Posted by Lilly from ? (160.129.27.22) on Wednesday, August 21, 2002 at 5:14PM :
Those 2 had spine & were wonderful representatives! All of these articles are about McKinney. The 2nd article is a series of excerpts taken from an article written yesterday - I cut out the parts that don't have to do w/ McKinney from that article.
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AUGUST 14, 2002 11:43 AM
Nader Praises McKinney's Support of Consumers
WASHINGTON - August 14 - Ralph Nader today praised Representative Cynthia McKinney of Georgia's 4th District, as one of the House of Representatives' strongest champions of consumers and workers.
"Representative McKinney has the courage to stand up against corporate and other special interests on legislation that really counts for low, moderate and middle income people in her district," Nader said. "In fact, her record of battling for the consumer and working people has earned her plaudits from public interest groups across the nation."
Nader pointed to the voting record compiled by Public Citizen which gives Representative McKinney a perfect 100 percent record on votes involving campaign finance reform, trade, Medicare, patients' bill of rights, workplace safety, energy and economic stimulus among other issues important to consumers.
Nader said he was particularly pleased to point to Representative McKinney's fight against efforts by banks, credit card companies, finance companies, automobile dealers, predatory lenders and gambling casinos to eliminate key protections for consumers who file for bankruptcy because of loss of jobs, large medical bills and other unforeseen economic hardships.
"The lending industry has poured millions of dollars into lobbying campaigns which would convert bankruptcy laws into a harsh punitive system that would push debt-stricken consumers into a virtual debtors' prison," Nader said. "To her great credit, Representative McKinney has been willing to defend consumers while many of her colleagues have caved to the pressure from the nation's largest financial institutions."
Nader said Representative McKinney's independent stands and willingness "to do the right thing", even in the face of sometimes heavy pressure from her colleagues and special interests, gives Georgia's 4th District a particularly strong voice in the House of Representatives.
"When Representative McKinney takes a strong pro-people stand, everyone knows that it is her considered judgment-not that of a lobbyist or a special interest poised to write a campaign check. Georgia's 4th District and the nation benefit from that independence," Nader said
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washingtonpost.com
Barr Loses to Fellow GOP Linder
By Dick Pettys
Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, August 20, 2002; 10:59 PM
ATLANTA –– Another Georgia firebrand, Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney, trailed her primary challenger....
McKinney fell behind Denise Majette, a Yale-educated former judge who tried to capitalize on criticism of the incumbent's outspoken views on the Middle East and the war on terrorism.
With 45 percent of precincts reporting, Majette had 31,006 votes, or 66 percent, and McKinney had 16,153 votes, or 34 percent....
On a busy primary day, the races involving Barr and McKinney grabbed the most attention. Like Linder, the winner of the McKinney-Majette battle is expected to be elected this fall....
The real fireworks were in the 4th District, where McKinney surprised even fellow Democrats by suggesting the Bush administration had ignored warnings about Sept. 11 and the president's big business allies have benefited from the war on terrorism.
McKinney, a single mother and former college professor first elected to Congress in 1992, also said she would have accepted a Saudi prince's $10 million check for Sept. 11 victims. The check was rejected by New York officials after the prince suggested U.S. policies toward the Mideast were partly to blame for the attacks.
Middle East politics played an unlikely role in the race. McKinney drew campaign financing from out of state, including money from pro-Arab groups, while Jewish groups helped fund Majette's campaign.
The race echoed the Alabama primary this year that cost Democratic Rep. Earl Hilliard his job. Hilliard received support from Arab groups after supporting a Palestinian state, while his young opponent had the backing of pro-Israel groups.
The 47-year-old McKinney and the 46-year-old Majette are both black and the incumbent had expected to draw most of the black vote. But Majette attracted support from Republicans, who are allowed to vote in the Democratic race under the state's open primary.
© 2002 The Associated Press
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ELECTION 2002 PRIMARY: 4TH DISTRICT
Outspoken Democrat McKinney outsted after 10 years in Congress
August 21, 2002
By JIM GALLOWAY
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer
A swarm of Republicans from north DeKalb County and indifference from Democrats in south DeKalb put an end Tuesday to the 10-year congressional career of Cynthia McKinney.
Challenger Denise Majette was the upstart winner in the Democratic primary for the 4th Congressional District.
Late Tuesday night, the diminutive former State Court judge shed the conservative blue suit she'd worn to nearly every campaign stop in the last 199 days and appeared before cheering supporters in a bright red dress. "I may be only 5-foot-1," she said, "but I'm 10 feet tall tonight. It was definitely worth the trip."
McKinney conceded at 12:45 a.m. Wednesday. "It looks like the Republicans wanted to beat me more than the Democrats wanted to keep me," the outspoken congresswoman said.
