Class Appeal: Why Dennis Kucinich Keeps Hanging On

It's a truism that Dennis Kucinich doesn't fit the coiffed presidential mold. He is plainspoken, pro-union, vegan; his wife has a tongue ring. Kucinich is "poor beyond corruption and honest as spit, hauling balls big enough to … choke Dick Cheney," Esquire's Scott Raab writes of a man certain he'll be not only the Democrats' 2008 nominee but the next US president.

Cleveland's own "embittered elf" is running because he truly believes he's got a shot. "If I can get there," Kucinich told Raab, referring to an often dreamed-of 1% of the vote. When asked if he had prepped a recent speech to New Hampshire protesters in advance, Kucinich shot back: "Yeah, I prepared it—40 years in the making." (More Dennis Kucinich stories.)