Dennis Kucinich’s announcement that he’ll make another run at the nomination had me pondering the question of electability. As mentioned before, the general consensus of those who don’t absolutely love Hillary is that she’s unelectable. I understand why many think this, but when I think of unelectable, I think of Kucinich, or at least I did three years ago. I was high on Howard Dean, whom many thought was unelectable, and I’d argue that if Dean was able to get his message out in a two-man race with Bush, he’d have just as good a chance as anyone. I’d add that my own views were probably best-aligned with Kucinich, but he was truly unelectable, and I wanted to back a guy who at least had a shot.

Interestingly enough, I think if Dean has not had his scream and gone on to win the nomination, he would have had a very good chance of defeating Bush. A lot of people who wanted to vote out Bush didn’t vote for Kerry because they didn’t know where Kerry stood on issues. Kerry’s nuanced arguments went over the heads of a lot of these people, and they didn’t feel comfortable with him. Dean is blunt about things. He may not be likable to some, but back in 2004, people didn’t care so much for a guy they’d want to have a beer with; they just wanted someone whom they believed would truly fight for them. John Kerry didn’t convey that when we’d wind down by going wind-surfing off Martha’s Vineyard.

And this brings me to my point…Kucinich in ’08? Why not? I don’t think most Americans are as afraid of the label of “liberal” as much as the right-wing would like us to believe. When it comes right down to it, *anyone* whom the Democrats nominate in ’08 is electable, in my opinion, simply because the nominee will be running against a Republican nominee. So many Americans who don’t pay attention to politics will feel as if the previous eight years were so awful under Bush that they’ll want to vote for whoever *isn’t* the Republican. I’ve heard so many people say that the Democrats have to run a moderate to have a chance in ’08. How about just running someone who obviously has courage in his convictions, who doesn’t follow scripts, who doesn’t need to consult with an elite corps of advisors before every public act?

Am I being too idealistic? I’m not saying that Kucinich has much of a chance of winning the nomination. I’m more wondering if electability really ought to be considered when supporting a party candidate.