[Iowa-dx] FW:Green Party No 'Spoiler' for Obama, McKinney Says (cnsnews)

[Hart, Holly J]

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/viewstory.asp?Page=3D/Politics/archive/200802/P=
OL20080220a.html

Green Party No 'Spoiler' for Obama, McKinney Says

By Penny Starr

CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer
February 20, 2008

College Park, Md. (CNSNews.com) - Former Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) said=
 her bid for the White House as a Green Party candidate won't hurt Sen. Bar=
ack Obama or Sen. Hillary Clinton's chances for being the first African-Ame=
rican or woman U.S. president, respectively, because U.S. elections have be=
en corrupted.

"Basically, what you are suggesting is by participating in the Democratic p=
rocess the Green Party is going to become, quote, 'the spoiler,' " McKinney=
 told Cybercast News Service at a rally Tuesday at the University of Maryla=
nd. "It is impossible to become a spoiler based on past experience when one=
 examines the past.

"In the 2000 election, 6 million votes were not counted," she said. "They w=
ere cast but not counted. It is impossible that George W. Bush won the Whit=
e House on 537 votes. That was constructed. That was contrived, and the Dem=
ocratic Party failed to fight for the voters who voted it into the White Ho=
use. In 2004, 3 million votes were cast but not counted."



In a speech given to a small but enthusiastic crowd at the university's cul=
tural center, McKinney referred to the Reconstruction Party platform, a gra=
ssroots organization in New Orleans spawned by Hurricane Katrina, to explai=
n her presidential goals.

McKinney cited the war in Iraq, poverty, homelessness, and other issues as =
"Hurricane America" and showed a graphic photo of an illegal immigrant who =
died in a border-crossing accident.



McKinney said all immigrants should receive amnesty, because coming to Amer=
ica to support their families should not be a crime and these workers are a=
n economic necessity.

During a question-and-answer session following her speech, one supporter as=
ked McKinney what caused her to leave the Democratic Party.

"When the Democrat majority could have voted to stop war funding, they didn=
't," McKinney said. "When the Democrat majority could have instituted a 'li=
vable' wage, they didn't. When the Democrat majority could have rolled back=
 the Patriot Act, the Secret Evidence Act, and the Military Tribunal Act, t=
hey didn't.

"I'd had enough of 'didn'ts' and wanted to be with people who would," she a=
dded.

Another supporter asked McKinney how she would fund her proposed "Departmen=
t of Peace."

"It's called Department of State," she said, adding that she would not only=
 change the name but the purpose of the department.

Hip Hop artist Head Roc performed throughout the event, rapping songs that =
berated the two-party system, corporate greed and social injustice.



McKinney is one of several Green Party candidates seeking the party's nomin=
ation. Former Green Party nominee Ralph Nader has not decided to run for pr=
esident, but he won the Green Party nomination in the Super Tuesday Califor=
nia primary nonetheless.

The party is on the ballot in 20 states and the District of Columbia. Scott=
 McLarty, media coordinator for the Green Party, said the party would be re=
presented in primaries, conventions or caucuses in all 50 states.

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