The intensity of the contest, which played on racial issues as well as international relations, showed in the turnout. State and county election officials said about 45 percent of the district's registered voters turned out -- the highest for any major race in the state.
McKinney herself had fueled much of that passion with comments this spring implying that President Bush had evidence the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were about to occur -- but didn't act because his friends stood to gain financially.
The five-term congresswoman's support of the Palestinian cause also fueled anger in the district.
On Monday, state Rep. Billy McKinney (D-Atlanta) dismissed Majette's candidacy and spelled out the reason for his daughter's tough fight: "J-E-W-S," he said on television.
The elder McKinney was forced into a runoff with John Noel in his fight for re-election to the Georgia Legislature.
Cynthia McKinney had the endorsement of much -- but not all -- of Atlanta's black establishment. Civil rights leader Joe Lowery, state Rep. Tyrone Brooks and Martin Luther King III rode in the bed of a dump truck, trying to rally last-minute voters. At 7 p.m., they were at Stoneview Elementary School near the Rockdale County line, where only 179 of 1,056 registered voters cast ballots.
Not among the civil rights leaders was former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young. McKinney had claimed his endorsement but Young disavowed it, saying it was for a previous election -- not this one. Brooks let a reporter listen to an answering machine message McKinney left for him.
"I'm disappointed by your brother Andrew Young, who has left me hanging out there," she said.
State and federal monitors watched 4th District polling places, and the secretary of state's office said it would investigate a series of recorded phone calls made throughout the district, apparently intended to dampen crossover voting.
Linda Latimore -- supervisor of elections for DeKalb County -- said that her staff were called to polling place after polling place, shooing away campaign workers who got too close to voters. "It's all over the place. It's rough, it's rough," Latimore said. Most of the complaints involved overly enthusiastic McKinney workers, according to Latimore.
But amid undisputable evidence that Republicans in north DeKalb were turning out in unprecedented fashion, there were also signs throughout the day that McKinney's much-vaunted support in south DeKalb was lagging.
"It's heavy, but it's not typical," said Dean Willis, poll manager at the Flakes Mill Road precinct in Ellenwood, of the turnout.
Even before the evening was done, Brooks, McKinney's campaign manager, conceded that a message had been sent -- and received. "We believe we've got to represent all the county. We've tried very hard. Perhaps we should try harder," he said.
McKinney supporters gathered to await the finish in the heat of an outdoor tent across the street from South DeKalb Mall. A three-person band from Washington entertained, but the order was disturbed somewhat when a crew of about 200 homeless workers hired for the day thought they might be turned away without their pay.
One of them, a middle-aged man named Adrian Jones, said he spent the day waving a sign, chanting and handing out leaflets to voters. "We were just campaigning. I'm not sure what the pay was. We were told $70 to $100. I did my part of the bargain. I want my money."
They were quickly shunted to the side by campaign workers and reassured that their money would soon be there.
Much of the passion in the race was among Republicans in north DeKalb, who cared enough to grab Democratic ballots and spurn their own party's races.
At Clairmont Hills Baptist Church in north DeKalb, Republicans generally outnumber Democratic voters. But Tuesday, 14 out of 15 voters were taking Democratic ballots.
"I switched over today for one person to beat another. I just don't like her at all. I want to give this other lady a chance," said Mary Floyd. She wouldn't utter McKinney's name.
Bill Dillon, 67, of Chamblee described himself as a "50-year Republican." But he voted a Democratic ballot. "If I could vote a thousand times against [McKinney], I would," he said. "I don't dislike her, she's probably a very nice person, but I hate her politics. I'm willing to do everything in my power to keep her from being elected."
Eileen Lichtenfeld, 47, of Dunwoody said she'd voted for McKinney in the past but switched this year. "Majette seems very qualified and much more mainstream," she said. "Over the past couple of years, McKinney's taken some extreme positions. I happen to be Jewish, so her endorsement by Louis Farrakhan doesn't help."
At Majette's victory party at the Holiday Inn in Decatur, few if any Republican heavyweights attended. But among Republicans attending the celebration was Mark Davis, a data processor. He and a few others put together goodbyecynthia.com, a Web site that helped unite McKinney's Republican and Democratic opposition.
Davis called the Republican crossover "historic."
"We just coordinated what people were doing. This turned into a bipartisan community effort. That really was the spirit going on," Davis said. "Those who were involved in trying to create the crossover quickly learned it was bigger than any of us."
He said his group only raised about $7,000 but was able to put out 30,000 pieces of mail and create a phone tree to reach 15,000 to 20,000 voters.
-- Lilly
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