Cynthia McKinney to run for Green party nomination for prez

Via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Former Georgia congresswoman Cynthia McKinney is on the political comeback trail again. This time, she’s running for president.

In a speech posted on her campaign Web site, runcynthiarun.org, McKinney, 52, ended weeks of speculation and officially announced her run as a Green Party candidate. She sounded the theme “Come Home To The Green Party” while attacking both major parties as supporters of the war in Iraq and tools of corporate interests.

“The Democrats, no different than their Republican counterpart, eat out of the hands of corrupt lobbyists and feed at the same corporate trough,” McKinney says in the video. “I am proud to say the Green Party is my new political home.”

In recent weeks, McKinney has traveled to campaign rallies and fund-raisers in Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin trying to organize party support and get her name on state ballots. She said she plans to campaign in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Hugh Esco, who works on the McKinney campaign and runs her Web site, declined to comment Wednesday.

The firebrand six-time Democratic congresswoman from Georgia’s 4th congressional district was defeated in 2002, bounced back and won in 2004, and then was defeated by Hank Johnson in 2006. At least six Green Party candidates are running against her. The July nominating convention for the Green Party will be in Chicago.

McKinney is the only former major-party candidate running for president as a Green in 2008, but she is the second black woman from Georgia to declare her Green Party presidential candidacy.

Elaine Brown, 64, of Brunswick, , a former chairwoman of the Black Panther Party, is on the ballot in California. The party plans to stage a debate between Green Party presidential candidates in San Francisco Jan. 13.

Can’t wait to see the YouTube video snips from that one.

Think the Green Party will throw a wrench in next year’s presidential election for Democrats? Or will that honor be reserved for a possible anti-Iraq war Ron Paul third-party candidacy? Assuming he can make it beyond the white supremacist donation scandal, that is.