An overflow crowd packed a small Ojai retreat center Sunday afternoon to hear presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich talk about peace, policy and the future of the United States.

"What we're offering is a whole new vision for America," said Kucinich, who was accompanied to the event by his wife, Elizabeth. "Not peace through strength, but strength through peace."

Kucinich, a Democratic congressman from Ohio, said he wants the country to move away from unilateralism and the use of force to achieve peace, and rather to focus on international cooperation and open dialogue to establish peace in the world.

"If we believe war is inevitable, then war is a self-fulfilling prophecy," he said. "If we believe in peace, it can happen."

Kucinich's speech, titled "The Path to Peace for the U.S. and the World," was followed by brief remarks from other peace activists.

More than 100 people attended the fundraiser at The Ojai Retreat, a hilltop conference and education center. The event was held in tandem with the city's three-day Living Peace in Ojai festival.

"This is a culmination of a wonderful weekend in the Ojai Valley where we've been celebrating peace," Sue Broidy, president of the Ojai Valley Democratic Club said in her welcome to Kucinich. The festival included live music, a play and a film screening as well as a sunrise meditation service in Libbey Park.

"I'm just so proud of Congressman Kucinich traveling this country and traveling the world and letting people know there is hope," said David Krieger, president of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation in Santa Barbara. "There is hope."

After the remarks, Kucinich and his wife spent about an hour answering questions and responding to comments from the audience. The topics ranged from Kucinich's odds of winning the White House to his strategy for the campaign, his thoughts on reducing Americans' dependence on automobiles, the importance of sustainable agriculture and the need for universal healthcare.

"Imagine the Department of Agriculture being really involved in the promotion of sustainable agriculture," Kucinich said as members of the audience laughed and cheered. "Every area of our government can be reorganized" to benefit the environment and improve the world.

One program Kucinich touted several times during his remarks was his universal preschool program for 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds. The program, he said, would provide child care; expose children to the arts, including music; and provide an education boost. "Our children need to be exposed to the fullness of our culture from an early age," he said.

Kucinich also favors a not-for-profit, universal healthcare system.

"Healthcare is a basic right in a democratic society, not a privilege," he said. Elizabeth Kucinich, a native of England, where such a system already is in place, backed her husband up on his plan.

"Everybody is for this," she said. "There is absolutely no reason why the U.S. can't have a single-payer healthcare system."