Cynthia McKinney presidential campaign, 2008

McKinney 2008
Campaign	U.S. presidential election, 2008
Candidate	Cynthia McKinney (Six-term Democratic Party United States Congresswoman)
Affiliation	Green Party
Status	Lost election November 4, 2008
Key people	Rosa Clemente (Running mate)
Slogan	Power to the people.
Website
Cynthia McKinney 2008

Presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney

Wikinews has related news: Wikinews interviews U.S. Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney

Cynthia McKinney began her campaign for President of the United States on December 16, 2007 as a candidate for the Green Party presidential nomination via YouTube. She and her running mate Rosa Clemente accepted the Green Party's presidential nomination July 12, 2008 at the 2008 Green National Convention. Her campaign focused on issues such as racial profiling, September 11, 2001 attacks, and the Green Party's 10 key values. She also supports statehood for the District of Columbia, slavery reparations, electoral reforms including instant runoff voting, and calls for abolishing the death penalty and the War on Drugs.^[1]

On November 4, 2008 McKinney finished sixth in the election with 161,603 votes.^[2]

Early stages

On December 11, 2007, McKinney announced her candidacy for the Green Party nomination for President of the United States^[3] in the 2008 presidential election.^[4] Green Party members attempted to recruit McKinney both in 2000 and 2004. In 2000, she was widely mentioned as a possible vice-presidential running mate for Ralph Nader; in 2004, attempts were made to convince McKinney to run on the Green Party ballot line for president.

While there had been a great deal of excitement among party members about a possible McKinney run in those prior elections, the congresswoman had little to do with the party apart from having had Green Party loyalists working on her congressional campaigns. This changed drastically following her defeat in the 2006 election. McKinney attended the California Green Party strategy retreat in Sonoma, California, where she was the keynote speaker.^[5] On May 25, 2007, she was asked about a presidential run on WBAI and confirmed that she had thought about a Green run: "2008 has not been ruled out, some kind of effort. Certainly now it is questionable as to whether that effort would come under the banner of the Democratic Party."^[6]

Cynthia McKinney before speaking at the Green Party Presidential Debate in San Francisco, January 2008.

On June 9, speaking at a Harlem fundraiser for her Congressional campaign debt, McKinney addressed speculation that she might run for president in 2008. At the end of the program, Robert Knight of Pacifica Radio, who emceed the evening's events, took the pulpit to ask: "I can't hardly wait for 2008. Ms. McKinney, in 2008, what color is your parachute?" McKinney responds from the audience, "it's not red and it's not blue."^[7] McKinney also appeared at the July 15 Green Party National Meeting in Reading, Pennsylvania, where she suggested that the Green Party could become a progressive political force. "[T]he disgust of the American people with what they see before them — all they need is the blueprint and a road map. Why not have the Green Party provide the blueprint and the road map?"

On July 17, McKinney also received the endorsement of the Workers World Party, the first time that party chose not to nominate a candidate of its own.^[8]

At an August 27 peace rally in Kennebunkport, Maine McKinney confirmed the depth of her disenchantment with the Democratic Party, urging San Francisco voters to replace Nancy Pelosi with antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan. On September 10, in a letter to the Steering Committee of the Green Party of the United States, McKinney stated she would not seek the Green Party nomination for president.^[9] However, in early October it appeared that McKinney was making moves toward declaring herself an official Green Party candidate.^[10]

By October 9, 2007, Green leaders were receiving emails indicating McKinney had formally joined the Green Party. The emails also indicate McKinney could announce a Green Party presidential bid by the third week of October. Following a brief exploratory visit to California in mid-October, McKinney filed with the FEC. She formally announced her candidacy with a video on her website and on YouTube on December 16, 2007. Later that month she agreed to join with others on the Green Party California Primary Ballot for an event in San Francisco entitled Campaign 2008: A Presidential Debate That Matters.^[11] McKinney has also filed with the State Board of Elections of Illinois for the Green party in the presidential race.^[12]

On July 9, 2008 she named her running mate as Rosa Clemente^[13] and clinched the party's nomination three days later at the 2008 Green Party National Convention.^[14]

Green Party Nominee

Democratic National Convention

During the Democratic National Convention from August 25 – 28th Cynthia McKinney, and Rosa Clemente appeared at several events and demonstrations in Denver.^[15] On August 24 McKinney appeared at the End the Occupations March and Rally organized by Recreate 68,^[16] and spoke to the crowd from the West Steps of the Colorado State Capitol Building.^[17] McKinney's appearance at the event caused some controversy^[18] after the Green Party of Colorado's decision not to support Recreate 68. On the 27th, Rosa Clemente spoke at a "Open The Debates" rally organized by the Nader/Gonzalez campaign.

