Posted on 08/10/2006 7:56:17 PM PDT by LdSentinal
I wrote last week that our InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion survey showed that controversial Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney would likely lose her primary runoff election against former county commissioner Hank Johnson in Georgia's 4th District.
McKinney lost handily. Beyond that, her final hours before eventually conceding defeat made for the most underreported and bizarre story of a political exit I've ever seen in my years of participating in or analyzing political races around the country.
I had agreed to join the anchor desk at Atlanta's NBC-TV affiliate to provide analysis for that day's elections. As the night wore on, it became clear that McKinney would lose in a landslide, just as our poll had suggested.
As the regular broadcast wrapped up at 11:30 p.m., McKinney had yet to appear publicly to concede the election, as custom dictates. Beyond that, earlier in the day her bodyguards had scuffled with a cameraman from the same NBC affiliate.
We signed off, and the station switched to the network feed of NBC's "Tonight Show." That's when the bizarre ending of Cynthia McKinney started to unfold.
During the day, McKinney had been accompanied everywhere by a phalanx of bodyguards. Reportedly, they held no official law-enforcement positions. Also, some of them reportedly were affiliated with political groups or positions described by some as extremist.
It remains to be seen if their political leanings and affiliations are so. Regardless, McKinney crisscrossed the district throughout the day in a white Hummer, all the while refusing to allow the approach of the public or media, the lot of whom was fended off by these menacing guards.
Now let's jump ahead to that night, and the unfunniest "Tonight Show" I've ever sat through. Not because host Jay Leno was out of form, but because back in the studio we could also see on the monitors a commotion in the ballroom of McKinney headquarters. I pointed out to anchors Brenda Wood and Ted Hall that something odd was happening.
Then we heard shouting in the newsroom itself, from where station officials were phoning 911. A station cameraman allegedly had been struck at McKinney headquarters by one of her bodyguards, and then chased to a nearby satellite news truck, where he and others locked the doors and were surrounded.
The original raw video footage fed into the station showed McKinney entering her headquarters like a hip-hop artist, with bodyguards shouting at a clearly agitated crowd.
As of this writing, police were still investigating the incident. The McKinney bodyguard believed to be involved in the altercation -- a man apparently nationally known for his martial arts skill, as well as for his involvement in similar past incidents -- claimed that the cameraman had thrown his camera at him, the bodyguard. Also, there were claims McKinney's mother was struck by media equipment. Anyone familiar with the cost of this kind of camera equipment has to doubt it would be a weapon of choice.
The video showed fists flying and the cameraman being knocked to the ground.
It got stranger still. Finally McKinney appeared before reporters. She summoned her supporters to the stage, separating them from the press. Next was heard a song by the artist Pink that was directed at a clearly demonized President Bush. McKinney then commenced a rambling speech that, among other things, implied fraud in the electronic voting that day. She also thanked or expressed support for all sorts of groups and even foreign nations, including Venezuela, an avowed enemy of the United States.
At least that's what we thought we heard.
Media reports have since surfaced of anti-Semitic remarks hurled at media by McKinney supporters as they left the headquarters. One reporter for a major national newspaper claimed she was threatened with being "thrown down the stairs or the escalator" if she didn't vacate an area near where McKinney was holed up.
Every corner of that headquarters emanated fear and hatred.
I have to make this clear. In last week's column, I recalled the bright and personable Cynthia McKinney I knew back in 1990. And it's not my place to summarily judge her in 2006.
But I now know why our polling of this primary runoff election showed so accurately that McKinney would be trounced. Clearly, this heavily African-American district she represented no longer wanted to be associated with her brand of representation.
The voters have done that already.
It's good to see that good people can see what a loon she is..
Let's just hope it is her "final" demise, never to have her coffin re-opened, a wooden stake pounded thru her heart, etc.
Likewise, I'm sure the Democrat leadership will apologize to Democrat voters...../sarc
The video of this night should be archived, right beside the tapes of Marion Barry's coke buy and Jim Traficant's deal-making. Then, if there is even a suggestion that this wretch ever intends to once again enter public life, the tapes should be aired repeatedly, with commentary by Ann Coulter.
Bizarre... glad someone wrote about what happened cause I doubt we'll hear about this anywhere else..
Does McKinney still matter? Can she still cause any more damage? She still has about 4 months left in her tenure in the house. Can she still vote on anything that matters? I know she's missed a lot of votes, so perhaps she can be kept entertained away from Washington for the next 4 months.
Praise the Lord, the voters have spoken, and she's gone!
I'm surprised she didn't attempt some kind of a coup.
She reeks of hate.
Loon
Dear Matt,
She is and has been a race pimptress buffoon of the first order. She travels with thugs,acts the fool, bellows for attention and should be an embarrassment to her district.The voters of her district should have a "what were we thinking?" moment by putting this third rate circus act in office not once but twice. Whoo boy the bar is low in that Georgia district.
Something makes me think the Capitol Police are neither surprised by the events in the ballroom, nor sad to see her go.
Well, I have no qualms about judging her. And she comes away severely wanting.
"Beyond that, her final hours before eventually conceding defeat made for the most underreported and bizarre story of a political exit I've ever seen ...."
My vote (for bizarre...certainly not underreported) goes to Howard Dean and the scream heard round the world. That was a 3-second political implosion I doubt I'll ever forget.
Maybe she'll move to Venezuala
What ever happened to Cynthia's mother, Winnie Mandela ?
This woman needs a good slap from her parents.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3gTpqMVOVQ
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