Kucinich’s “Eyes And Ears Project”…Questions Remain…
March 31, 2007 | Permalink
On March 28, we wrote about the launch of the Kucinich campaign’s “Eyes and Ears Project”…
“… it is important that we track, monitor, and gather information about the other candidates…we want other campaigns to know we are monitoring them…this process serves the dual function of keeping other campaigns honest. If they know we are monitoring them, they will be more likely to be transparent and honest…” [Go here for complete email]
Needless to say, this was a rather peculiar undertaking for a presidential campaign. The following day, Dennis Kucinich sent out an email admonishing the project…
“…I believe such tactics are spiritually and politically counterproductive, therefore I am asking you to disregard the request…’Monitoring’ projects are inherently pretentious, divisive and mean-spirited and have no place in a campaign which desires to change the world for the better… It is not the job of our campaign to keep other candidates honest. Each candidate must accept responsibility for his or her own integrity…” [Go here for complete email]
I’d like to first commend Congressman Kucinich for shutting down this project and for admonishing it the way that he did. Unfortunately, far too many questions remain:
- Did Rep. Kucinich know about this project prior to its announcement by his National Outreach Coordinator?
- If he was not aware of this project, why did he not immediately stop it after the campaign email went out? Why did it take him 24 hours and criticism from bloggers?
- If he was not aware of this project, what does that say about his ability to be President of the United States? A campaign is in many ways a microcosm for a candidate’s potential administration. If he was unable to control someone as significant as his National Outreach Coordinator, it’s very telling about his ability to control those in his administration should he elected president.
- If he was not aware of this project, and given that he has called this project immoral, why has his National Outreach Coordinator not been held accountable? In his email, Rep. Kucinich did not say that he would hold Evan Moody responsible (and no, I am not calling for him to be fired).
- If Congressman Kucinich was aware of the “Eyes and Ears Project” prior to its launch, why did he not stop it until after there was criticism of it?
- Why did Rep. Kucinich fail to accept responsibility for this project and/or apologize for the launch of what he has described as an “immoral” and “divisive” enterprise?
As a member of the United States House of Representatives, Dennis Kucnich has been fierce in his demands for accountability and transparency in the Bush Administration. He has consistently fought for what he believes to be essential components in government. If we at 2008 Central, other bloggers, members of the press, Kucinich supporters and voters fail to demand that Rep. Kucnich answer the aforementioned questions about the launch of the “Eyes and Ears Project” we will not only be doing a disservice to ourselves and the system, but we would also be failing to honor what the Congressman has championed for so long - honesty, transparency and accountability in politics.
The Congressman can’t call something immoral and divisive while at the same time failing to accept responsibility for something that took place under the auspices of his campaign. As the leader of the campaign, his staff takes action on behalf of him. If this was Evan Moody’s idea, then the Congressman must apologize for Evan’s immoral and divisive actions and insist that Evan also apologize. If this was not Evan’s idea, then those who created this program must be named. If the Congressman wants to be consistent, he must accept the responsibility that he demands of others and explain more about this project. Otherwise, voters should assume that these kinds of things will occur in his administration (except on a much larger and much more significant scale).
I have sent an email to the campaign asking them to disclose more information about the launch of this program. I will be placing a follow-up call to the campaign shortly and will also be contacting members of the press. I will update all as information becomes available.
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Good Points…
You raise a lot of very sound questions regarding Kucinich’s handling of the the Eyes and Ears program, but i think that it is important to acknowledge that the actual program in question is far more honest and refreshing than you credit it to be.
In the original “Eyes and Ears” email, Kucinich calls for volunteers to monitor the marketing strategies of other candidates. While this might fluster some - the reality is that EVERY campaign is having people monitor the marketing strategies and political weaknesses of other candidates. The only difference in the Kucinich campaign is that he made this not only public knowledge but a public volunteer populist agenda. Almost all other campaigns have individuals in their employ to do this (probably even Kucinich), but to do it not for support of a political candidate or ideology, but for money - these people are “campaign marketing professionals.”
So before we level charges of accountability, and immorality in a democratic sphere - maybe we need to re-examine our past and what political campaigns really should be about - the raw will of the a collective trying to organize and convince a country.
On a side note - this does show the weakness of a campaign if it is so quick to retreat from a little prodding by the Fourth Estate - well Fifth Estate.
Flash,
I believe you may have misread. I did not really criticize the Eyes and Ears Project; I simply said that the project was a peculiar undertaking for a presidential campaign and I called the initial email announcing it creepy.
It was Rep. Kucinich who called the program “immoral” and “divisive.” My questions then do follow from my own issues with the program. Rather, my questions follow from both Rep. Kucinich’s strong admonishment of the Eyes and Ears Project as well as his refusal to accept responsibility and/or be more transparent about something that he had such strong feelings about.
I agree that all the campaigns are probably engaging in this tactic to some extent. I don’t really have a massive issue with it. I was simply pointing this out and am pressing this issue because I believe it is very telling about a potential Kucinich administration.
[...] as noted on this site two weeks ago, Dennis Kucinich had left some serious questions unanswered about his ‘Eyes and [...]