Former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney meets local activists and members of the Luzerne County Green Party at a fundraiser.
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WILKES-BARRE – Possibly portending a party switch, former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney said that black voters must reconsider their blanket support for Democratic candidates and preached “principles over party” at a sparsely attended meeting of the Luzerne County Green Party on Tuesday afternoon at the Grapevine Grille.
Arriving somewhat beyond fashionably late after appearing on a local talk radio show, McKinney, flanked by county Green Party co-chairman Carl Romanelli, worked the 20-person crowd. The event was timed oddly to match McKinney’s traveling schedule, Romanelli said.
Several local activists and aspiring Green Party politicians were there, including Ron Felton, president of the Wilkes-Barre Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and U.S. congressional candidate John Murphy.
McKinney, a Georgia Democrat, served in the House of Representatives from 1993 to 2003, and from 2005 to 2007. She lost in the 2006 Democratic primary.
McKinney repeatedly railed against her party, saying Democrats “didn’t even fight for your right to vote and your right to representation” in reference to the disenfranchisement of black voters in the 2000 Florida presidential election.
She suggested that black voters, 90 percent of whom vote Democratic, should consider third parties.
“We have to be willing to do something that we’ve never done before so that we can get some things we’ve never had before,” she said.
Black support would “instantly” create a three-party system, Romanelli said.
“It’s not a white person’s party any more than it’s a man’s party or a woman’s party,” said Murphy, who is challenging U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Lancaster.
He joked that Democrats and Republicans have merged to create the Democratic Republican United National Committee, or DRUNC. “It’s one drunken, corporate party,” he said.
The arguments struck a chord with Felton. “I absolutely do believe that the time is right for a third party because people are frustrated,” he said. “Maybe African-Americans can help the Green Party and other parties to show our discontent … for the parties and the status quo.”
After conquering slavery and segregation, he said, “the next big triumph for us (black American citizens) as a people is to become more politically active.”
“The Democratic Party is where social movements go to die,” Murphy said.
Frustration was also voiced at an inability to control media depictions. The Rev. Kenneth Burnett of Williamsport said they’d likely be portrayed as “a bunch of nuts who got together at a restaurant and talked about revolution.” To prevent such distortion, McKinney publicly addressed a reporter, demanding that the account be “accurately reflective of what happened here.”
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