Democrats Discuss Undocumented Intergalactic Space Travelers

Forget about Iraq. Forget terrorism, civil liberties, health care, education or the environment. What’s the most important topic in the upcoming presidential election? Aliens – and it looks like the Democratic Party has a jump on the issue.

In the most recent democratic debate, Tim Russert asked Ohio democrat Dennis Kucinich about allegations that he had seen a UFO:

In the weird last minutes of the debate (the period, by the way, when The Fix made it onto the basketball court in high school) Rep. Dennis Kucinich (Ohio) gave us a highlight.

Asked about the statement by actress Shirley MacLaine that Kucinich had seen a UFO at her house, Kucinich said that he had. He quickly sought to clarify -- an "unidentified flying object" he said holding up his hand -- but man oh man.

What makes Kucinich's UFO tale particularly rewarding is that he recently questioned President Bush's mental health:

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich questioned President Bush's mental health in light of comments he made about a nuclear Iran precipitating World War III.

"I seriously believe we have to start asking questions about his mental health," Kucinich, an Ohio congressman, said in an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer's editorial board on Tuesday.

Kucinich isn't the only candidate who has alluded to a paranormal experience. New Mexico governor Bill Richardson said the government hasn't released important information about Rosewell:

Seriously, Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, called on the government to declassify all Roswell documents. He brought it up himself when Chris Matthews was joking about Kucinich's UFO answer. He said the government hasn't "come clean" on the issue. His campaign will surely say he was joking, he has a sense of humor. But even though he was laughing in some parts of that answer, he wasn't joking about THAT.

While Kucinich and Richardson may have a head start on the alien issue, they aren’t being endorsed by the UFO lobby yet. It looks like Hillary Clinton has this honor:

According to Stephen Bassett, Executive Director of the Paradigm Research Group and chief lobbyist of the Extraterrestrial Phenomena Political Action Committee, Kucinich isn't even the preferred Democratic vice presidential candidate. That honor goes to Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico. As for Bassett's choice for president, Sen. Hillary Clinton inhabits the mothership.

"Hillary has a connection there because there is no way she and John Podesta [Bill Clinton's former chief of staff, who has advocated declassifying relevant government records] weren't fully aware of it. She knows this issue is not trivial," said Bassett. "Of the 20 candidates the two who have clearly identifiable connections to the issue are those two [Clinton and Richardson]. Kucinich is number three.”

So is Kucinich crazy? Maybe not – he could be channeling past presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Regan, who both had their own close encounters.