If you will indulge me, I would like to share with my large-hearted yet fearful friends why I believe Congressman Dennis Kucinich can become President of the United States in 2008.

We have reason to fear being optimistic, and our efforts to protect ourselves from more disappointment are understandable. Yet, if we only look to the past to predict the future, we will only get more of what we don't want. I understand how our protective thinking has come about regarding a progressive candidate like Kucinich, and yet I am compelled to challenge it. We are living in a unique time with new potential. Suddenly ‘Green’ is cool! Something has shifted.

I hear people say, "Oh, if only Dennis could win. He's my first choice, but he's not electable" or "I really like him but he doesn't have a chance." My answer is, "Why not?" As Dennis says, he's electable, if we vote for him. That's all we have to do, although sending financial contributions to his campaign would certainly help, as would talking with other people about him and his plans.

I know Kucinich has a chance of winning— IF people vote for him in the caucuses and primaries.

I spent two days on the road with the Kucinich campaign in New Hampshire in early April, and from what I saw, I believe he can win. In those two days he did nonstop radio and TV interviews plus town hall meetings at which people kept saying, "You're the only one saying this" and "You're the only one being specific on these issues."

My belief is that he can win the New Hampshire primary. And since the primaries are closer together this year than in past years, if he wins in New Hampshire, he has a better chance of winning more primaries than previous candidates in that position. Kucinich has defeated Republican challengers, including incumbents, in his home district in Ohio.

Michael Moore has been telling audiences that the only presidential candidate supporting nonprofit health care is Dennis Kucinich, which is helping his name get out there. Ed Schultz devoted a 3-hour show to interviewing Kucinich a couple of weeks ago on progressive talk radio.

This year, unlike 2004, Kucinich has been treated like the serious presidential candidate that he is on Late Night with David Letterman and The Tonight Show. He was interviewed by Newsweek in February of this year, whereas in 2004 he was not mentioned and was cut out of a photo of the Democratic presidential candidates on the cover of Newsweek.

With only six minutes to talk in the presidential debate on ABC-TV's "This Week" a few weeks ago, Kucinich came in FIRST in the online vote following the debate. This man CAN win!

So let’s challenge our cynicism, understandable as it is, because it gets in the way of us going for what we really believe in and putting our energy behind it. Fear depletes energy; vision creates it.

In 2004, people voted their fears— they voted against something rather than for something— and that got us nothing but more Bush, more war, more debt, and more erosion of our civil rights.

Recently a wise friend of mine said that "cynicism is the intellectual side of despair." That really resonated with me. So I'm willing to acknowledge my despair, challenge my cynicism, and put it aside, at least until after the 2008 primaries.





The preceding "open letter" was penned by Sharon Abreu, a vocal Kucinich supporter in Washington, and has been reproduced with her permission. When she's not writing letters to the community in support of sending Congressman Dennis Kucinich to the White House, Sharon can be found uploading anti-war and Kucinich-themed videos on YouTube at http://www.YouTube.com/Sharmuse; in addition to presenting her work at http://www.sharmuse.com.