Green Party Presidential Candidates

Jesse Johnson is the co-chair of the Mountain Party of West Virginia, which became affiliated with the Green Party of the United States at the national meeting in Reading last July. He produced, directed, and acted in many plays and films, and founded Talkback, Children Respond to Violence in the Media, which uses the arts to teach inner-city elementary school students how to combat violence. He was the Mountain Party’s candidate for Governor in 2004 and U.S. Senate in 2006.
Website: http://www.jesse08.org/

Cynthia McKinney was elected to the Georgia state legislature as a Democrat in 1988 and to Congress in 1992. She was the first African-American woman from Georgia in the House of Representatives, serving in Congress from 1993 to 2003 and from 2005 to 2007. She served as an advocate for Hurricane Katrina victims, voters disenfranchised in the 2000 and 2004 election. Last year, she left the Democratic Party and registered as a Green.
Website: http://www.runcynthiarun.org/

Kent Mesplay has been a registered Green since 1995 in California, serving as one of his state’s delegates to the Green National Committee since 2004. He has worked as a substitute teacher and an Air Quality Inspector at the Air Pollution Control District, San Diego. He also served as the president of Turtle Island Institute In 2004, he ran in the Green Presidential primaries and caucuses, and in 2006, in the Green primary for U.S. Senate.
Website: http://www.mesplay.org/

Kat Swift is a member of the Green Party of Texas, having served on her party’s State Executive Committee and as co-Spokesperson for the national party’s Women's Caucus. She has served as a facilitator for the Green Party and for several other organizations, groups, and coalitions, including Clean Money San Antonio and SA Democracy Now. She currently works as an accountant. In 2007, she became the first Green to run for the City Council of San Antonio.
Website: http://www.voteswift.org/

Cynthia McKinney interview

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McKinney A Discussion of Race

