I first became aware of the controversy over whether to re-elect Cynthia McKinney when I saw the DailyKos ad that featured her picture with a red slash across it. Then, I've read many differing views described in many posts.
I learned about the odd incident in the Capitol Building from Jon Stewart (from the Daily Show) who highlighted the absurdity of it. If everything I've heard is true (i.e. assaulting a security guard, followed by accusations of racism), I have to admit that it does sound like she lost her marbles for a moment there.
But at the same time, we don't want to be like those Bush supporters whose principal criteria seems to be whether they think the politician would make for good company while drinking a beer at a picnic. I mean, we're not electing a next-door neighbor or a best friend. We're electing a legislator, and with that in mind, we should focus on whether an incumbent has doon a good job in their official capacity of representing our interests and our values in the support of legislation on Capitol Hill.
So, the question is, "Has Cynthia McKinney done a good job as a legislator?" I think she has. Here are some examples:
Iraq War
Cynthia McKinney voted against the Iraq war.
http://www.vote-smart.org/...
Universal Health Care
Cynthia McKinney was one of 39 members of a task force to promote universal health care. Some others on the task force include such illustrious liberals like Dennis Kucinich and John Conyers.
http://www.house.gov/...
Free Trade - CAFTA
Cynthia McKinney voted against CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement).
http://www.vote-smart.org/...
World Trade Organization
Cynthia McKinney was one of only 45 Democrats who voted in the year 2005 to withdrawal from the WTO. There were 153 Democrats who voted in FAVOR of staying in the WTO.
http://clerk.house.gov/...
H-1B Visas
Along with liberals like Dennis Kucinich, Cynthia McKinney has expressed opposition to these modern-day devices of indentured servitude. Though her record is not super strong here, there are 115 Democrats who have a lower score than her and only 85 that have a higher score. Also, her record after 1996 is very good. (By the way, for Dennis Kucinich, there are 190 Democrats with a lower score and only 5 Democrats with a higher score.)
Cynthia McKinney score on visas - http://grades.betterimmigration.com/...
Dennis Kucinich score on visas - http://grades.betterimmigration.com/...
Cynthia McKinney votes since 1996 - http://grades.betterimmigration.com/...
Then, I also came across this blog entry that describes a scorecard in which Cynthia McKinney receives a high score. This scorecard shows that she has supported civil liberties, our sovereignty, and upholding the Constitution.
http://freedomdemocrats.org/...
Here's a quote from the blog:
When looking at all of the members of the House of Representatives, do any stand out as consistently voting with Ron Paul on these ten votes? Two Democrats voted with Ron Paul eighty percent of the time: Barney Frank of Massachusetts and Cynthia McKinney of Georgia. Thirty-three other Democrats, too long to list here, voted with Ron Paul seven times out of ten, more than any member of the Liberty Caucus. Even Bernie Sanders, professing a socialist ideology, voted with Ron Paul on seven of the ten votes.
Barney Frank and Bernie Sanders are pretty well-respected among many Democrats. Also, Ron Paul is not one of those corporatist libertarians. He also votes against "free trade" agreements and the World Trade Organization.
Some more info about what votes comprise the scorecard:
What is going on here? Looking at the votes, I think we can place them into categories. The REAL ID Act and the Patriot Act clearly are protection of civil liberties and it's arguable that Ron Paul's amendment dealing with banning federal funding of mandatory child mental screenings falls under this as well. H. R. 841 is largely a constitutional and procedural matter. We then have three votes (CAFTA and pulling out of UN and WTO) that I could call paleo-isolationism. Isolationists of both the left and the right could hypothetically agree here and a handful did. Throw in the Emergency Supplemental, which was full of pork, and it's hard to argue with the list of votes.
Another summary of the scorecard:
...it is strongly tilted towards votes concerning civil liberties, sovereignty, and upholding the general principles of the Constitution. As I have argued in the past, these are the key areas where Democrats have clearly and consistently shown that they are better than Republicans
Also, please check this DU post that has lots of links showing the good record of Cynthia McKinney.
McKinney gets a 100% rating from the best of the liberal organizations
In summary, Cynthia McKinney has a good record. Does there need to be any other justification to support her re-election? So, I urge people to support Cynthia McKinney. She's doing the people's will. She's arguably a little flaky, but on any day of the week, I'll take honest & flaky over corrupt & bland (which is unfortunately the norm among too many members of both parties in Congress.)
The runoff election is this upcoming Tuesday, August 8th. I think it could be close. Please support her anyway you can.
volunteer to help re-elect Cynthia McKinney