Presidential candidate Kucinich to visit Maine

BANGOR – Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich will make a campaign swing through eastern and central Maine Friday, holding events here and in Unity.

Kucinich, an Ohio congressman since 1996, will speak at an 11 a.m. rally outside the Bangor Public Library, where he is expected to call for repeal of the U.S. Patriot Act, a post Sept. 11, 2001, security measure seen by some as gutting civil liberties.

Kucinich, 56, then will travel to the Common Ground Fair in Unity, where he will greet supporters from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m.

Both events are open to the public.

Although polls show Kucinich trailing New England Democrats Howard Dean, John Kerry and Joe Lieberman for the party’s nomination, Kucinich has attracted attention from the party’s more liberal wing for his anti-war stance and willingness to replace U.S. troops in Iraq with United Nations peacekeepers.

Kucinich’s Friday stops will come early in the political season, some six months before the state Democratic Party’s 2004 caucuses.

The Bangor and Unity events mark Kuncinich’s second visit to Maine. In August he spoke to about 300 people in Portland.

Earlier in August, Bangor hosted Dean, a former Vermont governor and frontrunner for the party’s nomination. He also drew about 300 people to that event.

In a Tuesday news release, Kucinich campaign organizers warned the Friday schedule could change because of the possible arrival of Hurricane Isabel to New England.

For more information, call the Kucinich campaign office in Maine at 781-2527.