Breakfast at Kucinich's

Editors note: This is the third in a series of insightful yet humorous dispatches from the DNC. Read Josh Bearman's past dispatches in AlterNet's Election file. Or to read all dispatches – large and small – as they're posted, go here.

"What is this obsession with my hair?" Dennis Kucinich was on the phone Monday morning with a talk show from his hometown Cleveland. We were in a van heading to the Boston Marriott so Kucinich could address the delegation from Hawaii, the only state where Kucinich came in second during primary season. Packed into the van were a dozen people – staff, photographers, an official poet, a couple of celebrities, the founder of Soloflex, Kucinich, and me. Morning radio in Cleveland, like everywhere else, is apparently not very political, so Kucinich was yukking it up, chatting lightly about Boston, the Red Sox, and, at that moment, his hair. "Hey listen," he responded to some question I'm curious to have heard, "I'm 57 and still have hair."

Other than that, Kucinich was spending every available minute staying on message – and that new message was: Democratic Unity. "My value to Kerry is that I help bring the party together," he said as the drivers threaded the convention traffic. "I bring a base of progressive Democrats who are going to go to the polls. And that's what the party needs right now."

Once Kucinich sets his sights on an idea, he doesn't let up. That's why he ran his small but brave campaign to very end. And since officially endorsing Kerry last week, Kucinich has turned that same persistence that kept the primaries lively with an unflinching politics of social justice towards the general election and the drive to unseat Bush. "No one's going to divide us in November," he'll say when asked about his fundamental differences with Kerry on key issues like the war in Iraq and the Patriot Act. About the platform that his contingent failed to influence in Miami, Kucinich responded "the party platform is a political document. The living platform is the people in the party, and we bring a progressive message to the party by uniting behind John Kerry."

On Monday morning, Kucinich was moving at a brisk clip. His entourage couldn't keep up. The van wasn't getting loaded fast enough for him. It was the opening day of the convention, and Kucinich was racing across the arc of Back Bay hotels to meet with delegates and spread the good word about the value of unifying the party. Before visiting with Hawaii there was a stop by the Washington delegation at the Radisson and the Ohio delegation at the Sheraton. There was more to follow, and it was only 9:00 a.m.

Some of the supporters Kucinich addressed were initially disappointed about the platform setback. Ave Diaz, a Kucinich delegate from Hawaii, was upset they couldn't get more language through. Jerry Wilson, the Soloflex founder whom Kucinich chose to represent him on the platform committee, didn't even want to go to Miami because the resistance to their amendments was so fierce. But they don't fault Kucinich. Wilson was at his side Monday, and Diaz said she's learning that politics is about both vision and cooperation. "I understand that they had to do that," she explained. "Why tear the party apart over some piece of paper? Kucinich is staying the course. I'm thankful that he's keeping his voice out there, front and center, within the Democratic party."

What Kucinich never wanted was to follow in Nader's footsteps. "I like Nader," he said in the van. "He's a friend. But Nader knows government better than anyone. And he has to think of this: Is Bush going to work for automotive safety, or strengthen the SEC against corporate fraud? He ought to do what I've done. If there's room in the Democratic Party for me, there's room for him."