News and Politics | July 13, 2008 | 61 comments

Cynthia McKinney wins Green Party nomination

source: http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2008/07/12/mckinney_green_nomination.html

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maasanova
Former Georgia congresswoman Cynthia McKinney reassumed the national political stage Saturday, winning the presidential nomination of the Green Party of the United States at the party's national convention here.

Amid chants of "Paint The White House Green" and signs proclaiming, "Truth. McKinney 2008," McKinney revved up a crowd of about 350 Green Party delegates from 38 states who elected her on the first ballot.

"I am asking you to vote your conscience, vote your dreams, vote your future, vote Green," McKinney told the convention in a 30 minute speech following an address by her running mate, hip hop artist and political activist Rosa Clemente.

She was joined by her father, former Georgia representative Billy McKinney; her mother Leola, and her son Coy, on the stage in the elegant Michigan Avenue hall where the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performs,

McKinney, 53, was the odds-on favorite to win the nomination, coming into the convention with a 10-1 delegate lead over her closest rival, Jesse Johnson of West Virginia.

Since last fall, McKinney has campaigned in 30 states on the slogan "Power To The People" and a platform that calls for single-payer universal health care, the immediate withdrawal of American forces from Iraq and Afghanistan, the creation of a Department of Peace, and reparations for African-Americans.

In her address, Clemente, 36, vowed that she and McKinney would fight all "-isms and ideologies that divide us." Clemente jokingly threw down a challenge to the nation's sitting vice president: "Dick Cheney, bring it on."

In her unlikely re-emergence on the national political stage as the presidential nominee of the Green Party, which she joined in 2007 after leaving the Democratic Party where she had served six terms representing DeKalb County's 4th Congressional district, McKinney faces a stiff – extremely long-shot – run at the presidency.

She as much conceded winning the presidency was not her goal in her speech Saturday. She said the thrust of her campaign would be to get 5 percent of the vote in November, effectively establishing the Greens as a third party that would not have to fight state-by-state to get on the ballot every four years.

"We are in this to build a movement," said McKinney to roars from the crowd. "A vote for the Green Party is a vote for the movement that will turn this country right-side-up again."

In Georgia, because the party failed to qualify under state laws, McKinney and Clemente will not be on the ballot in November. Green Party leaders expect she will be on the ballot in 36 states, where ballot qualification rules vary.

David Cobb, who ran for president on the Green Party ticket in 2004 – and pulled in just 0.1 percent of the vote – said Saturday that one of the appeals of McKinney' as a candidate is her name recognition.

"Before she has even won the nomination, she has pulled new members into the party," said Cobb, who introduced McKinney at the convention, praising her work in Congress and for having introduced articles of impeachment against President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and Secretary of State Condolezza Rice. He estimated Green Party membership is about 500,000.

McKinney is the second former member of Congress from Georgia mounting a presidential run this year. Former 7th District Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.) is running for president on the Libertarian Party ticket.

A lighten-rod political figure, McKinney was defeated in 2006 by the 4th District's present congressman, U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), after a much-publicized run-in with a U.S. Capitol police officer and her accusations that the Bush administration covered up information about the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

"Don't expect me to keep a count of the major flip flops of the other candidates between now and November, I'm sure there will be plenty," McKinney told the crowd. "They are in this flip flop because they have to appear to share our values — while they serve somebody else."
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61 comments // Cynthia McKinney wins Green Party nomination

  • tesmith47
    • 0
      tesmith47  

    • I find it interesting that SOME white folks are so insecure,
      considering the fact that whites control all of the money all of the government, all of the business, all of the land, all of the police and military yet when the least powerfull,poorest and most despised group in america struggles for justice SOME whites go psycho.
      a most interesting phenomena, should be studied, dont you think?

    • 3 years ago
  • booboo_36564
  • knappster
    • 0
      knappster  

    • Consider that Cynthia McKinney gave her acceptance speech during melting ice caps and melting glaciers across the world. She spoke only three years after a Class 5 hurricane, known as Katrina, ripped through New Orleans. She spoke only one year after some dire warnings by the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

      And yet McKinney chose to not speak about climate change. Or energy scarcity. Or food shortages. Or vanishing wildlife habitat. Or toxic contamination of our air and water. In fact, she made virtually no mention of ANY ecological issues.

      Worse yet, she did so while representing a political party that is supposedly "green".

      So what's going on here?

