In the United States House of Representatives, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) was known for his progressive views, while Ron Paul (R-TX) was known for his libertarian views. There were many times when the two representatives disagreed about American policy and legislation. But, there was also much overlap in their views in regard to United States foreign policy and liberty in America.
In this area of overlap, the two men worked together many times in the House, advocating for the US seeking peace abroad and protecting liberty at home. This collaboration has continued since both men left the House in 2013, with Dennis Kucinich serving as an Advisory Board member for the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity that Paul founded soon thereafter.
Interviewed last week by Glenn Greenwald at System Update, Kucinich addressed a possibility he had floated back in 2007 when on the presidential campaign trail. Greenwald queried Kucinich about Kucinich, then participating in the Democratic presidential primary, having offered Paul, who at the same time was seeking the Republican presidential nomination, as someone Kucinich would consider asking to join his ticket as his choice for vice president. Responding to Greenwald, Kucinich spoke of how he “worked closely together” with Paul, who Kucinich referred to as “a straight shooter” and “a good man” and with whom Kucinich “saw a point of coalition on the issues that related to war and the folly of the United States going into one war after another.” “When I mentioned Ron Paul as a possible running mate in 2007, despite the fact that I gave some of my colleagues then the vapors, I felt it was really important to be able to show that my view is not dichotomized; I don’t think in terms of polarity,” Kucinich further stated.
What an interesting campaign that would have been. As Paul likes to say, “Freedom brings people together.” A joint campaign of Paul and Kucinich, focused on the areas where they agree could have helped break down the artificial dichotomy and polarity in American politics that Kucinich critiques. Instead of the example that we keep seeing in Washington, DC of the exercise of “bipartisan compromise” almost always leading to intervention abroad and the diminishing of liberty in America, Kucinich and Paul could have demonstrated how principled cross-parties and cross-ideologies action can advance peace and liberty. And, taking the hypothetical a step further, consider the effort the two men could have undertaken together from the White House to roll back the US government’s many foreign interventionist and liberty suppressing activities.
In their separate campaigns, Kucinich and Paul did much work educating and inspiring people in regard to matters of peace and liberty. Those efforts continue today to yield fruit. But, what if they had combined forces instead? A Kucinich/Paul — or Paul/Kucinich — ticket is an interesting alternative history to ponder.