A Message from Cynthia McKinney A Discussion of Race Worth Having March 18, 2008~~~Much has been made around the edges of this campaign about the issue of race. Sadly, nothing has been made of the public policy exigencies that arise because of the urgent racial disparities that continue to exist in our country. Just last week, the United Nations criticized the United States, again, for its failure to address the issues arising from the rights, particularly the right of return, of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita survivors. Author Bill Quigley writes in "The Cleansing of New Orleans," that half of the working poor, elderly, and disabled of New Orleans have not been able to return. Two weeks ago, United Nations experts on housing and minority rights called for an immediate end of public housing demolitions in New Orleans. Now, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, ratified by the U.S. in 1994, further observes that the U.S. must do more to protect and support the African American community. In 2006, the United Nations Human Rights Commission "noted its concern that while African Americans constitute just 12% of the population, they represent 50% of homeless people, and the government is required to take 'adequate and adequately implemented' measures to remedy this human rights violation." In short, the United Nations has issued reports squarely calling for the United States to do more to eliminate racial discrimination and this discrimination is a human rights violation.~~~I am deeply offended that in the middle of a Presidential campaign, remarks--be they from a pastor or a communications mogul, or a former Vice Presidential nominee--are the cause of a focus on race, and not the deep racial disparities that communities are forced to endure on a daily basis in this country.~~~Myriad reports and studies that have been done all come up with the same basic conclusion: in order to resolve deep and persisting racial disparities in this country, a public policy initiative is urgently needed. A real discussion of race, in the context of a Presidential election, ought to include a discussion of the various public policy initiatives offered by the various candidates to eliminate all forms and vestiges of racial discrimination, including the racial disparities that cloud the hopes, dreams, and futures of millions of Americans.~~~For example, every year on the anniversary of the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. United for a Fair Economy publishes a study of the true state of people of color in America called the "State of the Dream Report." And it was their 2004 report that noted that without public policy intervention, it would take 1,664 years to close the racial gap in home ownership in this country. And that on some indices, for example, infant mortality, the racial disparities were worse at the time of the report than at the time of the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.~~~In their 2005 report, entitled, "Disowned," United for a Fair Economy explored the disparate impact of Bush's "Ownership Society" economic program that saw Black and Latino lives shattered as unemployment, income, home ownership, business ownership, and stock ownership plummeted even in the face of Administration economists trumpeting the phenomenal "growth" of the U.S. economy as a result of their policies.~~~In 2006, United for a Fair Economy focused on the devastating and embarrassing effect of government inaction before, during, and after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. They focused on something as simple as car ownership and the relationship between vehicle ownership and race. In the case of New Orleans, car ownership literally meant the difference between losing or saving one's life.~~~In 2007, United for a Fair Economy explored the Black voters' attachment to the Democratic Party, and in a piece entitled, "Voting Blue, but Staying in the Red," they explored goals that the Democratic Party should have put at the top of its agenda for its first 100 hours in the majority. While noting that the Democrats didn't even mention Katrina in their agenda, United for a Fair Economy concluded that Blacks and Latinos voted in the November 2006 elections in the blue, but due to a failure of public policy that pays attention to their needs, they continue to live in the red.~~~In their 2008 report, United for a Fair Economy explores the sub-prime mortgage crisis and note that the largest loss of wealth in U.S. history is being experienced by the Black and Latino communities with an estimated $92 billion being lost by Blacks and an estimated $98 billion being lost by Latinos. And while families are losing their life savings and the only major investment that they own, policy makers are asking them to tighten their belts. But the predator banks' CEOs are walking away with record remuneration. And our policy makers are notable for their inaction: first on the predatory lending that disproportionately affects Blacks and Latinos, and then on offering relief so that homeowners remain homeowners, including in the midst of this crisis.~~~Sadly, United for a Fair Economy isn't the only research organization to find glaring and intolerable disparities in our society by race and no appropriate public policies enacted to address them. Hull House did a study that found that it would take 200 years to close the gap in the quality of life experienced by black Chicagoans and white Chicagoans. There has been no public policy initiative taken up by the mayor or the governor of Illinois to begin closing that gap.~~~Several years ago, the New York Times published a finding that nearly half the men between the ages of 16 and 64 in New York City were unemployed. There was no initiative by the mayor or the governor of New York to begin addressing such pain.~~~Every year, the National Urban League publishes a study, "The State of Black America," in which the ills and disparities that persist in this country are catalogued. Every year, the story is basically the same. The United States has a way to go that only public policy can address. However, when Harvard University/The Kaiser Family Foundation did a study on White attitudes about race several years ago, it found that Whites have little appreciation for the reality of Black life in America, from police harassment and intimidation, to imprisonment, to family income, unemployment, housing, and health care. But without an appreciation of the reality faced by many of our fellow Americans, the necessary public policy initiatives to change those realities will find difficulty gaining acceptance in the public discourse.~~~Additionally, compounding the problem, there is little public discourse because the corporate press refuse to cover the deep implications of the results of all these studies. I am convinced that if the American people knew the truth of the conditions, change would surely follow. I believe that to be the case because of the impact of the images of "Bloody Sunday" on the passage of the Voting Rights Act. I believe that to be the case because of the impact of the images of the Vietnam War on the turn of the tide of public opinion against that War.~~~This moment sheds light on a much-needed discussion: on race and the legacies of race and slavery and the continuing problems associated with our failure to treat racism as a curable American disease.~~~I am glad that candidate Obama mentioned the existing racial disparities in education, income, wealth, jobs, government services, imprisonment, and opportunity. Now it is time to address the public policies necessary to resolve these disparities. Now it is time to have the discussion on how we are going to come together and put policies in effect that will provide real hope and real opportunity to all in this country.~~~To narrow the gap between the ideals of our founding fathers and the realities faced by too many in our country today: That must be the role of public policy at this critical moment in our country today.~~~I welcome a real discussion of race in this country and a resolve to end the long-standing disparities that continue to spoil the greatness of our country. I welcome a real discussion of all the issues that face our country today and the real public policy options that exist to resolve them. That must be the measure of this campaign season. For many voters, this important discussion has been too vague or completely non-existent. Now is the time to talk about the concrete measures that will move our country forward: on race, war, climate change, the economy, health care, and education. Our votes and our political engagement must be about ensuring that fairness truly for all is embodied in "liberty and justice for all."~~~--~~~"And advanced forms of biological warfare that can 'target' specific genotypes may transform biological warfare from the realm of terror to a politically useful tool." PNAC, Rebuilding America's Defenses, p. 60~~~"The less you know, the more you believe." Bono~~~"Certain material weaknesses in financial reporting and other limitations on the scope of our work resulted in conditions that, for the 10th consecutive year, prevented us from expressing an opinion on the federal government's consolidated financial statements." David Walker, Comptroller General of the United States, December 15, 2006~~~Paid for by the Power to the People Committee, Cynthia McKinney for President http://www.runcynthiarun.org/

