Reply #36: No, it says a great deal about Kucinich as well

[Hippo_Tron]

Nobody's faulting Kucinich for not being the primary sponsor of a giant piece of successful legislation like a single-payer health care system, major changes to the financial regulatory system, or a major change in energy policy. Most members of congress never play a lead role in any big overhauls like these, even when they are much more modest than Kucinich would like them to be.

However, most members of congress who have been there for as long as Kucinich have, usually have successfully sponsored smaller pieces of legislation that aren't earth shattering, but often do genuinely improve the lives of many people. For example, Paul Wellstone got the Mental Health Parity Act passed in 1996. Most people probably have never heard of it because it's not one of the five or six big issues that get tons of media coverage. But for people suffering mental illness, it was a big deal.

In order to get this passed, Wellstone worked with Pete Domenici, someone with whom he agreed on just about nothing else. Together they built a strong bi-partisan coalition and got the bill passed in a Republican congress. Now nobody was more of a champion for liberal issues than Wellstone and he was well known for throwing around plenty of fire. But throwing fire wasn't his sole activity in congress and when he saw opportunities to build coalitions to get things done, he did it.

The fact that Kucinich hasn't been able to pass any legislation during his years suggests that he doesn't do much other than throw fire. There's nothing wrong with sticking to your beliefs and speaking very loudly about them, especially when you think that it's something people need to hear. But if you're a congressperson and you spend all day every day doing that, you are missing a lot of opportunities to bring about change in smaller ways that could really help people.