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/