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Cynthia McKinney into the presidential mix might put Georgia up for grabs

Submitted by Chad on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 2:19pm.
We have another official candidate for president. The Green Party has chosen former Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney as its 2008 presidential candidate. McKinney, 53, will have a hip-hop artist and activist Rosa Clemente as her running mate. McKinney served as a Democrat in the U.S. House from 1993-2003 and 2005-2007.

McKinney also becomes the second Georgian to be on the top ticket of a ballot. Former Republican Rep. Bob Barr will run for the Libertarian Party.

While third parties aren't given much of a chance to win, McKinney and Barr could play a significant role in the election. Barack Obama has a good shot at winning Georgia, but the dynamic in the Peach State could change with Barr and McKinney on the ballot.

A presidential candidate doesn't have to get 50% of the vote to win a state. Majority rules: if Obama, John McCain, McKinney, and Barr do quite well, a candidate could win 26% of the vote and win all the electoral votes in the state. It's also possible that Barr or McKinney could take the state, throwing the electoral map into that much more confusion.

It also speaks to something that two minor parties are being led by former House reps from more established parties.
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Instant run-off voting

Submitted by JohnHarris on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 4:15pm.
would be a good solution to the problem brought up here. With instant run-off voting one could also vote for the candidate that best represents one's views without "throwing one's vote away."

Now many vote for the lesser of two evils because they know that only one of thje major party candidates has a chance. This blocks the development of other parties and lessens our democratic voice. But with instant run-off voting, I can vote for a Moon Pie candidate first and as long as I put one of the majors before the other, my vote isn't lost. However, in the vote analysis, the winner will see that I liked something else better than his offering and might ber inclined to act in order not to lose my vote next time.

Thus more voices can be heard effectively and democracy better served by this proceedure.
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Georgia Green - no worries

Submitted by tmstrait on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 4:07pm.
As a Georgia resident, I can tell you it would take extraordinary effort to get the Green Party on the ballot. Georgia has some of the strictest ballot access laws in the country, at least in relation to third parties. I beleive the deadlines to do this have already passed. Thay may be able to run as a qualified write-in candidate, but good luck with that. A few years ago I voted for a pre-qualified Green write-in for Governor, and my county still did not tally the vote. The Libertarians are on the ballot, and can be a real threat, as I live in one of the most conservative parts of the state, and there is a great deal of disatisfaction with McCain. Do not count Obama out in Georgia.
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Maybe - and My Response Is "So?"

Submitted by drprodny on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 3:05pm.
We DO allow third parties in our elections, and they have a right to run - and if people are disaffected with their Democratic or Republican party choices, they have the right to vote their "None of the Above" displeasure. If enough people poll for a third-party candidate like McKinney or Barr in Georgia, it might be the wakeup call Obama needs to prevent his distressing "Race to the Right and Call it the Center"....

I would also, as I have said elsewhere, encourage everybody to sign up at National Popular Vote, an organization to reforming or eliminating the Electoral College so that the popular vote is the correct vote, and the system can't be gamed again.
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Missing the point

Submitted by vtjozef on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 6:04pm.
I think you missed the point. 3rd parties and independents like Ralph Nader have 50 different sets of criteria to meet before they can get on all the 50 state ballots. This is very difficult to do. Some states are almost impossible to get on the ballot if the candidate is not a Democrat or a Republican. With the best of luck, Ralph Nader will be on 45 state ballots by the end of the summer. That in itself is a BIG accomplishment. The Democrats and Republicans have a stranglehold in the process. In Nader's case the idea is to be on enough ballots that theoretically if he were to win all of them he would be over the electoral total necessary to be elected by the electoral college. Remember, that in US elections, we the people, DO NOT elect the president. We elect the electors to the electoral college who elect the president. In 1992, Ross Perot, with the help of his own many millions of dollars got on all 50 state ballots. Perot pulled just under 19% of the total votes and received a total of ZERO electoral college votes. He did not win a single state. So then, starting now, July 14, how many states will Cynthia McKinney be on? I don't think that many as she too, has 50 different sets of criteria to meet. They call it "democracy" and the Republican and Democrats like it the way that it is. It provides them with a stranglehold on the electoral process. Nice, no?
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Yes, It IS "Nice, No?" - Hence the Link

Submitted by drprodny on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 11:27pm.
As I've said to you before, vtjozef - do you simply want to feel appropriately martyred when your candidate loses...again? Or do you want to at least take the first tentative steps towards reforming the process so that a future third-party candidate might actually win?

No, I don't miss the point - I'm just too old, and too pissed off at the Right-Wing rape of my country's ideals and civil liberties, to throw away my vote on a third-party candidate who stands no chance whatsoever of winning, and handing the election to the Greater of Two Evils...namely ANY Republican at all. But that's me - and clearly, you feel differently.

OTOH, wouldn't you like, for once, to support something that might actually change things in a positive way? If you know of a better organization for reforming the current election system than National Popular Vote, please post the link so we all can check it out.
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