Kucinich Drops Out
Dennis Kucinich faces a tough challenge for his seat in Congress.
(Lonnie Timmons Iii - AP)
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DEMOCRATIC FIELD DWINDLES
Kucinich Drops Out
A day after issuing an "urgent personal appeal" for donations to fight a tough primary battle against four challengers, Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (Ohio) announced Thursday that he plans to end his quixotic bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Kucinich's campaign released a statement that he will begin "transitioning out of the Democratic Presidential primary race" Friday, when he will make a formal announcement.
"I want to continue to serve in Congress," the six-term congressman told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "There is a point at which you just realize that you, look, you accept it, that it isn't going to happen and you move on."
Kucinich's presidential quest has become a campaign issue in his Cleveland district, which his opponents say he is neglecting. He faces a stiff reelection challenge from Cleveland City Council member Joe Cimperman and North Olmstead Mayor Thomas O'Grady.
-- Garance Franke-Ruta
SORTING OUT LOUISIANA
McCain Declares a Win
BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) declared victory in Tuesday's Louisiana caucuses. But the real winner was "uncommitted," a stand-in for an antiabortion slate.
Explaining what happened this week in Louisiana presents a serious challenge for even the most devoted political junkies. Consider this: Louisiana has 47 delegates to the Republican National Convention in September, 20 of which will be determined during a separate state primary on Feb. 9. Tuesday's caucuses elected 105 delegates to attend the Feb. 16 state convention, who in turn will elect 21 delegates. (The remaining six are split between the state chair, national committeeman and national committeewoman and the three bonus delegates the state received after Gov. Bobby Jindal's election.)
Of those 105 delegates chosen Tuesday, McCain received about 30, more than any other named candidate. But "uncommitted pro-life" received twice that, about 70 delegates. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and Rep. Ron Paul (Tex.) each received a few delegates, but state officials are still calculating the number each candidate received because so many provisional ballots were cast. Caucusgoers had to register as Republicans by Nov. 30 to participate in the process, but a number of voters showed up and cast provisional ballots, since questions remained over whether they had met this requirement.