McKinney Meetup Group

Announcing a new meeting for Twin Cities Green Party Meetup Group!~~~What: Minnesotans for Cynthia McKinney ( in Saint Paul )~~~When: Friday, March 28, 6:00 PM~~~Where: Click the link below to find out!~~~Meeting Description: Hello Everyone,~~~You are cordially invited to join Minnesotans for Cynthia McKinney. Please mark your calendar for Friday, March 28th or Saturday, March 29th.~~~We will come together and generate ideas on how to increase interest in Minnesota for Cynthia McKinney's presidential campaign. Farheen Hakeem will be hosting both of these events.~~~ You can come on Friday or on Saturday (or if you are really enthusiastic, on both days).~~~Friday, March 28, 2008, meeting from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Trotter's Cafe and Bakery 232 Cleveland Ave N St Paul, MN 55104 (651) 645-8950~~~(Trotter's Cafe closes at 9 p.m. on Fridays)~~~ ***~~~Saturday, March 29, 2008, meeting from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at May Day Cafe 3440 Bloomington Ave S Minneapolis, MN 55407 (612) 729-5627~~~(May Day Cafe closes at 6 p.m. on Saturdays)~~~ PLEASE FORWARD THIS FAR AND WIDE. THANK YOU.~~~Heidi Sheen MinnesotansForCynthiaMcKinney@gmail.com P.O. Box 300134 Minneapolis, MN 55403 651-245-3900~~~Learn more here: http://green.meetup.com/203/calendar/7523531/

Sen. Mike Gravel supports Jesse Johnson!

RELEASE Sen. Mike Gravel supports Green pres. candidate Jesse Johnson~~~ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 11 March 2008 ~~~Contact: Joel Brown, 703 864 5199, joelbrown88@yahoo.com Steve Kramer, 240 426 3338, scooter@the-exchange-us.com Committee to elect Jesse Johnson~~~Chris Petherick, 703 980 8055, chris@gravel2008.us Jon Kraus, 203 209 7736, jon@gravel2008.us Gravel for President~~~ National Statesman and International Hero Senator Mike Gravel Supports Jesse Johnson¹s Bid for President~~~ In what has to be the most unprecedented cross party statement of support Democratic Party Candidate for President Mike Gravel announced that he has decided to support the campaign of Green Party Candidate Jesse Johnson running for the nomination on the Green Party Ticket.~~~After a meeting between the two in Washington DC Friday, Gravel stated, ³My political party long ago walked away from taking the necessary steps that will safe guard our nation¹s and our children¹s futures. I worked dedicatedly throughout my career as a U.S. Senator to protect the precious resources our country had within it¹s boundaries as well as to mitigate the negative impact our businesses and individuals were having on the planet. I have watched the ever important job of stewarding these gifts vanish from the political landscape and I hold the Democratic Party leadership responsible for giving up that fight.²~~~Why did Gravel choose Johnson from among the other candidates vying for the nomination in all the campaigns of all available political parties? Gravel explains, ³I¹m supporting Jesse because he began his political career with the determination that the environmental plundering must stop. He placed every other interest on hold to run for office, in his home state and now nationally, to challenge the corporations that destroy our national resources and then harvest from this practice a toxic energy source; coal. The mountain top mining practices devastate the landscape by blowing apart mountains and then carbon belching plants burn the coal creating a form of energy that serves as one of the major contributors for global climate change.²~~~Gravel continues, ³We must have a voice in the political realm speaking earnestly and intelligently about all of our environmental needs. Johnson and the Green Party have that environmental credibility that we Democrats have lost.²~~~Senator Gravel intends to travel and campaign with Jesse Johnson as their schedule allows. ~~~Jesse Johnson, former chair of the West Virginia Mountain Party and two time candidate for statewide office, said that this sort of cross party support ³was just the kind of non-traditional, selfless act that we have come to know Senator Mike Gravel to make. When he read the Pentagon Papers into the Congressional record, or filibustered to end the draft he had his eye ­ at all times ­ on the big picture and the needs of others. I am not surprised that a true patriot and advocate of the citizen as leader of our country would take such an unprecedented and bold stand. And I am honored and humbled that he has selected my campaign and the Green Party as his allies in this very important race to save our environment from the actions of humans.²~~~Gravel closed by saying, ³We¹ve seen the havoc the two parties can wreak, on a global scale, by locking out the voices of reason ­ by eliminating the third party voices. I want to amplify those voices to save our country from our own shortsighted and greedy actions. If we want to end the war in Iraq, provide health care to all citizens, educate our young people, we¹re going to have to start not only working together with these alternate parties: but literally working to support them. That¹s why I¹m supporting Jesse Johnson¹s campaign for President.²