      What has happened over the past decade is that the Green Party has been slowly hijacked by Marxist activists and political opportunists -- who both see a good thing in the failure of the Green Party to establish meaningful boundaries of political association.

      The new paradigm on the new ship of fools is to embrace modern industrialism -- with its quest for production at the expense of nature -- and slap a green "social justice" bumper sticker on it.

      The Green Party is rife with identity politics and all of the vices of the irrelevant far left. Its deluded leaders think they are the neo-vanguard of the eco-proletariat.

      In reality, the party is like a fat green worm being parasitized by wasps. The party is now green on the outside and red on the inside. The sunflower -- the longtime logo of the Green Party -- has been essentially replaced by a watermelon.

    • 3 years ago
  • tesmith47
    • 0
      tesmith47  
    • knappster:

      I find it interesting that SOME white folks are so insecure,
      considering the fact that whites control all of the money all of the government, all of the business, all of the land, all of the police and military yet when the least powerfull,poorest and most despised group in america struggles for justice SOME whites go psycho.
      a most interesting phenomena, should be studied, dont you think?

    • 3 years ago
  • ShadesOfInsanity
  • BlueDotProdux
    • 0
      BlueDotProdux  
    • Image

    • Talk about nutjobs--they seem to abound on Al Gore's Internet. In this case they seem to be courtesy of David Horowitz' media apparatus.

      The McKinney-Clemente campaign for President is a long shot in '08 but it does matter in the long run. They will bring disenfranchised people of color and members of the non-voting majority into the Green Party, which has recently been the scene of a lot of petty squabbling among older white activists that don't have a decent dialectic surrounding institutionalized discrimination and chronic poverty.

      Flip-flopping Republicrats will be hard pressed to siphon the votes of people committed to the dismantling of the unsustainable military-industrial-congressional complex. I voted for Kerry in 2004 and I won't be fooled again. And to Democrats who care to continue whining about Nader's effect on the outcomes of 2000 and 2004, they should look at the recent Zogby poll showing Bob Barr siphoning support in a few too many swing states for the McCain camp to be happy about, and reconsider their arguments.

      Why wait all year for a vote based on fear?

    • 3 years ago
  • clayjj05
  • BlueDotProdux
    • 0
      BlueDotProdux  
    • BlueDotProdux:

      That's right clayjj05, the only reliable indicator these days is your American gut. We're all dying to know your prediction. What's the spread? 500 votes?

      After all, John Zogby IS in the leftwing-terrorist alliance.

    • 3 years ago
  • JohnA
  • tesmith47
    • 0
      tesmith47  
    • JohnA:

      I find it interesting that SOME white folks are so insecure,
      considering the fact that whites control all of the money all of the government, all of the business, all of the land, all of the police and military yet when the least powerfull,poorest and most despised group in america struggles for justice SOME whites go psycho.
      a most interesting phenomena, should be studied, dont you think?

    • 3 years ago
  • rigellianaire
  • SilenceNoMore
  • eldamon
    • 0
      eldamon  

    • Wow, just ponder that one for a moment - President Cynthia McKinney. I wonder if we'll only get she'll only answer questions from her chair in the oval office?

    • 3 years ago
  • planes
  • tesmith47
    • 0
      tesmith47  
    • planes:

      i am quite sure you love paying 4$ for gas and your job pays you more than enough(if you have one) and you can easily pay your health insurance, your air and food are perfectly clean, your taxes are no problem etc,
      yeah you need four more of republicans and democrats

    • 3 years ago
  • joefac3
  • Tradiggy
  • regularrf
  • PatrioticAstronaut
  • maasanova
    • 0
      maasanova  

    • Here's McKinney ruthlessly grilling Rumsfeld on the Halliburton-Dyncorp child sex slave trade. She's a patriot even though I don't agree with all her politics.

      By the way Congress, whatever happened to that $2.3 trillion that Rumsfeld reported missing on September 10, 2001?

    • 3 years ago
  • lulu81
    • 0
      lulu81  
    • maasanova:

      wow...they love to duck and dodge questions.."id have to go back and check".. this is important stuff...you should know all this information if you dont ..then dont come ....LAWD!

    • 3 years ago
  • huffamoose2k
  • flyingkick
    • 0
      flyingkick  

    • Green party in the white house? Although I'd like to see it, because I'm working class, it's not going to happen anytime soon.

