Kucinich Round Two: Same War, Same Place

April 9, 2007 — -- Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, is running for president for a second time, telling residents of the Granite State he can win but only if a majority of New Hampshire voters get behind him.

"New Hampshire hosts this election in a way it never did before, because everybody wants to move up right behind New Hampshire. I love it. I mean, really, that's the chance I have to win the presidency," Kucinich recently told a small but eager crowd of supporters.

Kucinich is so encouraged by the New Hampshire primary that he and his wife, Elizabeth, are looking to buy a house in the area.

The Ohio congressman told ABC News he has already seen a change from his run in 2004. He is still an anti-war, pro-peace candidate but believes that platform now has greater appeal to many Americans who have grown tired of four years in Iraq and ongoing tensions between the United States and Iran.

The style this underdog brings to voters is much different than that of the early front-runners.

The crowds are smaller, the venues less known, and often there is no need for a microphone or an extra area for hoards of reporters and cameras.

Kucinich speaks for roughly 45 minutes about his positions and immediately turns to the small crowds of voters to ask them what they think. He trolls the crowd and points to raised hands, listening intently and asking them questions in return.

"How many think it's fair to start talking about impeaching the president?" Kucinich asked.

A majority of hands go up in the crowd and Kucinich, eyebrows raised, draws out the drama, replying, "I'm listening closely to what the American people have to say, and you'll have my answer within the next month."

The congressman doesn't just want out of Iraq or better relations with Iraq; he's also proposing, as he did in 2004, a Cabinet-level Department of Peace.

"I think a Department of Peace would be a balance and could work with the Department of War, or what is now called the Department of Defense," Kucinich told the crowd at a small Warner, N.H., bookstore.

Kucinich was at the same bookstore in 2004 and said of his recent rerun, "It's almost like the movie 'Groundhog's Day,' but this time, we're going to change the ending."