It was Sunday night on the bluffs overlooking Zuma Beach in Malibu. The red carpet was duct-taped to the driveway as caterers put the finishing touches on vegan tofu cakes and root vegetable sautees. As the sun dipped into the Pacific, in strode a small man with a disarming smile.
Presidential longshot Dennis J. Kucinich was a long way from Cleveland. The Democratic congressman -- a native of the town he once described as the land of bowling and polka -- eased around the Malibu estate comfortably, dispensing back pats and cheek kisses.
In a 10-minute speech, the 57-year-old Ohio lawmaker incorporated Simon & Garfunkel and the Hindu gods Vishnu and Shiva, along with a ringing call for the U.S. to withdraw from Iraq. "My presidency will be about the end of fear and the beginning of hope in this country," Kucinich said in remarks that urged the replacement of American troops with U.N. forces.
With a crowd of about 150 whooping and rising to its feet, Kucinich advocated universal health care and slashing the nation's defense budget to better fund education.
Many of Kucinich's supporters concede that he has little chance of winning the Democratic nomination, but they say the candidate offers the purest progressive voice in a crowded field of nine Democrats vying for the presidential nod.
In a stronghold of support like liberal California, those who back him do so with idealistic zeal. "He really walks his talk, and he doesn't change what he stands for as the wind blows," said Marilyn Winfield, a psychologist and Kucinich volunteer from Pacific Palisades.
"Dennis speaks from his heart and his mind. I find that to be so profoundly courageous," said actress Lindsay Wagner, the "Bionic Woman" of 1970s television and one of several Hollywood luminaries in attendance.
But conventional wisdom marks a Kucinich presidency as improbable at best. The ardent liberal trails badly in the polls.
A New Hampshire survey conducted last week for the Concord Monitor newspaper found Kucinich with 1% of the vote, above former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois and the Rev. Al Sharpton, but well below front-runner Howard Dean's 41%.
Kucinich's congressional record resonates deeply with longtime liberals. As co-chair with Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) of the House's Progressive Caucus, Kucinich voted against President Bush's resolution to invade Iraq. He also helped organize the 126 House Democrats who opposed the measure.
