Roll Call reports that former Democratic Representative Cynthia McKinney appears to be planning a return to Congress in 2008:
Now that former Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) has withdrawn her name from consideration as the Green Party’s long-shot presidential nominee, speculation is mounting that the woman who is known, among other things, as a comeback specialist, is setting herself up for another run at her old seat… Asked about her plans for the 2008 cycle, McKinney responded, “you can wait until next year. … I’m not really talking about that right now.” And when questioned about whether the time was ripe to reclaim the seat in Georgia’s 4th district that she has won and lost and won and lost again in recent cycles, McKinney would only reply, “I’ll let you do the speculating…” And several Georgia insiders said Johnson would be smart not to count out McKinney. In 2002 she lost a primary race to former Rep. Denise Majette after stirring up controversy when she charged that President Bush may have had prior knowledge of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, but didn’t act on it in order to boost defense stocks. During that race she also was criticized for taking money from donors who were associated with foundations being investigated by the FBI for terrorist ties. Her father also was criticized for making anti-Semitic remarks that year. But McKinney, running what some described as a “stealth campaign” came back to win her old seat back in 2004 when Majette, after serving just one term, ran unsuccessfully for the Senate.
THE WEEKLY STANDARD covered Ms. McKinney’s insane and offensive conspiracy theories in 2005–after her first comeback.
The actual reason why Cynthia McKinney left Congress in 2002 was that, for once, she couldn’t outrun her mouth. She had walked along the cutting edge of progressive politics for years–appearing with Louis Farrakhan, calling globalization a “cruel hoax,” advocating for Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe–but then, in a March 25, 2002, interview on KPFA Pacifica radio, she suddenly fell off. “We know there were numerous warnings of the events to come on September 11,” McKinney said that day. “What did this administration know and when did it know it, about the events of September 11? Who else knew, and why did they not warn the innocent people of New York who were needlessly murdered? What do they have to hide?” McKinney thought she knew the answer. “What is undeniable,” she explained, “is that corporations close to the administration have directly benefited from the increased defense spending arising from the aftermath of September 11th.”
Read the whole piece, since it appears that it will be timely again. McKinney is a race-baiting terrorist sympathizer–who represents the worst that the leftist fringe has to offer. The arrogance and demagoguery she displayed after striking a police officer at the Capitol, and her admitted misuse of taxpayer dollars–serious offenses though they are–seem almost trivial in comparison.
