Green Party Presidential Candidate on Utah's Ballot

Sep 03, 2008 by Elizabeth Ziegler

(KCPW News) This may be the reddest state in the nation, but Cynthia McKinney just made it a little greener. The Green Party presidential candidate came to the Capitol Building this morning to add her name to the Utah ballot. Regardless of her chances of winning the White House seat, she says it's important nonetheless for Green candidates to run.

"We believe in our country, and we believe in the value of participating in the political process," McKinney says. "We participate in politics because we want our values reflected in public policy. And to the extent that we can provide voters choice so that the voters can vote their values, then our system is much stronger, and our country is much stronger."

McKinney left the Democratic Party in 2007 after serving six terms as a Georgia Congresswoman. She says her values were no longer represented in the party, and slams the Democratic majority in Congress for failing to end the Iraq War, pass a livable wage, create a single-payer health care system, and protect the Constitution and Bill of Rights. McKinney says she was drawn to the Green Party because of its key values of grassroots democracy, environmental wisdom, social justice and peace.

McKinney is the first black woman to run for President. And along with her Puerto Rican-American running mate, Rosa Clemente, she says she intends to broaden the party's base.

"Rosa and I can take the Green Party into those places that it's never been before, into those communities that are marginalized, alienated, depressed and oppressed," McKinney says. "And we can offer them an opportunity, a reason, to participate and make our system stronger. And that's what I believe the strength of this ticket is."

Along with an anti-war, social justice and environmental platform, she says she will fight for election integrity. This was also the topic of her documentary, "American Blackout," which won a Sundance Special Jury Prize in 2006.

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