( dpa )- Dennis Kucinich, a left-wing Democratic congressman who believes in UFOs, "strength through peace" and a vegan diet, said Thursday he will abandon his 2008 presidential bid.
Kucinich, 61, got attention on the campaign trail with fervent opposition to the Iraq war and his British-born, 31-year-old second wife, but he polled no more than 4 per cent so far this month in the party's first five state-by-state presidential preference contests.
In an interview with the daily Cleveland Plain Dealer in his home state of Ohio, he said he would hold a news conference Friday "where I will be announcing that I am transitioning out of the presidential campaign."
Kucinich's 2004 bid for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination also ended early. During a Democratic debate in October, he got the audience laughing when he said he once saw a UFO over Hollywood star Shirley MacLaine's home.
The congressman has had a long political career, including 10 years in the US House of Representatives. In 1977, he was elected mayor of Cleveland at age 31, making him the youngest mayor of a major US city at the time.