Dennis Kucinich snags another national endorsement

Today, retiring Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank announced he was endorsing Dennis Kucinich in the 9th district congressional primary over colleague Marcy Kaptur, making him the second high-profile congressional figure to do so.

If Frank, who is leaving congress after more than three decades, feels moved to do this, then whatever. Kucinich probably stood up for some piece of legislation when he really needed him, although in his letter he cites such predictable things as his opposition to the war in Iraq.

Here's his endorsement letter:

http://kucinich.us/congressman-barney-frank-dennis-kucinich-ohio’s-new-ninth

Among other things, he says,

I do not by this mean in any way to denigrate Congresswoman Kaptur. This is not a case where supporters of progressive principles have to choose between two people who both fall short of our ideals. It is, however, in my judgment a situation in which there is one candidate who has brought an extraordinary set of qualities to the House.

What I find more baffling is the endorsement from former Florida congressman Alan Grayson, who sent out an email a couple of weeks ago, not just endorsing Kucinich but soliciting donations for him.

He just sent out another one, even more bizarre than the first. In it, he recites the simplified, mythologized version of Brave Boy Mayor Dennis Kucinich vs. the Big Evil Banks and how Little Dennis saved Muny Light from their clutches.

He says,

There is not one person in a hundred -- Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative, male or female, white, black, red or brown -- who would have the courage to do what Dennis Kucinich did. For the good of the people.

Other than the fact that Kucinich turned his back on the good of the people to support the gerrymandered Republican congressional map that strips Democrats of their fair voice, what baffles me about Grayson's starry-eyed support and his links to Kucinich's ActBlue donation page is that Grayson is in a race of his own to regain a seat in Congress. So why isn't he raising money for himself and focusing on his own race, which could be a pick-up for Democrats? That Democrats will control Ohio's 9th district is a given — that's the only reason the Republicans are allowing Joe the Plumber to play candidate here.

Now, WikiPedia says Grayson is/was the 11th wealthiest member of Congress so maybe he doesn't need money; he'll just self-finance. But it seems odd to me that in a year where he's trying to rebuild his name recognition and awareness of his own campaign that he's expending any of his goodwill putting his finger on the scale in a primary in another state. That usually doesn't go so well.