Kucinich angrily reacts to Clinton-Edwards exchange on limiting debate participants

NEW YORK – Democrat Dennis Kucinich responded angrily Friday to a conversation overheard between Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards, in which the two spoke of limiting the number of candidates invited to participate in presidential forums.

“Candidates, no matter how important or influential they perceive themselves to be, do not have and should not have the power to determine who is allowed to speak to the American public and who is not,” Kucinich said in a statement released by his campaign.

The Edwards-Clinton exchange was picked up by several broadcasters on an open microphone after an NAACP forum in Detroit on Thursday. All eight Democratic candidates took part in the program, including Barack Obama, Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd, Joe Biden, Mike Gravel and Kucinich.

As the candidates exchanged greetings when the forum ended, Edwards was heard suggesting to Clinton that they try to exclude some of their rivals from future gatherings.

“We should try to have a more serious and a smaller group,” he said.

Clinton agreed, saying the forums were “trivialized” with too many candidates crowding the stage.

Neither she nor Edwards mentioned names of which candidates they thought should be excluded. But Kucinich, who typically polls in the low single digits, clearly felt the slight was directed at him.

“Imperial candidates are as repugnant to the American people and to our democracy as an imperial president,” Kucinich said, adding that his campaign would take steps to stop any effort to limit participation in the forums.

BOSTON – The Massachusetts Republican Party, in a potential blow to former Gov. Mitt Romney, has heeded the call of a supporter of Rudy Giuliani and reversed a decade-old policy of committing all convention delegates to the winner of the state's presidential primary.

Instead, the state committee will award the state's 43 delegates based on the proportion of vote each candidate gets, which could undercut the institutional advantage Romney has enjoyed in his home state.

The change would allow outsiders such as Giuliani, the former New York mayor, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to convert even a small measure of support in Romney's state into convention delegates, rather than those delegates being pledged only to whomever garners the top vote in the state. Delegates will be awarded to any candidate receiving at least 15 percent of the March 2008 primary vote.

“In all of the debate there was no discussion of like or dislike of any of the presidential candidates,” said Brian Dodge, executive director of the Massachusetts Republican Party.

The winner-take-all system has been pushed in recent years by Republican governors seeking to help their favored presidential candidates, but the state is now led by a Democrat and the former GOP governors who used to exert influence on party activists are no longer in power.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The producer of Michael Moore's documentary on the nation's health-care system, “Sicko,” suggested that Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee's criticism of the filmmaker's weight may be motivated more by his need for campaign funds than his concerns for Americans' health.

The former Arkansas governor told reporters in a conference call Wednesday that Moore is an example of why the health care system costs so much in this country.”

No comment could be obtained from Moore, but Meghan O'Hara, producer of “Sicko,” questioned Huckabee's motives in criticizing Moore.

“Looks like Mike Huckabee is auditioning for some insurance company dough, since he's raised just about no money and sparked zero interest since jumping into the race,” O'Hara said. “I wonder what the good governor would say to the French, who drink more, smoke more, eat more cheese and still live longer than us despite paying less for health care?”

Huckabee lost more than 110 pounds and became an avid runner after he was diagnosed with diabetes. He barely registers in national opinion polls and trails far behind the top GOP candidates in fundraising.

Associated Press writers Glen Johnson in Boston and Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Ark., contributed to this report.