[Marxism] Cynthia McKinney on Reconstruction & Green Party, politics

[Steffie Brooks]

Note Well:

In the interview by Alan Benjamin (posted by David W. --
http://veryleft.blogspot.com/), McKinney says she supports BOTH the
formation of the Reconstruction Party AND building the Green Party.
One of the reasons I think she's the best candidate for the Green
Party is her commitment to and gift for building political alliances.

She has named her campaign the Power to the People campaign; it is
explicitly broader than the Green Party and an effort to draw together
an electoral alliance with social justice activists and the African
American Left.

Is the left populist* Green Party a viable vehicle for this kind of
realignment (or regroupment, if you prefer) of different social layers
and political activists that have been divided by race for at least
the last 40 years? Can a presidential campaign by Cynthia McKinney be
a vehicle for the patient organizational building that Mark L. called
for a week or so ago?

McKinney says an emphatic yes in her video campaign announcement:

3A//img.youtube.com/vi/03cOM9r51Nw/default.jpg&t=OEgsToPDskKKCTOMhLSuTVskXKCmhgas

(also at www.runcynthiarun.org/)

Would that her supporters agreed!

I've pulled out what she said about the Green Party in the interview
with Alan Benjamin posted by David to emphasize it:

-----------------------

Question: You are seeking the Green Party's presidential nomination?
How do you see the relationship between the Greens and the
Reconstruction Party?

McKinney: This is a time for coalition politics. I believe we need a
coalition -- a peace and justice coalition, a Power to the People
coalition -- that can put another voice at the table of American
political discussion. We now only have two voices -- which are more
and more the same voice. And with 5% of the vote we can get three.

The Reconstruction Party is a necessary and central component of this
coalition. Winning the 5% of the vote, which we can do through the
Green Party ballot, will translate into increased visibility on the
issues of concern to the Reconstruction Party activists.

Question: How do you answer those who say you might be a spoiler on
behalf of the Republicans if you get 5% of the presidential vote in
2008?

McKinney: I tell them that more than 40% of the potential voters in
this country don't vote because they don't hear a message that
motivates them to go out and vote. I want to give them a reason to
vote.

I also tell them that the real spoilers are the ones who stole the
vote in 2000 and 2004 -- or who didn't fight to defend the vote.

----------------------------

On Jan 8, 2008 9:47 PM, David Walters <dave.walters at comcast.net> wrote:

> Full:  http://veryleft.blogspot.com/
>

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* The left populist character of the U.S. Green Party is reflected in
its program, summed up in The Ten Key Values of the GPUS. Here's a
thumbnail of them and the Four Pillars from a Green web site
somewhere:

The international Green Party movement is guided by the "Four
Pillars": Ecological Wisdom, Social Justice, Grassroots Democracy, and
Nonviolence. Greens in the United States add six more --
Decentralization, Community-Based Economics, Feminism, Respect for
Diversity, Personal and Global Responsibility, and Future
Focus/Sustainability -- to form the "Ten Key Values".