The 2008 presidential campaign of Dennis Kucinich, House Representative of Ohio and former mayor of Cleveland, began on December 12, 2006, when he announced that he would seek the nomination for the Democratic Party to run for President of the United States.

[1] On December 11, 2006, in a speech delivered at Cleveland City Hall, Kucinich announced he would seek the nomination of the Democratic Party for President in 2008.

[5] The latest Fox News poll that did not include former Vice President Al Gore placed Kucinich with 4% of registered Democratic voters, behind Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards.

Kucinich's campaign was endorsed by Willie Nelson, Gore Vidal, Shelley Morrison, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Penn,[7] the Mexican American Political Association,[8] Atlanta Progressive News,[9] and Bill Rosendahl.

The speech levies trenchant criticism of the perceived abuses of power of the George W. Bush administration, attacks the corporate control of the American political and economic systems, and rallies for a program of universal health coverage, universal higher education, tax reform, trade policy reform, energy regulation, civil liberties and de-militarization.

His words electrified the audience who began delivering a standing ovation midway through the speech and continued cheering past its closure.