Comments on: Cynthia McKinney Won’t Run as a Green

By: Phil Sawyer

Phil Sawyer — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 16:30:42 +0000

Don Lake wrote:

and this from a proud Perot, Perot, Nader, Nader voterâ€¦..

Similar to my friend, Don Lake, my record is that of being a proud Perot, Perot, Nader, Kerry voter (I wanted to vote for Ralph Nader in 2004 but we failed to qualify him for the ballot in California).

There is no real shelf date, in my opinion. We all pretty much knew that Rep. Cynthia McKinney was not going to run. I agree with David Gaines: There is and was no opportunity. I hope that the Green Party of California puts Elaine Brown and Ralph Nader on the ballot, among others.

By: Eric Prindle

Eric Prindle — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 02:24:51 +0000

Elaine Brown is hardly a nobody, though I need to hear more about her plans and platform before I could support her; right now her campaign seems pretty dormant. Nader hasn’t made his intentions known yet either. And the lesser-known candidates aren’t all wackos; some of them are active Greens who have run and/or participated in serious campaigns in the past. Given those options, of course there should be an open primary.

By: Gregg Jocoy

Gregg Jocoy — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 22:54:56 +0000

To those who wonder why CA Greens would establish an “open primary”, I think that this is part of the reason the Green National Committee is considering Proposal 311: Implementation of Standards for Recognizing Presidential Candidates. This after the national meeting in Reading (and by extension Nader and McKinney) had to endure presentations by a candidate who’s main point seemed to be that she had fought against “the man” by filing dozens of law suits, another who is persuaded that vitamins are the cure for what ails ya, even politically, and more than one person who was seeking both the green and other party nominations, none with a prayer, God willing.

The state party is free to do as they choose, and frankly, I’d have done the same. Afterall, if McKinney is on the ballot with these other non-entities, there is NO DOUBT that McKinney would swamp. Only if McKinney faced Nader (please god…please…) would there be a real contest.

McKinney has baggage. Even so, she would have been a terrific fit for we Greens if she were dedicated to growing the number of chapters and helping elect a certain number of Green candidates. Winning could well mean her helping three state legislative candidates win for the first time, or helping a local chapter take full control of local government…these could be victories we all could savor for years to come.

By: Andy

Andy — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 22:03:39 +0000

“David Gaines Says:
September 12th, 2007 at 5:45 pm
What opportunity? Sheâ€™s not interested in running, so there isnâ€™t any opportunity.”

I meant that Cynthia McKinney had the potential to be a good candidate for the Greens who could have brought them a lot of publicity.

By: Deran

Deran — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 20:58:51 +0000

I do not understand why the Cal GP would be so stupid as to insist on an open primary so every nutter and wacko can get on the ballot. it makes the party look even lamer than it actually is.

McKinney would have been the candidate that could put the GP into a serious political space. lacking her, the party will continue to flonder in it’s hippie ghetto.

time for a new indie progressive party. the Greens are as the fellow said, past shelf date.

By: Don Lake

Don Lake — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 18:05:08 +0000

Past shelf date, past shelf date…..

and this from a proud Perot, Perot, Nader, Nader voter…..

By: Eric Prindle

Eric Prindle — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 13:43:23 +0000

To be fair, those events were all joint fundraisers that also supported Green Party candidates, and at most of them, McKinney was probably the bigger draw. But it is certainly a big disappointment for it to turn out this way. There is some speculation that she dropped out because the party insisted on pursuing a competitive nomination process. Sounds like Nader in 2004 … who has perhaps learned from his mistake?

By: Eric Garris

Eric Garris — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 01:59:16 +0000

Third Party Watch points out that the Green Party has recently helped McKinney pay off her $50,000 campaign debt with the expectation that she would run for President. They suggest: "Maybe they should ask for their money back." http://thirdpartywatch.com/2007/09/11/mckinney-wont-seek-green-party-nomination/

By: David Gaines

David Gaines — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 01:45:04 +0000

What opportunity? She’s not interested in running, so there isn’t any opportunity.

By: Andy

Andy — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 20:30:22 +0000

The Green Party just missed out on a big opportunity with Cynthia McKinney.