Time on Dennis Kucinich: 'Even His Old Kooky Ideas Are Looking Pretty Good These Days'

Time magazine is not going to play to the stereotype of only praising Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. They can find obscure Democratic presidential campaigns to praise. The infamous Joel "I Don't Support Our Troops" Stein has filed a piece praising fringy Dennis Kucinich, the candidate who would create a Department of Peace. Stein acknowledges he's on the outer edges of political feasibility, and yet there's something so right in his "progressive" idealism:

"And yet the universe has been going his way lately. Even his old kooky ideas are looking pretty good these days. His decision to allow Cleveland to default instead of selling its electric-utility company cost him re-election and landed him in a book about the worst mayors in American history, but he was later honored by the city council for refusing to sell, a move that saved customers nearly $200 million over 10 years. More inconceivable, less than two years ago, his office was visited by a stunning 6-ft.-tall Julianne Moore look-alike 31 years his junior, a Brit who was working for the American Monetary Institute. After some smooth wooing on his part ("I gave her a copy of my Department of Peace legislation and my e-mail address") and one date (at MacLaine's house), she agreed to marry him. If that happened to you, you'd think you could be President too."

Stein noted that Kucinich's singing and speeches get him rave reviews on YouTube, and then notes the dream of nerdy President Dennis is just a dream, sigh:

"Kucinich will run all the way, waiting for that moment when he transforms from punch line to President. And he insists that he isn't frustrated that it hasn't happened yet. "Not at all," he says. "The real test of power is whether you can endure the setbacks and still meet each day with integrity and courage." That, though, is the test of moral fiber, not the test of power. The test of power is whether you can persuade others to do your will. And it may be that an earnest man with progressive ideas who still can't make a decent campaign poster will always fail that test."