      The reason why they are so appealing is the same reason they'll never get elected.

      They don't have the resources to launch a huge Dem/Rep campaign, because they don't accept corporate funding. Most Americans don't have the time or interest to undertake a research project in order to determine who's the best presidential candidate. So they let the TV news guys they like best decide. The TV news guys are reflecting the interests of the corporations they work for. The corporations don't support the Green Party. It's as simple as that.

      Plus, a green president would never get anything passed through congress.

      The best thing you can do is try and change things at a local level. Start small, and it will build up. Unfortunately, being politically active/engaged isn't exactly an American past time.

    • 3 years ago
  • Paratus
    • 0
      Paratus  

    • This woman is an absolute nutcase. She gets into it with the Capital Police, didn't show her ID because she thought they should recognize her. How arrogant.
      Department of Peace? Where in Article I, Section 8 is this provided for?????? Reparations for African-Americans? Socialist health care? And she says she is for the people? Sounds like she is for the nanny state.
      Wackjob.

    • 3 years ago
  • flyingkick
    • 0
      flyingkick  
    • Paratus:

      Socialist health care is a good idea if you think the working poor deserve health care. If you believe it's every man for themselves than I can see why you'd be against it.
      As far as reparations, giving money to individuals is a bad idea and will never happen, but I think more money should be put into programs to help black people.

    • 3 years ago
  • tanyetta
  • clayjj05
    • 0
      clayjj05 [removed]  
    • Paratus:

      she punched a cop for asking to see her i.d that is pretty nutty. Social healthcare doesnt help people it puts them in long lines for healthcare that is below the standards of the United States. Trust me you dont want to get cancer in Canada.

    • 3 years ago
  • brz
    • 0
      brz  

    • I would love to see third parties get as much media attention, but it won't happen ever I am certain. Maybe current should host third party vs. primary party debates and see what happens.

    • 3 years ago
  • 96thdayofrage
  • victimofcoal
    • 0
      victimofcoal  

    • WOW Look at the Fascists comming out of the woodwork on this one. I'm sorry not everyone wants corporate america ruleing this country. However you seem to have been born a few decades too late, you could have moved to fascist Germany or Italy back in ww2 or even helped Prescott Bush smuggle for the Nazi's. To bad for you Burns, ClayJ, and Booboo.The sheep are outnumbered by 3 to 1 in this election Since McCain won't recieve his tax reduction of $400,000 next year maybe you should send your messiah the tax break you will recieve under Obama as a protest to giveing working families a break. Maybe you should worry more that Edwards takes the VP spot since he will surely force this administration to be held accountable for their treason. It will be the first time Bush has been held responsible in his entire life. Bush/Cheney inmates in 08!!! Will you volunteer for the conjugal visit?

    • 3 years ago
  • clayjj05
  • booboo_36564
    • 0
      booboo_36564  
    • victimofcoal:

      Hey victimorfool,
      More like 20 to1...But I can take on 50 marxist nuts all at the same time, and have been doing so since I've been on this liberal dummycratic blog,because your all empty vessels.
      P.S. Atleast you spell checked this time didn't you"post turtle"! (LOL)

      McCain 08

    • 3 years ago
  • AlxanderRaven
    • 0
      AlxanderRaven  

    • How about a platform;

      The Earth is a living, conscious being.In company with cultures of many different times and places, we name these things as sacred.

      AIR FIRE WATER EARTH

      Whether we see them as the breath, body and blood of the Mother, or as the blessed gifts of a creator, or as the interconnected systems that sustain life, we know that nothing can survive without them.

      To call these things sacred is to say they have a value beyond their usefulness for human ends, that they themselves become the standards by which our acts, our economies,our laws and our purposes must be judged. No one has the right to appropriate them or profit from them at the expense of others.

      Any government that fails to protect them, forfeits its legitimacy.

      All people, all living things are part of the earth life, and so are sacred.

      No one of us stands any higher or lower than any other.
      Only justice can assure balance.
      Only ecological balance can sustain freedom.
      Only in freedom can that fifth sacred thing that we call Spirit flourish in its full diversity.

      To honor the sacred is to create conditions in which nourishment, sustenance, habitat, knowledge, freedom and beauty can thrive.

      To honor the sacred is to make love possible.

      To this we dedicate our curiosity, our will, our courage, our silences and our voices.

      To this we dedicate our lives.

      ~StarHawk~

    • 3 years ago
  • jjmaster
  • clayjj05
  • victimofcoal
    • 0
      victimofcoal  
    • clayjj05:

      There is a differance in control and majority. Control requires 60% of which the dems only hold 54% Senate is at 56% Veto proof is 70% So your control statement is completely false , however making false statements is all you people seem to understand. Go back to FOX, you are not required to be intelligent there.

    • 3 years ago
  • clayjj05
  • booboo_36564
    • 0
      booboo_36564  
    • clayjj05:

      Hey victimorfool,
      I dont know where you were non-educated, but let me help you out on your math!
      dummycrats have a 52 to 48 majority.
      61% is Veto proof
      And there is no "a" in difference...Just remember when you pointing your "false statement" finger at someone, their are three pointed back at you!
      Fox News -we report you decide.

      McCain 08

    • 3 years ago
  • FallenMorgan
    • 0
      FallenMorgan  

    • McCain is a grizzled old Vietnam vet who will comitt us all to another unpopular war, if not keep us in Iraq for a hundred damn years. The economy is crap and Republicans do nothing to fix it.

    • 3 years ago
  • booboo_36564
    • 0
      booboo_36564  
    • FallenMorgan:

      Hey fellon mrgan,
      You need to wake up "rip van winkle" and stop drinking the kool-aid. The liberal dummycrats are in charge of the house and the senate, just not the Presidency!
      71% gas increase since the dummycrats took over!
      P.S. America still has military soldiers in europe, africa, asia, kuwait, etc. etc.
      Bet your propaganda paper didnt tell you that talking point did it?

      McCain 08
      The Real America Hero

    • 3 years ago
  • booboo_36564
    • 0
      booboo_36564  

    • Imagine this communist racist black b*atch thinking she can becoming PRESIDENT/she has as much qualifications as obama! She just hasn't fooled as many liberal dumba$$e$ as he has!

      McCain 08
      The Real American Hero

    • 3 years ago
  • mrburns
  • tanyetta
    • 0
      tanyetta  
    • booboo_36564:

      Why call her out her name? You sound like a biatch having a damn fit. Keep it 100 Dude because you are sinking in your own booboo. You are going to vote for Mccain anyways, so why the hell you care?

    • 3 years ago
  • rockon
  • tesmith47
  • FallenMorgan
    • 0
      FallenMorgan  

    • Cool, but nobody cares, sadly. The third parties are seen by the media as little more than children playing around with politics. I think it's stupid - third parties should be more important.

      Hebrew National Sausages for president!

    • 3 years ago
  • mako2424
  • mrburns
  • victimofcoal
  • clayjj05
  • mrburns
    • 0
      mrburns  
    • mrburns:

      "Victim of stupidity"

      that's a cool line did you get it from a fortune cookie, maybe from a alcoholics anonymous group?

      god bless america
      god bless big oil

    • 3 years ago
  • victimofcoal
    • 0
      victimofcoal  
    • mrburns:

      It is actually an old proverb my grandfather used . However your fortune cookie comment sheds a little light on where your wisdom (or lack thereof) comes from. By the way , roughnecking is a dangerous job and by your attitude and posts I will assume you are in fact behind a desk or computer not actually getting your hands dirty.

    • 3 years ago
  • clayjj05
    • 0
      clayjj05 [removed]  
    • mrburns:

      I'm actually waiting for my new MOS or military occupation specialty to become available. My AIT starts september 9th at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. I am just waiting behind a desk and its boring as fuck. I want to start learning how to become an X-ray Technician or 68P for you military nerds.

      But your last statement is a bunch of words that dont mean shit

    • 3 years ago
  • maasanova
  • clayjj05
  • MoonLoon
  • Saladin
  • shroomfairy
  • joefac3
  • huntre
    • 0
      huntre  

    • "It may be the Devil...or it may be the Lord...
      ...but, you gotta serve somebody." - Bob Dylan
      Sometimes, both to get things done.
      I wish her well in gaining momentum for the "Greens", but their politics tend to get murky from too much in-fighting about a month out from Election Day and I lose interest.
      Hope that doesn't happen this time around.

    • 3 years ago
  • tesmith47
    • 0
      tesmith47  
    • huntre:

      you lose interest???!!! hey man, real democracy is like that, when you are in a fight you want comrades that are not going to "lose interest" just because the going gets rough

    • 3 years ago
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