Cynthia McKinney for President

As opposed to the future, the refreshing thing about 2008 is that you can support whosoever you please for the Green Party nomination with the absolute certainty that they're not going to win. And so, it is my pleasure to switch in this cycle from Kent Mesplay (but keep it coming Kent!) to Cynthia McKinney.

Now, there are many problems with Cynthia McKinney. She's a disaffected Democrat, her disgrace came from punching a security guard, and, as you can see from her announcement(which I ask that you take the 7 minutes and 21 seconds to hear), she's barely more articulate than Shrub. But, as she says

America deserves a government as good as its people, and as noble as its ideals.

McKinney, as far as raising our profile, raising money, and recruiting members, is the way to go. And, unlike the case with the Democrats, she means that we don't have to choose between choosing a black and choosing a woman. I know that a lot of Democrats liked Kucinich, but held their noses and voted for Hilary Clinton or Barack Obama out of practicality. And I know that whackjob wingnuts chose Dubya over Keyes in 2000 for the same reason. But, this is different. I don't think Cynthia McKinney would be a good president. She's be worse, probably, that Ralph Nader. But, I don't expect her to win. I understand that this is how at least one of the guys from Predator became governor, but I'm not voting for her out of apathy or protest. I'm supporting Cynthia McKinney because I believe that of all the candidates, she most supplies what we need now. Which are credibility, money and members.

That whole "The Green Party threw the 2000 election to Bush" meme kind of took hold. I mean, c'mon. First off, the Socialists took enough votes from Gore to tip the balance. Secondly, he actually won in the recount. Thirdly, if he'd run a decent campaign (by, for example, I don't know, oh, not selecting Senator Lieberman as his running mate? Nor showing up orange to the first debate? And, oh my God, what was that with Elián González?) there would have been no way it could even have been close. And, as Michael Moore made clear in Fahrenheit 911, it was Vice President Gore himself who squelched protest over the outcome. Instead of 5/9 of the Supreme Court being impeached and Gore being installed, we got what we got.

If Kat Swift starts to date me, or Kent seriously guilt trips me, I might flip. But, both are unlikely. Because, you've got too much pride, right, Kent? Notice that there are only three declared candidates for the Green Party nomination. The ones who've dropped out have thrown their support to Cynthia McKinney. As I'm doing.

I wonder if Al Gore's up for another VP stint....