magicbeans. nothing if not awkward.

For the duration of time that this entry is on the front page of my site, yes that is, essentially, an ad banner over there in the right hand column. It is not space that I have sold, it is space that I am donating to a cause that I believe in. Does that make it less of an ad banner? No. Do the facts that I have not sold ad space at any time in the past, nor have plans to ever sell ad space in the future, make it any less of an an ad banner? No. Those facts do make it less capitalistic, and I would argue more principled and meaningful, than sold ad space would be.

It is an ad banner for Denis Kucinich's presidential campaign. Earlier today, Denis was excluded from the Iowa Democratic Debate because the sponsor, the Des Moines Register, claimed that he did not meet their criteria "designed to ensure a serious debate." Why? "Because he didn't have Iowa office space."

Kucinich's Iowa campaign director works out of a home office. Space that he has donated to the furtherance of a cause that he believes in. Is a donated office any less of an office? No. If anything, people who work from home (and this is something I have pretty intimate knowledge of) work longer hours and work more intensely than people who work in a traditional office.

This petty technicality on which Kucinich was excluded is a very thinly veiled pretext. With the heft and machinations of corporate money behind them, other candidates are labelled "front runners" and their brand-names are bandied about the media, which keeps the cash rolling in, and they keep their front runner status. It's a self-perpetuating cycle. Kucinich is not a front runner, but he does have something that the other candidates and the party leadership don't have, and it's something they are truly afraid of: a unique voice and clear vision for positive change. He is the only candidate with a true conviction to the ideals that the Democratic Party professes to hold, and the more he gets the opportunity to express those ideals, the more the other candidates are shown to be the capitulating cowards (or worse, conniving opportunists) that they really are.

I am 32 years old, and I have never voted in a presidential election. I have never felt that there was a candidate with whom I shared a large enough set of beliefs to put my support behind. (Four years ago, I was not a registered Democrat and could not vote for Kucinich in the Democratic primaries.) Now, with approval ratings of the current regime at record-breaking historic lows, now more than ever, it is the time to get behind a truly progressive candidate. And Denis Kucinich is that candidate.