Cynthia McKinney to Debate Hank Johnson

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Cynthia McKinney has agreed to participate in a debate with Hank Johnson for the Fourth District Congressional Democratic Run-off Election that is scheduled for August 8, 2006.

The article states, "We’ve gotten word from the Atlanta Press Club that all candidates in the statewide, televised run-off debates the group will host on GPTV have confirmed their attendance.

For those still suffering from Election Night hangovers, the key word in the above sentence is “all.” As in, even Cynthia McKinney. She missed a couple in the primary, but apparently has re-prioritized."

plez sez: My, my, my! What a difference a poor showing in the Primary Election and an erosion of your political base will do to you. Just two weeks ago, Ms. McKinney was too confident that she would win the primary election outright, so she blew off all political debates and forums that included her two primary challengers. But when it was clear that there is so much Anti-McKinney Sentiment in the Fourth Congressional District, Ms. McKinney knows that she is in a fight for her political life.

She limped back into Congress when her last serious contender (Denise Majette, who beat her handily in the 2002 Primary Election) decided to run for the U.S. Senate. If she looses her grip on the Fourth again, she may as well move to Clayton County where those voters may be more inclined to warm to her particular brand of "loud-mouth-do-nothing" representation that has marred her 12 years of Washington, D.C. occupation.

I'm not that concerned about the outcome of the debate on Monday, July 31st: Cynthia McKinney will undoubtedly look like a buffoon who needs to start packing her assortment of hot combs that currently sit in her in Washington, D.c. office, and Hank Johnson will come off as a cool and staid, yet competent, alternative to the McKinney Sideshow we've been unfortunate to witness for the past 12 years. My only hope is that the voters return to the polls on August 8th and send a clear message that Ms. McKinney's brand of politics (and behavior) is deemed unacceptable by the constituents of Georgia's Fourth Congressional District.

BLOG UPDATE (July 31, 2006): The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that a new poll shows Hank Johnson with a 2-to-1 lead over incumbent Cynthia McKinney in the Democratic run-off for the 4th District Congressional race.