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by: Melinda Tuhus, August 28, 2007 10:17 AM
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2007/08/mckinney.php

Former Georgia Democratic Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney is seriously eyeing a run for president on the Green Party ticket - and local and state Greens are enthusiastically rooting for her.

About 30 activists gathered at the Ronan Street home of Charlie Pillsbury, who represents Connecticut in the national Green Party structure. They came to help McKinney retire the $50,000 debt from her 2006 campaign (in which she was unseated in Georgia's open primary, which lets voters cross party lines) so she can focus on an even bigger race. They also came out to support Green mayoral candidate Ralph Ferrucci (pictured).

McKinney has been vilified by her political opponents and the major media since she arrived in Congress in 1992, and became an outspoken opponent of U.S. military intervention abroad, specifically the war in Iraq. She also questioned the Bush administration's actions leading up to the terrorist attacks of September 11 - a line of questioning that was misrepresented by the Republicans (and parroted by some powerful media outlets) as accusing Bush of knowing about the terror attack in advance. That helped lead to her defeat in 2002. She was re-elected in 2004 and defeated again last year, partly as a result of unflattering reports of an altercation with a security guard in Congress, which she also claims misrepresented the facts. She was also portrayed as anti-Jewish by AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, for her criticism of Israel.

She said she's under a lot of pressure to run for president. "And that's not just from Greens," she adds. "That's from disillusioned Americans who are looking for a voice. It appears that the War Party consists of both parties, and the American people are looking for a peace party." Click here for more.

McKinney resurrected former Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader's term for George Bush and Al Gore in the 2000 race - Tweedledum and Tweedledee - to characterize the two main parties. She pointed out that in the 2006 election Americans put Democrats in control of both houses of Congress chiefly to end the war in Iraq - but Democrats are continuing to fund the war. She hailed anti-war mom Cindy Sheehan's announcement over the weekend that she will run as a Green for Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's seat in her liberal San Francisco district.

In his brief comments, Ferrucci criticized the rise in taxes and violent crime in the city. He said the only way to lift the tax burden is "to go after Yale, which doesn't pay its fair share." He said Mayor John DeStefano "should have been fixing the problems in the city before running for higher office," a reference to his years-long campaign for governor that ended in defeat last year. Click here for more.

One of the themes running through the evening is that more regular folks - not professional politicians - need to run for office. Besides Ferrucci, two other Greens are in local races: Allan Brison is reprising his race against 10th ward Alderman Ed Mattison, and Pillsbury said Daniel Sumrall will be taking on 7th ward Alderwoman Bitsy Clark.

Michael Jefferson (pictured), who ran Jim Newton's Democratic primary campaign for mayor until it collapsed a few weeks ago when not enough valid signatures were turned in to qualify for the ballot, said in an interview at the end of Monday's event that he came out to thank Cynthia McKinney for her "courageous stands and to wish her well." He said he'd love to see her run for president. As for the mayoral race, he said Newton is contemplating a write-in campaign for the general election. Barring that, he said he would consider voting for "anyone but DeStefano" - either Ferrucci or Republican candidate Rick Elser. He accused the mayor of doing nothing to stop police misconduct, of being partial to downtown developers at the expense of inner city neighborhoods and unemployed young people, and of turning the schools into a patronage system. Click here for more.

Under New Haven's Democracy Fund, any candidate who turns in 200 donations of $25 or more can qualify for public funds. The state legislature created the fund, which allows up to three Connecticut cities to apply for monies for mayoral elections. So far, just New Haven has applied. Under the rules, candidates cannot accept contributions of over $300. DeStefano is taking advantage of it, and Ferrucci would like to if he can get reach the 200 donation threshold. He raised more than $500 last night from nine contributors, including four from New Haven, for a total of 50 donations from New Haveners. He said he's pleased with that progress and is on track to meet the threshold of 200.