I noted earlier this week that blogger Will Hinton was contemplating challenging Cynthia McKinney. He’s now reporting rumors that Denise Majette, who unseated McKinney in 2002, would challenge her again. Since Majette recently announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the state Superintendent of Schools, I’m not sure.
Majette could conceivably win that statewide race (unlike the one she jumped to when McKinney made noises about reclaiming her old seat in 2004), but it would have to be a good year for Democrats, which I don’t think 2006 will be in Georgia. On the other hand, the fact that she’s interested in running for something suggests that she hasn’t gotten politics out of her system. She also has presumably begun to raise money and put together a campaign organization, all of which could be redeployed relatively rapidly in a primary race against McKinney. While the Anybody But Cynthia people would presumably relish the prospect of such an ostensibly credible challenger, I think that this is one case in which McKinney might actually have the upper hand. Majette has "abandoned" the district once before, leaving behind some bitterly disappointed supporters. Her ambition--er, I mean, dedication to public service--can be said to be inconstant, whereas McKinney’s is constant.
I dunno. Majette and McKinney have reasonably similar voting records (though Majette is not reflexively anti-israel, as McKinney is). If I lived in the district, I’d be part of the ABC crowd. Indeed, when CM was my Congresswoman, I was part of the ABC crowd, voting twice for Majette. (Yes, I have voted for Democrats in the past, even when there was a Republican challenger.) But since the district lines were redrawn, I’m no longer stuck with McKinney, which sorely tempts me to want to see her continue to serve, albeit ineffectively, so that she continues to be an albatross around the necks of the Democrats. But in the end, I wouldn’t wish her on my friends and colleagues who live in the District, and I think that her polarizing presence isn’t good for politics, even if it is good for Republicans.
Update: See Steve Hayward’s comment below. On Georgia’s campaign finance laws, see here. For Majette’s current election filing status, see here.
If I were in Georgia I’d vote for her; it is for the greater good. Everytime she opens her mouth there are a few more votes for Republicans. I wish Dennis Kucinich would punch someone and get the same amount of face time McKinney is getting. Between the two of them, the Republicans would hold on to the house for a hundred years.
Joe:
One little technical note: Majette probably can’t re-deploy the money she has raised for the state education post to a congressional seat, as the former is a state office while the latter is a federal office, for which you have to abide by all the federal contribution laws. Technically she’d have to offer to "refund" all the contributions and have each donor re-designate their contributions for the House seat (and only within the federal $2,000 limit), which would be very cumbersome. Just another of the virtues of campaign finance deform. . . er, I mean, "reform."
Another point about McKinney:
It is bad for her to continue in office, because removal from office, by the voters or by legal means, is
punishment. When justice is not served, it weakens our system.
In addition, when people like McKinney are not punished, it is obvious to all that they are getting away with their insanity. And that emboldens the bad guys and demoralizes the good guys.