McKinney Campaign Weekly Update: Premier Issue

Hello all:

And welcome to the premier issue of the Power to the People Committee, Cynthia McKinney for President Weekly Update.

Just a couple of weeks ago we at long last launched the subscription forms for this list and for other public lists now or soon to be hosted by our campaign. Before the first issue goes to the list, already 222 McKinney for President supporters from thirty-five states have subscribed to this list. And with your help we can push that number over 500 by next week's issue.

To join this list, please send your friends to subscribe at: http://supporters.runcynthiarun.org/supporters.cgi?function=subscribe

Please forward this newsletter far and wide. Help us let the whole world know that Cynthia McKinney is running for President and that she's asking us to do some things we've never done before, so that we can have some things we've never had before.

So with that, on to the latest news from the campaign:

-- Delivering the McKinney Vote --

Washington, Wisconsin and Minnesota are now voting!

There are mail ballots now underway in Washington and Wisconsin intended to instruct those state's Delegates to the Chicago Nominating convention. Ballots are due back, postmarked by March 11th in Washington and received in the Wisconsin Party's Post Office Box not later than March 27th.

Tuesday night, March 4th, Greens in Minnesota gathered in Party caucuses for 62 of the state's 67 Senate districts. Preliminary results of the Minnesota straw poll, with 50 Caucuses reporting so far show 61% support for Cynthia's campaign.

If you know Greens in those states, please give them a call. Make sure they cast those ballots for Cynthia.

-- Fundraising --

The campaign has released its first progress report towards Federal Matching Funds.

We want to express our appreciation to the following states whose residents have already given $5,000 or more in qualifying contributions toward our efforts to qualify for Federal Matching Funds: California, Illinois and Oregon; as well as the following states which are on their way towards that goal: Florida ($1.2k), Michigan ($1.2k), Minnesota ($2.5k), New York ($1.2k), Oklahoma ($1k), Texas ($3.5k), Washington ($2.5k) and Wisconsin ($1.6k). (Figures current through January 31st, 2008).

When twenty or more states have raised $5,000 in qualifying contributions, the McKinney campaign will be eligible for a one-for-one match on that first $100,000, as well as the first $250 contributed by all future contributors until the Chicago Convention adjourns.

Please make sure your state helps qualify us to double the first $250 of every individual contribution! Make your contribution today, then let your friends know you've done so and ask them to match or exceed your own contribution. You can donate online at: http://supporters.runcynthiarun.org/supporters.cgi

Your contributions will let us fulfill the growing number of requests we get on a nearly daily basis for campaign materials, and keep our candidate on the road campaigning for the nomination.

To learn more about our efforts to qualify for the Federal Matching Program, check out the details at: http://www.runcynthiarun.org/node/1

-- Ballot Access --

As this Update is prepared, the Arizona Green Party is reporting that it has likely delivered a ballot line to the national Party's nominee with its petition filing on March 6th. They required 20,499 valid signatures. They filed 29,300. With the help of Greens from around the country, including many McKinney supporters, who contributed financially to the effort and travelled to Arizona to petition, they expect that their filing will be enough to survive the validation process.

