Maine Greens Host Cynthia Mckinney Day After Elections

MAINE GREEN INDEPENDENT PARTY
http://www.mainegreens.org

For Immediate Release

November 15, 2007

Contact:
Jane Meisenbach, Chair, (207) 883-0509, (207) 841-9138 (cell); mainejane@suscom-maine.net
Pat LaMarche, Delegate (207) 671-0190 (cell); patlamarche@hotmail.com

Cynthia McKinney Files to Run for President as a Green

McKinney in Maine raising awareness and funds in the Nation's Green Party stronghold.

Harpswell, Maine - Cynthia McKinney, former six-term Democrat Congresswoman from Georgia and first African-American woman to represent Georgia in the U.S. House, was a guest at a breakfast gathering of mostly Greens at the home of Green Independent Party Chair, Jane Meisenbach. It was one of the first stops on McKinney's campaign tour since filing with the Federal Elections Commission declaring her run for president on the Green Party ticket.

McKinney, who had recently moved to California, changing her party affiliation from Democrat to Green Party, explained to those gathered that with the critical issues facing the country, the values and the platform of the Green Party made the most sense and were most aligned with her own values and platform.

"It is high time that we get down to the work that will make all people feel included in an American society that benefits everyone," said McKinney. "There is so much we can do to significantly reduce poverty, address this country's crumbling infrastructure, create meaningful jobs, provide quality health care for all, mend foreign relations, deal with climate change and re-prioritize dynamics of war and conflict."

"My campaign will draw many women, people of color and disaffected voters from every party into the Green Party," McKinney continued. "I don't care if someone is red, black, white, brown, yellow or polka dot," she exclaimed. "I will work with anyone."

McKinney said she had recently returned from a visit to the Austrian Green Party where they have transformed a city into a model green society with zero global warming. She described several primary issues of her campaign, including creating a greatly expanded job market to repair the infrastructure that is dangerously declining coast to coast, rehabilitating and building new structures with green materials and technology and developing other sustainable technologies. Reducing war budgets and allocating funds to these and other projects would result in a swing upward for America.

Bruce Gagnon, Coordinator of Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, attended the event. Gagnon, not a Green, addressed the gathering and declared that he was switching to the Green Party so he could support McKinney's campaign.

"Cynthia defines winning as helping to build the Green Party into a viable party," said Gagnon. "That gives future generations a place to go for political expression and change. Her ability to attract women, people of color and disaffected Democrats and Republicans will surely provide the Green Party the kind of boost they have long needed," he said. "How many times have I heard activists ask, 'How do we develop connections to the Black community so we can work together?,'" Gagnon asked. "Now is our chance."

McKinney spent election day helping Green candidates in Portland and attended their election night victory celebration. Green, John Anton, won his campaign for Portland City Council, defeating long-time incumbent, Jim Cloutier and coming in first, ahead of another incumbent, Jill Dusan. Anton joins Greens David Marshall and Kevin Donoghue on the City Council.

For more information:

http://www.mainegreens.org

http://www.runcynthiarun.org