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Long-Shot Kucinich To End His 2nd Bid

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By JOE MILICIA, The Associated Press

Published: January 25, 2008

CLEVELAND - Democrat Dennis Kucinich is abandoning his second dark-horse bid for the White House as he faces a tough fight to hold on to his other job, U.S. congressman.

In an interview with Cleveland's Plain Dealer, the six-term House member said he was quitting the race and would make a formal announcement today.

"I will be announcing that I'm transitioning out of the presidential campaign," Kucinich said. "I'm making that announcement tomorrow about a new direction."

Kucinich has received little support in his presidential bid; he got 1 percent of the vote in the New Hampshire primary and was shut out in the Iowa caucuses.

Kucinich, 61, is facing four challengers in the Democratic congressional primary March 4, and earlier this week he made an urgent appeal on his Web site for funds for his re-election. Rival Joe Cimperman has been critical of Kucinich for focusing too much time outside of his district while campaigning for president.

The decision comes a month after the death of his youngest brother, Perry.

Kucinich said he will not endorse another Democrat in the primary.

Kucinich brought the same sense of idealism to his second run for president as he did in his first bid. He said he was entering the race again because the Democratic Party wasn't pushing hard enough to end the Iraq war.

Once dubbed the "boy mayor" of Cleveland, he made an unpopular decision to refuse to sell a publicly owned utility that pushed the city into default and drove him from office and out of politics for a decade.

In 1994, Kucinich was elected state senator and he then won a seat in Congress in 1996. As a presidential candidate, he has proposed a Department of Peace, backed universal health care and supported gay marriage.

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