There is some discussing brewing over an announcement by Dennis Kucinich today that he is urging his supporters to make Obama their “second choice” on the ballot for the Iowa caucus. Kucinich says:

“I hope Iowans will caucus for me as their first choice this Thursday, because of my singular positions on the war, on health care, and trade. This is an opportunity for people to stand up for themselves. But in those caucus locations where my support doesn’t reach the necessary threshold, I strongly encourage all of my supporters to make Barack Obama their second choice. Sen. Obama and I have one thing in common: Change.”

This is not a new move for Kucinich however, he did the same thing in the last election, except he asked his supporters to rally around John Edwards in the ‘04 caucus. Marc Ambinder notes:

Last cycle, the Edwards and Kucinich campaigns agreed to tell their supporters to join each other’s preference groups if one or the other didn’t make “threshold.” Edwards advisers now believe that the deal hurt them more than it helped them.

If Dennis Kucinich plays this primary season like the last one, we’ll see him hanging on until the bitter end, right up to the convention, insisting on having his say.  Obama has responded to Kucinich’s gesture here.

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