Cindy huggin' on a tree
Posted on 07/21/2003 6:24:00 AM PDT by Lance Romance
Green Party faction wants McKinney for president in 2004
Gathering debates former House member vs. Nader
By JACLYN GIOVIS
Cox News Service
WASHINGTON -- A faction of the Green Party is rallying support for former Democratic Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, who represented Georgia's 4th District, to become the party's candidate for president in 2004.
An Internet site -- www.votemckinney.org -- has been created by a committee of Greens "who have a deep and enduring respect for Ralph Nader but do not take it for granted that he will be our candidate for the president next time around."
It touts 10 reasons why McKinney would be a good candidate, including:
• She has a reputation for being one of the most progressive members of Congress.
• She is black, female and Southern.
• She has a following of political allies and a team of experienced organizers.
• She has experience working within the federal government, unlike many other Greens.
At a party meeting here Friday, Michael Feinstein, a city councilman from Santa Monica, Calif., said he thought McKinney would be the party's vice presidential candidate, running with Nader, the 2000 nominee.
"It's a combination just made in heaven."
McKinney is "thinking about" running as a Green but has also expressed interest in running for Congress as a Democrat, he said.
McKinney could not be reached for comment Friday. Last month, she began filing paperwork that would allow her to run again for her former seat in Congress, which she lost to Democrat Denise Majette in last year's primary.
Other Green Party members who attended the party's annual meeting had mixed viewpoints on whether McKinney would seek the party's nomination and whether she's the best candidate to represent the party.
"I think everybody loves Cynthia McKinney, but a question is whether she has [the grass-roots infrastructure] for running a big campaign for the presidential race," said John Baker of Montgomery County, Md.
Jane Hunter, a delegate from New Jersey and co-chair of the party's 2004 Presidential Exploratory Committee, called McKinney "a very Green friend." But McKinney has not officially expressed interest in a Green nomination, she said.
Baker said Nader is still the most favored of six possible candidate nominees.
A poll of Green Party members ranked McKinney as their second choice to head the 2004 ticket.
Marc Reichardt, chair of the Michigan Green Party, worries that the party could become too closely linked to Nader.
"I think [McKinney] would be brilliant," he said. "Being African-American and a woman . . . I think that's a barrier we would like to break down, see crossed, pushed and forgotten about."
I guess being a nut makes it final, she has all the qualifications for being a Green!
Cindy huggin' on a tree
The dems can NEVER let this happen. Not only do they hate blacks because they are black, but now they see the blacks taking their power by voting for a black. There is nothing on earth, not the capture of OBL, an unemployment rate of less than 1%, a DOW over 1600, or finding proof of WhiteWater that the dems fear more than McKinney on the Green ticket. Pray for her!!!
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