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Greens pick McKinney
7:56 am on July 14th, 2008 by Dave Segal
The Greens have chosen former congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and activist Rosa Clemente as their candidates for prez and vice prez.
It’s probably a pretty smart move for the party, but it’s too early to know what effects it might have on the broader presidential election landscape. (Who knows, for instance, how hard they’ll end up running in swing states?) But for a party that’s been associated with crusty, white, post-hippies (for whom I do have a lot of fondness) there’s potential to reach out to younger activists and members of minority communities, and to move beyond the perception that the GP is owned by Ralph.
McKinney also has a substantial following of 9-11 Truthers, because she held hearings on the issue that were critical of the 9-11 Commission’s report — take a look at the signs in the photo below. When I left the Green Party a couple of years ago it was small and disjointed enough that it might’ve been susceptible to take-over by such an influx. I really hope that the issue doesn’t come to define the party — third parties can, and should try to, broaden the political debate in important ways. It’ll be better for all of us if McKinney’s campaign and supporters focus on militarism, corporate power, health care, education, civil liberties, and the environment — and not on, you know, being crazy.
(I don’t want to assert that I know McKinney’s personal position on the whole affair: She seems to have been a ‘moderate’ of sorts within the Truther world: She has wondered aloud if the Bush admin might’ve had advance knowledge of the attacks, but I don’t think that she’s ever believed there was a hard government-run conspiracy, and I don’t know where she stands right now. But there’s a good chance that her presence on the ticket will pull a lot of hard Truthers into the GP.)
Either which way, with McKinney, Nader, and former congressman Bob Barr all making runs, for those of us who are fascinated by third party politics, this is shaping up as one the most interesting presidential elections in recent history.
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July 14th, 2008 at 9:38 am
McKinney is a Jew-hater and comes across as mentally disturbed at times.She certainly has behaved in an unstable manner on occasion reminiscent of our own state mental illness icon,Patrick Kennedy.
A high school classmate of mine,an Afro-American businessman,lives in the district she represented and said she was out of her mind and was a disgrace.He’s lived there for decades and ought to know.
July 14th, 2008 at 11:16 am
http://wonkette.com/401115/ralph-nader-is-president-of-rhode-island
I bet they picked Mickinney because ol’ Ralph is too busy taking over the Ocean State. Well I say thank goodness!! Take small bites Ralph, slow and steady wins the race.
July 14th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Okay I admit, I secretly might have misread the point of the Wonkette article, Nader isn’t running for RI office as far as I can tell, but it isn’t my fault, I am stupid on Mondays. Whatever, I still get excited when Wonkette talks about our tiny home.