Knowing that I am active in Democratic politics, a friend called to ask if I knew where she could get a Howard Dean bumper sticker. I had to refer her to the Dean Web site, but offered that I had a supply of Kucinich materials. Was she aware of Dennis Kucinich?

“I’ve seen Kucinich on the debates and really like his ideas,” she said, “but he couldn’t govern.” I’ve heard this before, of course, with “not electable” the typical disqualifier. If all those who profess to admire the Ohio congressman and his vision for America actually would vote for him, he might well win. What’s behind the instant dismissal?

Some of it is trivial. Even the sainted Molly Ivins opines that Kucinich is too short, as if presidents must fit within a prescribed range of physical appeal. Are we electing a national leader or voting on favorite anchorman? Would homely Lincoln be electable today? FDR? Besides, at 5 feet, 8 inches, Howard Dean is all of one inch taller than Dennis Kucinich.

Some of it is self-doubt. Accustomed to backing the losing horse, progressive folks – passionately eager for a win against President Bush – may believe that any candidate they support would not be elected. But what is the primary and caucus season for if not to establish whose ideas and persona truly are popular? If we refrain from stating our true beliefs now, when will we feel free to do so? What do progressives gain by submerging their agenda in favor of some imagined popular will?

But some of it does relate to substance. Kucinich wants to replace U.S. troops in Iraq with U.N. forces, he favors universal, single-payer health care, and he wants the nation to cooperate with the rest of the world in reducing the threat of global warming, so the media judge, “too liberal.” To the extent that judgment is true, it reveals just how far to the political right George W. Bush has dragged us.

With the alternative being perpetual war, exactly what is objectionable about making peace a goal of U.S. policy? Our country invaded Iraq based on ideology and misperceptions and stays there at enormous risk. In developing a plan to bring U.S. forces home and to replace them with U.N. personnel, Kucinich is the only candidate with a solution to the quagmire in which we find ourselves.

Indeed, if Kucinich were president, we wouldn’t be in Iraq. He was the only candidate to have voted against granting Bush the authority to wage war and he led congressional opposition to that misguided resolution. “Can’t govern?” Kucinich took 19 lonely House Democrats and turned them into a surprising force of 126 who said “no” to Bush. As president, Kucinich would work with Congress members, not against them, to place America on a positive path.

The late Sen. Paul Wellstone also was regarded as too liberal, but Minnesotans voted for him because they recognized an authentic voice that could not be corrupted. Similarly, Kucinich’s constituents honor his integrity and moral clarity. “Not electable?” Kucinich defeated incumbent conservative Republicans for mayor of Cleveland, for Ohio State Senate, and for the U.S. House of Representatives. He carried his blue-collar district in 2002 with 74 percent of the vote. He can turn out a conservative Republican as president of the United States.

Can someone who sided with Bush on the war offer a clear alternative to Bushism? Or is the president likely to confuse the voters with me-too tactics, as he did when he debated Al Gore?

Can someone who will not reduce the bloated defense budget or urge thoroughgoing reform of the health care system differentiate himself from the president? To win, Demo-crats need a sharp contrast with Bush.

Isn’t it time to vote our hopes and not our fears? Instead of too many wars in too many places and slighting the real target of stateless terrorism, instead of too high health costs and too many uninsured people, instead of growing lines between the enormously wealthy and the rest of us, instead of the disappearance of family farms and the costly consequences of so-called free trade, let us vote for a person who offers a positive vision of America as a model for the world.

Maine has no presidential primary this year. Rather, to indicate a presidential preference, Democrats must take part in their municipal caucus, to be held throughout the state on Feb. 8. For most candidates, Maine is small potatoes, with only four electoral votes sandwiched between elections of supposedly greater importance. For Dennis Kucinich, however, Maine represents a bright opportunity to demonstrate his resonance with real voters. If we vote what’s in our hearts, we can make all the difference. And if we don’t listen to our best selves now, in this time of extremity, when will we?

Kent Price, of Orland, is a volunteer for the Dennis Kucinich for President campaign.