By Vanessa Rozier
The Hilltop
Howard University
Back when Bill Clinton was president of the United States, a White House intern made a decision of her lifetime. Not Monica Lewinski, but Ingrid Drake, a young, aspiring politician, lost hope in the Democratic Party.
"I was disgusted for them not standing by women and blacks," Drake said. She was an advocate for Proposition 209, a proposed amendment that would have stopped public institutions from considering race or gender for admission.
Tuesday night, in the auditorium of Locke Hall, Drake recalled her disgust and outrage toward the Democratic Party before listening to presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney.
McKinney, another former Democrat, made the last stop of the night at Howard University on Tuesday to show the documentary "American Blackout" and to raise awareness of the independent party she is now affiliated with, the Green Party.
"We know she's not going to get elected this election," said David W. Schwartzman, a biology professor at Howard. "But she'll raise a lot of issues."
Of the Green Party primaries thus far, McKinney is the clear leader, winning in Arkansas, Illinois and Washington, D.C.
Schwartzman, an active Green Party member and Howard professor for more than 30 years, said McKinney's candidacy will bring to light issues such as the tax system, global warming, divestment and the job market.
His support shows through his ballot as he voted for her during the D.C. primary and through his wallet as he donated $1,000 toward her campaign.
"Speaking for myself, I want to see that Democrats win but I'm supporting McKinney because we need a voice that speaks to millions to speak truth to power," he said. Schwartzman is currently active in the party by pushing for a D.C. Congestion Charge that would charge people for driving into the city, therefore pushing commuters to the Metro and using the funds to improve the public transportation system.
"I demonstrated outside of the Rayburn Building during the 2004 election debate on the Hill," he said as he described his activist history.
The majority of the visit was the documentary that McKinney shared with the audience, which was comprised mostly by area residents and Green supporters.
The documentary chronicled McKinney's fight for a seat in Congress and for investigation into the controversial election of 2000 and 2004.
In the film, a commentator said, "If the votes had been counted in Florida and if all blacks were able to vote, Bush wouldn't be president, there would be no invasion of Iraq and there would be different judges serving on the Supreme Court."
Ray Baker, one of the few Howard students who sat in the audience, said that he came in hopes of meeting the former Georgia Representative.
"She is what people hope that Barack Obama is," said Baker, a senior broadcast journalism major. "She is interested in what's best for black fold, what's best for poor people and people at large."
Baker said that he will be voting for McKinney during the general election but does not believe that she will actually win. Like Schwartzman, Baker said that her campaign will draw attention to issues that otherwise would be ignored.
Schwartzman announced that students interested in forming an official Campus Greens chapter on Howard's campus can contact him. There are hundreds of chapters across the country, according to the Campus Green Web site. These students are advocates of this new third party and hope for change.
Scott McLarty, media coordinator for the Green Party, came in support of McKinney and said that, by being a member of Campus Greens, students would be able to get involved in the presidential campaigns and even become a candidate themselves.
"One of the best ways of learning about politics is getting some experience," McLarty said. © Copyright 2008 The Hilltop
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Candidate for Green Party strives to defeat two-party domination
By Megan Kaldis
The Daily Texan
University of Texas
Cynthia McKinney, former Georgia congresswoman and current Green Party Presidential candidate, takes questions from reporters Wednesday evening. McKinney held a fundraiser at Ruta Maya Coffee House Wendesday in South Austin.
Cynthia McKinney, former Georgia congresswoman and current Green Party Presidential candidate, takes questions from reporters Wednesday evening. McKinney held a fundraiser at Ruta Maya Coffee House Wendesday in South Austin.
Social justice, peace and the rejection of current foreign policies that promote war were some of points advocated by a presidential candidate of the Green Party Wednesday.
People should leave "behind the constraints inherent in the current political paradigm that forces you to accept torture and war," said Cynthia McKinney, presidential candidate for the Green Party and former Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
People who believe in the values of social justice and peace and want to live them find it difficult to vote for the values in the paradigm of a two-party political system, Mckinney said. The Green Party creates a new paradigm for these values.
After six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, McKinney became a presidential candidate for the Green Party.
"I do not begin things that I expect to fail. That's not rational," McKinney said.
The Green Party of the United States, created in 2001, is committed to environmentalism, peace and social justice, according to the party's Web site. They try to provide solutions to alternative energy, universal health care and corporate globalization problems, according to the site.
"My relationship with the Green Party had been long standing," McKinney said.
She became a member of the Georgia Green Party in order to reciprocate the support and love received from the party throughout her terms in the Georgia legislature and the House, McKinney said.
The choice to not support the war in Iraq and working around racial justice were her hallmark achievements in the Georgia legislature and gained the support of the Georgia Green Party, McKinney said.
Though not the Democratic and Republican parties of today, the U.S. has had a tradition of supporting a two-party system since the beginning. So it is very hard for a third party to be successful, said James Galbraith, chair in government and business relations at the LBJ School of Public Affairs.
"None of these third parties survive past more than one or two elections," Galbraith said. "They cannot qualify for federal funding and cannot elect anyone to Congress, so they have no permanent foundation."
The purpose of third parties in the U.S. is to take away enough votes from one party and deliver the election to the other party, Galbraith said.
"Third parties are spoiler parties," Galbraith said.
McKinney said she believes people who make these suggestions do not have a clear grasp on the facts.
"When one million black people did not get their votes counted, then who's the spoiler? This is exactly what happened to these Florida voters in the 2000 election," McKinney said.
The dependence on a third party for action would be counterproductive with what people want to achieve, Galbraith said.
"If a problem is going to be solved, it will be done by a major party," he said.
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