During the first week in September McKinney traveled to Wisconsin for several events.^[19] On the 5th McKinney spoke in Racine, Wisconsin to the local We Are Change group.^[20] On September 6 McKinney spoke in Baraboo, Wisconsin at Fighting Bob Fest the largest annual political festival in the United States.^[21][22] The festival is named in honor of former Senator Bob La Follette.

2008 Hurricane Katrina conspiracy theory

Cynthia McKinney was reported by Fox News on October 2, 2008 to have had a conspiracy theory stating that during the aftermath Hurricane Katrina, The Pentagon dumped 5,000 executed felons that were killed by a single bullet to the head. McKinney stated that she was informed by the mother of a National Guard, with verifications from "insiders."^[23]

Third party debate

Main article: The United States presidential election debates, 2008#The third party debates

McKinney accepted an invitation to attend the third party presidential debate.

Result

On Election Day, McKinney/Clemente received 161,797 votes (0.12% of the popular vote).

Ballot status

The Green Party had announced plans to get on all 50 state ballots and D.C. for 2008. They did not meet their goal. McKinney was on 32 ballots with 368 electoral votes (68.4% of the total possible) as well as another 17 states as a write-in candidate.
The following is a table comparison of ballot status in 2008 to 2004.

Endorsements

• Mumia Abu-Jamal^[24] journalist and activist;
• Jared Ball,^[25] withdrawn candidate for 2008 Green presidential nomination;
• Roseanne Barr,^[26] actress and comedian;
• Noam Chomsky^[27]
• Glen Ford,^[28] editor of Black Agenda Report journal;
• Professor Griff^[29] of hip-hop group Public Enemy;
• M1^[30] from hip-hop group Dead Prez;
• Ron Paul,^[31] candidate for 2008 Republican presidential nomination, and ten-term United States Congressman (Also endorsed Chuck Baldwin, Bob Barr and Ralph Nader);
• Cindy Sheehan,^[32] Gold star Mother and peace activist;
• Socialist Organizer,^[33] publisher of The Organizer newspaper;
• Kat Swift,^[34] candidate for 2008 Green presidential nomination;
• Rich Whitney,^[35] 2006 Illinois Green gubernatorial candidate;
• Workers' International League^[36][37]
• Workers World Party.^[38]
• Daniel Sunjata, Tony Award-nominated actor.^[39]

See also

• Comparison of United States presidential candidates, 2008
• List of candidates in the United States presidential election, 2008
• Third party (United States) presidential candidates, 2008

References

External links

• Official McKinney/Clemente Campaign Site
• Cynthia McKinney Announces Candidacy for President
• Mckinney 2008 Green Party Nomination Acceptance speech
• McKinney at 2008 Green Party National Convention Candidate Forum
• Green Party of the U.S. Website
• McKinney 2008 2008 General Election Presidential Campaign Website -Power to the People (Coalition site)
• Vote Truth 08 – Website maintained by campaign
• Students For McKinney Students
• Cynthia Squad 2008 Google Groups

State campaign supporter websites

• NY Power to the People Committee NY Supporters
• Wisconsin for Mckinney 2008
• Mainers 4 Mckinney
• Minnesotans For Cynthia McKinney
• South Carolina for Cynthia McKinney
• Utah for Cynthia Mckinney
• Georgians for Mckinney/Clemente

Social networking websites

• Official campaign YouTube Channel
• Official Facebook page

Cynthia McKinney Political activities 2008 presidential campaign (with Rosa Clemente) 2006 congressional election Electoral history Political positions Controversies 9/11 Truth movement Opposition to the Iraq War 2006 Capitol Hill police incident Political affiliations Democratic (1986–2007) Green Party (2007–present) Family Bill McKinney (father)

State results of the United States presidential election, 2008 Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming