When you have no chance to win

... you can say ANYTHING! Which is exactly what Dennis Kucinich did tonight. He's the Alan Keyes of the Democratic party -- certainly not in his positions on the issues, they couldn't be further apart -- but in the freedom to say whatever the heck he wants. Like Keyes, Kucinich can say what he wants because he knows he has no chance of winning. It gives him a freedom the other candidates (well, except for Mike Gravel) don't have.

The reality is there is a left wing and a right wing in this country -- and then there is a majority in the middle. In order to be elected candidates have to appeal to both their base, and to enough of that mushy middle group to win.

Near the end of the debate the candidates were asked to say what they liked and disliked about the person to their left. Sen. Joe Biden said of Kucinich:

Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware said he appreciated Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, but particularly liked Kucinich's wife.

Kucinich commented that there was no one to the left of him, to which Anderson Cooper replied that CNN couldn't find anyone more left than Kucinich.