Asia Times - Asia's most trusted news source: "pundits agree that Kucinich, along with Dean, have made the mainstream candidates' support of the war resolution an issue; Kerry and Edwards have struggled to explain away their support for the resolutions authorizing the Iraq war....other candidates have been forced to craft plans to increase international involvement in the occupation.

So Kucinich can take some credit for altering the face of the nomination process, and he does raise some important points. He also favors abolishing the World Trade Organization and withdrawing from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). These stands push the mainstream candidates to explain and define their own positions in specific terms with concrete programs....

Outsider candidates keep the process fresh, challenging mainstream candidates to refine their stances; they turn on voters who otherwise might not be interested in the process, and they challenge their political parties to maintain their relevance to the shifting tastes of the electorate."