Posted on 05/27/2007 10:55:32 PM PDT by Gondring
May 25, 2007 —
There is no doubt about it, 2008 presidential candidate Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, stands out.
Kucinich is the only candidate who wants to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney over the Iraq War; as he did in the 2004 election, he's proposing a Department of Peace, and has introduced a House bill calling for a universal, single-payer, not-for-profit health care system.
And if that weren't enough, the self-proclaimed peace candidate has a secret weapon.
Kucinich is the only candidate married to a woman 30 years younger and more than 5 inches taller than him.
This 6-foot-tall red-headed beauty is making her husband stand out now more than ever, and Elizabeth Kucinich is taking center stage on the trail, at Democratic debates and on her husband's Web site.
Elizabeth Kucinich may not have the traditional biography that some political spouses possess, but that doesn't mean she's short on experience or goodwill.
Born Elizabeth Harper, she grew up in Upminster, England. The volunteerism bug bit her early on: Shortly after high school, she moved to India to work at one of Mother Teresa's homes for poor children. She also volunteered in a rural village in Tanzania, the British Red Cross Refugee's Unit and cared for detainees at London's Heathrow airport.
She attended the University of Kent, earning a bachelor of arts degree in religious studies and theology, and a master's in international conflict analysis.
Mrs. Kucinich worked at the House of Lords in London, which eventually led to a job, an ocean away, in Chicago.
The then-Ms. Harper had been living in United States only a month before she traveled with her Chicago-based employer, the American Monetary Institute, to Rep. Dennis Kucinich's office. It was a meeting of chance that she would never forget.
Instantaneously drawn to each other, Mrs. Kucinich recalled, "I walked into his office. I saw him and I knew. I knew nothing about his political views. I couldn't even pronounce his last name, but I saw him and I knew."
Kucinich was instantly attracted to the young, spunky woman as well but didn't know if she felt the same about him. Then, with one click on his e-mail a few days later, he knew he had a chance with the English beauty.
The two exchanged e-mails daily and once again by rare chance discovered they would be in New Mexico for work at the exact same time.
The congressman invited Ms. Harper and her boss to lunch at "Terms of Endearment" movie star and friend Shirley Maclaine's home. Maclaine, who is godmother to Kucinich's daughter, asked the three visitors to stay the night.
Elizabeth Kucinich said it was that night that she knew he was "the one." After leaving Maclaine's house, they spoke on the phone and decided soon thereafter to get married.
She said she'll never forget that phone conversation.
She told ABC News, "Over the phone I said, 'I can't stop thinking about us and I think we should get married.'" The congressman had been thinking the same thing.
The new bride jokes that "He didn't actually propose to me until the day before the wedding. That's when he got down on bended knee."
The couple married in the public square of the congressman's hometown of Cleveland in 2005.
At first sight, the couple stands out. She's tall; he's short. She's in her late 20s; he's in his sixties. She has a tongue ring, the congressman does not.
"Attention: Welcome to the next generation. The woman who has a tongue ring and wears pearls," Elizabeth Kucinich joked about her accouterment of nine years.
"Some of the blogs and things, they've called me a dirty hippie," she exclaimed in bewilderment to ABC News. "I've never thought of myself as a hippie chick. I am happy with who I am & it's an expression."
Elizabeth Kucinich, who is new to media critiques of her personal style, adds with a laugh, "I'm wearing pearls today!"
The self-confident Mrs. Kucinich has been on the front lines of her husband's second bid for the White House.
She hits the campaign stump for the congressman while he's in Washington working his day job, and tackles policy issues head on.
"If you get Dennis, you get me," she said.
And she argues she's no novice to the campaign trail either. Her husband won re-election to the House in 2006, shortly after their marriage, but the congressman was a bachelor during his first bid for the White House.
"I've been married for just over a year and a half, and I've already been though a primary, a general and a presidential election, so I am learning fast and learning on my feet."
Learning on her feet, Mrs. Kucinich will definitely keep on her toes.this election cycle
So now they are cloning Julianne Moore?
Where do I get one?
This is the third or fourth time he’s found the love of his life.....pathetic.
Loved ‘em both in “Lord of the Rings”!
judgment, that is
She is LOW class....she lived in welfare housing in England.
Now thats a photo I would have liked to see.......she had to bend way over to accept the ring. Kinda like when you bend way over to pat your dog on the head.....
Sounds fishy to me. ;-)
And some people can see even further - past the divorce, the moment they meed them.
Didn’t Sam Kinison say that if he ever wants to get married again he would just find a woman he hates and give her have of his stuff?
This shot looks like Dracula with his latest victim.
Tell me its not so!!!
Totally a great punch line. LOL!
roflmao
With a little help from my friends.
It has been said that if you aren’t a liberal when you’re 18, you have no heart, and if you aren’t a conservative when you are 30, you have no brain. She’s 20-something and obviously liberal. What happens to their relationship if, when she turns 30, she grows a brain?
LMHO on that one!
Hey worked for Bill Clinton - oh wait....
That's kind of you to give FReepers some hope.
...and I was just sayin’ the other day that I MISSED Fractured Fairy Tales.
;-)
You had to be there BEFORE this event to get the whole story.
This was more an EFFECT of the problem than the CAUSE.
;-)
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