempt in 1964, then won one term in New Mexico in 1968...

Should he decide to go ahead, Mr. Kucinich is certain to face charges of carpetbagging and confront questioners like a woman on Saturday who pressed him on whether political candidates should be homegrown or not. He had a ready answer.

“Where people live is always interesting,” Mr. Kucinich said. “Where they stand is quite instructive.”
Ha. Cool. Why not?! In case you're wondering about the Constitution, the relevant clause is Article  1, Section 2, Clause 2:
No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.
So all Kucinich needs to do is start inhabiting Washington by election day.

44 comments:

Phil 314 said...

carpetbagger

Phil 314 said...

And in keeping with his anti-war stance and his planned move (and my love for M. Python) I guess we should all shout:

RUN AWAY!!!

Jana said...

It's not enough of an indignity that we have to have a district represented by Jim McDermott. We have to get this clown?

I hate my district, by the way.

Original Mike said...

Wasn't it in Washington that Kucinich had the encounter with the UFO? Maybe the aliens have turned on his Return-to-Base beacon.

Pastafarian said...

As a lifelong Ohioan, I agree completely: Why not?

Traficant's out of prison now, maybe they could take him, too.

Pastafarian said...

Just by considering this possibility, the collective IQ of Ohio just increased 0.5 points.

Stan25 said...

Here I thought we were going to get rid of him once and for all. Maybe the people of Washington State will see what a charlatan this man is and give him the old heave ho. Poetic justice.

RichardS said...

New Yorkers were happy to elect Mrs. C in 2000, even though, unless I am mistaken, she had never lived in the state before.

Eric said...

Every state has different rules. Does Washington have a rule against elves running for Congress?

KCFleming said...

How's the Kucinich broken tooth lawsuit shaping up?

Ipso Fatso said...

What an arrogant POS.

madAsHell said...

The wet-side of the state (west of the Cascades) has all the population, and is solidly Democrat. All the seats on the wet-side are taken.

The dry-side of the state (east of the Cascades) is very, very conservative. They have lamp posts reserved for "displaying" Democrats.

I'm not sure where Kuchie fits in!

KCFleming said...

He sure screwed Cleveland.

And now Ohio is in the shitter, too.

Kucinich is King Un-Midas.

Steven said...

Woot! Ohio's getting rid of him not just politically, but physically! As someone with relatives who lived through Kucinich's mayoral term, this is awesome news.

Deepest condolences to the State of Washington, of course, on having him come over and bother you, but if you could just elect him so he stays out of Ohio?

Anonymous said...

Isn't it the day he takes the oath of office? Hillary Clinton would know. Rumor has it she never paid New York State income taxes until she was elected to the Senate.

coketown said...

If the people of Washington feel he represents them, I'm all for letting him run there. It's the snooty sense of entitlement I find insufferable. As though if Dennis weren't in the House of Representatives it would be a loss for America. Get over yourself you bat-eared piece of shit.

YoungHegelian said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Original Mike said...

"At a debate of Democratic presidential candidates in Philadelphia on October 30, 2007, NBC's Tim Russert cited a passage from a book by Shirley MacLaine in which the author writes that Kucinich had seen a UFO from her home in Washington State." Wikipedia

Yep. Washington.

YoungHegelian said...

In this way, as in so many others, the Democrats want us to become like Europe.

In Britain's parliamentary system, candidates do not have to live where they are standing for election, and often don't. The parties say candidate X is standing for election in ward Y, and the voters like it or lump it.

I always rather liked the way that Americans try to keep their politicians local, even if DC always claims their allegiances after a while.

And, as has been said upthread, scaliwags and carpetbaggers all!

5/23/11 5:32 PM

bgates said...

“Where people live is always interesting,” Mr. Kucinich said. “Where they stand is quite instructive.”

I have to admit, that's provocative. I feel I must think about it deeply before I comment further.

Hal Duston said...

Eric said:
Every state has different rules. Does Washington have a rule against elves running for Congress?
Only for state and/or local offices. The requirements for Congress are dictated by the constitution and are exactly as mentioned by Ann in the main post. Even residence in the district is not a requirement, but merely residence in the state. (Although I rather imagine an opponent would make effective use of any non-resident candidate).

