You're worried about Ralph Nader? Hah. Here's something to worry about.

[WilliamPitt]

People getting all jazzed up about Ralph are fighting the last war, the 2000 war, the one where America was suffering a Clinton hangover, the one where George was a mystery to most, the one where 9/11 and Iraq hadn't happened yet. That's the war Ralph could throw some weight in. 2-3% weight, sure, but he made Gore defend traditionally Democratic territory, which left Gore less than capable of mounting a challenge in places like Ohio.

This time around, Ralph will draw some of the same people Ralph always draws, minus the large number of people who are so freaked out by Bush that they will vote for the ham sandwich alternative this time around. Ralph has no party to run with, no infrastructure, no money, and lest we forget, he still has to get on the ballot in all 50 states. In Texas, for one example, this means getting thousands of signatures from people who didn't vote in the primary. Without money or infrastructure, Ralph ain't gonna get on many ballots.

No, Ralph doesn't scare me.

Cynthia McKinney running as the candidate for the Green Party scares me.

National infrastructure.

Money.

Ability to get on ballots.

African American woman, which = two traditional Democratic voting bases ripe for the poaching.

Etc.

THAT is something to be nervous about, friends and neighbors. Ralph Nader was the last war. Cynthia McKinney running as a Green will be the next one. Mark my words.

[onehandle]

1. Is that for sure? (McKinney)

[WilliamPitt]

2. No

It is the buzz I have been hearing for weeks from a lot of different places. The Greens (correctly) think they need to run a national candidate with a broader appeal than Ralph. McKinney fits that bill, and she is close friends with some high-ranking Green people.

[Journeyman]

3. Mark Twain once said. . .

"I've had a life of many troubles, most of which never happened."

I'll worry about the impact a potential McKinney campaign may have when, and only if there is a McKinney campaign.

[mot78]

4. She's not running

notes:
Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader have withdrawn their names from consideration as the Green Party nominee. There are plans for an organized campaign to draft Nader for the Green nomination; we will provide contact information for that campaign when we receive it.

http://www.greenparty-us.org/convention/index.html

I just copied the fine print under the delegate column.

[WilliamPitt]

9. Outstanding

Thanks for that. Everyone should ignore this thread now. :)

[bigtree]

5. Kerry has a posture that may influence more voters from the center

who were indifferent to Bush the last go round than Ralph and Cynthia's appeal combined could manage to pull off of the left. The republican party is ripe for a revolt. In the end I think the hunger to defeat Bush will bring most voters around to the Democratic nominee.

[cally]

6. The Dems just abandoned her the last time

and she does have a legitimate complaint against the party leadership. I hope she doesn't run as a Green. She scares me, too.

I hope Dem leadership reach out and apologize. Offer her something that she deserves and we avert this.

[billbuckhead]

7. Been saying this for a year, Dems can't take minorities& women for granted

Cynthia McKinney got whacked by Zell Miller and the corporations. She was years ahead of the curve on the Bush administration.

[DennisReveni]

17. You mean by her own party

Now that Palast has cleared up what really happened, I still have the disgust of her her party attacking her.
I recall Begala and the Democrat du jour on Crossfire attacking her for the statement she never made. Too bad they couldn't check the record as Palast did.
But MWO is even worse, not only have they NOT apologized but they claimed the " What did Bush Know and When did he know it" question HURT Democrats.
How sickening.
One of the possible reasons, other than her defending Palestinians and gaining the wrath of AIPAC, is this;
http://www.motherjones.com/news/special_reports/arms/lobbying.html
"n 1993 Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) proposed that arms sales to Indonesia be linked to that country's human-rights record. Lobbyists immediately went to work opposing Feingold's proposal. As one complained to the Legal Times, "Every time a human-rights issue comes up, they jump on it and say, 'Let's cut off arms sales to Bongo Bongo.'"

The lobbyist then became defiant: "We'll fight Feingold; we'll fight each senator if we have to. The defense industry has to fight each one of these battles."

The Indonesian government's "registered foreign agents" -- its lobbyists in the U.S. -- disengaged from the fray and let American arms exporters do the fighting. The arms makers impressed upon legislators that tying arms exports to human rights meant the loss of jobs to foreign competitors. The State and Defense Departments phoned Feingold to let him know of the Clinton administration's opposition to the bill. The Feingold bill went down in flames.

In 1995 Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) and Sen. Mark Hatfield (R-Ore.) introduced the Code of Conduct bill , which would have tied all U.S. arms exports to the customer's democracy record, human-rights record, and its willingness to report arms imports and exports to the United Nations."

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

8. I thought she was going to run to take back her seat

Anyone know if that is still in the works?

[Wonk]

10. link

http://www.sfbayview.com/020404/cynthiamckinney020404.shtml

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

16. Thanks

[edzontar]

11. I hope she gets her seat back. she was whacked by the Zell-DLC-

Bush and Dem Lite axis of evil.

[Indiana_Dem]

12. I believe you're right, I mean

it's too late in Indiana to get on the ballot. Our primary deadline was Feb. 10th for petition signatures and I think the 19th for submitting it to the headquarters. Unless there is another deadline for the GE, Nader is too late here.

I have heard of McKinney but I really don't know who she is or what she's about. However, I do believe, like you said, any Green would more of a threat than Nader is now.

[Nashyra]

13. I hope she runs and gets her seat back

she is a candidate that alot of us could help with.

[boobooday]

14. Say it isn't so

Someone should ask her to be VP!

http://www.wgoeshome.com

[trumad]

15. CM although I admire her

would draw about 1 percent compared to Naders 2000, 3 percent.

[HEyHEY]

18. Still, do you want to take the chance of ignoring him?

[babzilla]

19. Is that really what you are worried about?

Hah

Hah hah hah HAW. Mark my words--HAH.

This is really reaching in the things to be concerned about category.

Did I mention HAW?

[WI_DEM]

20. I happen to agree

I think that many of the 2000 Nader voters will vote for the ham sandwich this time.

Plus, Nader is running as an Independent not the Green Party nominee which means he will be at a disadvantage financially and will probably not be able to get on as many ballots as he did in 2000.

[Frances]

21. I thought she was going to run for her old Congressional seat

Do you know?

[Lefty48197]

22. I disagree

Women and African Americans ARE the Democratic party. I doubt they'll all follow Cynthia into the Green Party.