Cynthia McKinney is Green Party Presidential Candidate

Cynthia McKinney, once a Democratic member of the United States Congress, has won the nomination of the American Green Party for President of the United States. She will be running on a ticket with political activist and hip hop artist Rosa Clemente.

The platform for the Green Party, under which Cynthia McKinney will be running, includes a universal, single payer health care system, the immediate withdraw of all American forces from Iraq and Afghanistan, a United States "Department of Peace", and reoperations for African American descendents of slaves. The Green Party ticket represents the latest third party Presidential effort that includes Ralph Nader, who is running as an independent, and former Republican member of Congress Bob Barr, who is running as a Libertarian.

Ralph Nader, a consumer advocate, was the Green Party candidate for the 2000 election, Nader was credited (or blamed depending on one's point of view) for siphoning off just enough votes from Democratic Party candidate Al Gore to throw the election to Republican candidate and current President George W. Bush. David Cobb, and attorney, was the Green Party Presidential candidate for 2004.

Cynthia McKinney's Green Party candidacy is the latest is a colorful and often controversial political career. Cynthia McKinney served in the United States House of Representatives between 1003 and 2003 and between 2005 and 2007 for the 4^th District of Georgia. During her tenure in Congress, Cynthia McKinney championed a variety of left wing causes, including offering articles of impeachment against both President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. She attacked Vice President Al Gore claiming that his "Negro tolerance has never been too high."

Cynthia McKinney was involved in a 2006 scuffle with the Capitol Police in which she walked around the metal detectors at the Longworth House Office Building. She was not wearing her Congressional lapel pin which would have identified her as a member of Congress and thus not required to go through the metal detectors. She allegedly assaulted a Capitol Police officer, not recognizing her as a member of Congress, challenged her. No criminal charges were issued, though a civil action may be filed.

The 2000 election to the contrary, third party candidacies in the United States are generally non factors. Could 2008 be an exception? It is possible. John McCain and Barack Obama are running close. Many liberal voters have become discontented by Barack Obama's general election turn toward the right. Others, former Hillary Clinton supporters, have still not gotten over the defeat of their candidate in the primaries. Could Cynthia McKinney and/or Ralph Nader become opportunities for protest votes?

Stay tuned.

Source: McKInney Wins Green Party Nomination, Jeffry Scott, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, July 12th, 2008