From left field

By Richard Baehr

As Hillary Clinton attempts to carefully play nice with America's newest political saint, Senator Barack Obama, hoping to lure him into a VP slot on her ticket rather than a competitive race against her for the Democratic Presidential nod, comes news that will surely inspire hope in America's hardest left enclaves: Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich will try again for the Presidency.

Kucinich's campaign in 2004 never caught fire, unlike the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, whose mayor he formerly was, incidentally taking the city into bankruptcy.

The London over/under betting line on the number of delegates he will capture in 2008 will be set pretty low, I suspect. Presidential campaigns are long and grueling, and comic relief is required. In 2004, the Kucinich campaign offered some of this, particularly when a contest was set up to find him a wife (or at least a nice date). A date with destiny is not in the cards, however for Dennis Kucinich.

Thomas Lifson adds:

Having an ineffective, slightly comic figure on the hard left makes Obama and Clinton look more reasonable, more centrist. Kucinich's candidacy serves their interests. A serious challenger from the left might be a problem.

Kucinich married his third wife, a British subject, in 2005, so we will be spared a rerun season of the Dating Game. At least I hope so.