DaveW said...

Seems like a big win for Ohio to me.

I'm one to talk though - my congressman is Ron Paul.

victoria said...

Worked for Mitt Romney in Mass. The ultimate carpetbagger.

Vicki from Pasadena

Oh, and Hilary too in NY

Blue@9 said...

I hear there's an opening at the IMF.

edutcher said...

It's the Evergreen State's loss, although I'd rather see someplace like TX get those seats.

Roman said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Automatic_Wing said...

If Kucinich is up for a challenge, he could buy a nice little ranch in Moses Lake and go up against Doc Hastings in 2012.

Alex said...

Doesn't really matter about residency requirements. I'm sure that this new district is a moonbat one. Probably Seattle split up.

Fred4Pres said...

What makes you think Washington State needs an import like Kucinich? Washington has its own home grown nutters, like Jim McDermont to run.

somefeller said...

I'd like to make a joke about how Kucinich making a move like this would raise the average IQ of both Ohio and Washington, but that would be an unfair calumny upon both states. Awful little man.

Chef Mojo said...

It is a somewhat novel idea that could be summed up as: Have seniority, will travel...

That's the part that interests me. Isn't seniority dependent on the rules of the House? I wonder what would happen if the Rules Committee ruled that a Representative would lose seniority if they ran in a district or a state other than that where their seniority was was established, the exception being the elimination of a district due to reapportionment. In that case, the Representative would have to challenge in the consolidated district to retain their seniority.

That would make perfect sense to me, and would stop Kucinich dead in his tracks. He is, after all, thinking about taking the easy way out of losing his district.

William said...

If there has to be someone with such views in Congress, I would prefer Kucinich. He has a sense of humor and doesn't scape his fingernails on the blackboard when addressing the public.

Blue@9 said...

If there has to be someone with such views in Congress, I would prefer Kucinich.

True. Congress will always have nutters-- I'm just glad that Kucinich is harmless and amusing. And he's got a hot wife, so clearly he's got some sense about him

miller said...

They will probably split up Seattle more, but to make a minority-safe district. Larry Gossett would win in a walk, and change the complexion of the state representatives to more accurately reflect the mix of people.

That's if they're smart and forward thinking. What they'll probably do is arrange it so another white male will win and REPRESENT the state. Because nothing says "change" like "do what we've always done."

Anonymous said...

Good proof that his main constituency is and has been....Dennis Kucinich.

dbp said...

Mitt Romney had been living here in Mass for almost 20 years before he ran for Senate in 1994. Nice try though VFP.

JAL said...

But of course there was Hillary.

edutcher said...

somefeller said...

I'd like to make a joke about how Kucinich making a move like this would raise the average IQ of both Ohio and Washington, but that would be an unfair calumny upon both states. Awful little man.

A lot of bad things can be said about him, particularly his foreign policy views, but he did janitorial work - on his hands and knees, no machines - to put his siblings through school before he put himself through the same way.

I respect him for his grit, if nothing else.

jeff said...

"Mitt Romney had been living here in Mass for almost 20 years before he ran for Senate in 1994. Nice try though VFP."

Vicki forgot Reagan too. He had just got to California barely 30 years before becoming governor. So both him and Romney are EXACTLY like Kucinich running for congress in Washington.

Gabriel Hanna said...

@miller:They will probably split up Seattle more, but to make a minority-safe district. Larry Gossett would win in a walk, and change the complexion of the state representatives to more accurately reflect the mix of people.


No. Washington is one of only two states that does not have gerrymandering. Districts are nearly invariably geographic and change little from Census to Census. There are no minority-majority districts, and Jim McDermott's seat is only safe because he represents downtown Seattle.

Mian said...

I live near Kucinich's district and --seriously-- think we should have a gala going away party for him. We'll serve beer.

AllenS said...

pro-working class

Bullshit. If he was indeed pro-working class, his district would have lots of jobs, but it doesn't, it has a declining population.

Hoosier Daddy said...

"...Worked for Mitt Romney in Mass. The ultimate carpetbagger..."

You really aren't that bright are you?

Known Unknown said...

When does he need to report back to the North Pole?