McKinney Goes Green

In the race for the White House, there seems to be an endless slew of Republican and Democratic presidential candidates trading punches over who has or hasn’t lurched furthest to the right. But there’s another overcrowded party primary in progress: the Green Party. So far, there are seven Greens in the running, including Texan candidate Kat Swift. The highest-profile runner is former Georgia U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney, currently on the Illinois ballot. She’ll be swinging through Austin on Dec. 5 as part of her attempt to get on the slate in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

McKinney has a rep as a firebrand, unafraid to take on causes she supports very publicly. Like any firebrand, that’s brought her major victories, like her strong support for international human-rights legislation. She led by example, like getting the Georgia state house to reverse its ridiculous rule banning female reps from wearing pants by wearing slacks to session. But she was also the rep that punched a U.S. Capitol police officer in the chest and called Al Gore racist.

After those little incidents, she lost her seat after going down in a primary run-off to eventual general election winner Henry “Hank” Johnson Jr. When she finally switched party allegiances last October, it wasn’t totally unexpected: The Georgia Green Party tried to draft her as Ralph Nader’s running-mate in 2000 and his replacement in 2004 when he decided not to run as the Green presidential candidate.

McKinney will be hosted by the Green Party of Texas at Ruta Maya at 7pm on Dec. 5.