Cynthia McKinney travelled to Arizona early in the campaign to conduct a joint fundraiser which raised sufficient funds to add another county to those in Arizona able to put Green candidates on the ballot and before the voters. In the final weeks of this effort, contributors to the McKinney campaign were thanked with an appeal to consider giving again to help put the Arizona Party over the top.

-- Campaign Visibility --

Cynthia recently participated in a forum at University of Maryland, covered by C-SPAN. The event is covered on her personal website at: http://www.allthingscynthiamckinney.com/node/270 with links to the tv coverage in the C-SPAN archives.

Essence Magazine's website carried an interview with Cynthia, describing her as "The New Face of the Green Party", reprinted on her site at: http://www.allthingscynthiamckinney.com/node/273 Asked why voters should consider her campaign, Cynthia responded: "If people feel deep within their hearts that there is still something structurally wrong with the limited choices we have in our two-party system, then I want people to say let me be a part of the 5 percent that changes the structure of our country."

Guerilla News Network has now made Ian Ibarra's film, American Blackout, available in full on the web. We've embedded a copy on Cynthia's website at: http://www.allthingscynthiamckinney.com/AmericanBlackout This powerful documentary on the disfranchisement of the Black vote which spoiled elections in Florida 2000, Georgia 2002 and Ohio 2004 revolves around the story of Cynthia McKinney and her struggles against the malicious cross-over vote which cost her a Congressional seat in 2002.

Ted Glick, former Green Party candidate for the U.S. Senate in New Jersey, used his Future Hope column this week to comment on Nader's choice to run again as an independent, as he did in 2004. He wrote: "Indeed, I would think that the Democratic Party establishment must be very pleased at the likelihood that Ralph Nader and, most likely, Cynthia McKinney will be competing against not just the Dems and Reps but each other." Chastising Nader's decision he continues: "This is not the best way to build a unified independent progressive alternative to the Democrats and Republicans." To read the full story, see: http://www.allthingscynthiamckinney.com/node/276

You can contribute to this campaign's visibility in your own community by downloading, reproducing and distributing our campaign flyer: "Leading a Peace Slate to Reclaim Our Nation", at: http://www.runcynthiarun.org/system/files/LeadingPeaceSlateToReclaimOurNation.pdf~~~-- Building the Campaign State-by-State --

Last week McKinney supporters in New York began meeting to craft their plan for delivering the McKinney vote in their April mail ballot.

You can do the same in your community or state. Use our campaign website's links to Eventful and Meetup to help plan local gatherings of McKinney supporters. If you want to help build a state-wide campaign for Cynthia in your home state, please use the TalkBack form to contact campaign staff about the next steps.

Also the campaign has begun the process of naming volunteer coordinators in each state to help respond to the sometimes overwhelming number of volunteers who have reached out to our campaign to help Cynthia secure the nomination and the votes of the American people. For those of you eager to get to work, know that our phone call is coming soon.

Paid for by the Power to the People Committee, Cynthia McKinney for President http://www.RunCynthiaRun.org/

GPMN Caucus Results

The Green Party of Minnesota Caucuses were held Tuesday, March 4.

As I calculate it, if the delegate alotment were based on the straw poll results, McKinney would get 7 delegates, Nader 1, and Undecided 1. If those numbers hold the other 3 will be determined by Instant Runoff Voting for the total of 12.

Hillary courting Republicans

I think Hillary is courting the Republican crossover vote. Her "3 AM crisis phone call to the president" ad plays to Republican fears of terrorism, not to mention the imagery of darkness which may play to racial fears.

She also was recently quoted as saying, "I think that I have a lifetime of experience that I will bring to the White House. Sen. John McCain has a lifetime of experience that he’d bring to the White House. And Sen. Obama has a speech he gave in 2002."

It’s as if she’s telling Republicans, "Vote for me and I will lose for you in November!"