PSL congratulates Cynthia McKinney, Cindy Sheehan
Saturday, August 23, 2008
By: Natasha Persaud
Women candidates take struggle to the electoral battlefield
The Party for Socialism and Liberation, itself fighting to obtain ballot status for presidential candidate Gloria La Riva in a number of U.S. states, salutes Cindy Sheehan and Cynthia McKinney for their successful efforts at securing ballot access for their candidacies.
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Cindy Sheehan
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Cynthia McKinney, a former Democratic congresswoman from Georgia, accepted the Green Party’s presidential nomination at their Party Convention in Chicago in July. The Green Party is on the ballot in 22 states and is currently working on obtaining ballot status in many more.
On Aug. 8, Cindy Sheehan officially announced that she had guaranteed her spot on the November ballot. The announcement followed the collection and validation of thousands of signatures required to gain access as an independent candidate in San Francisco’s 8th Congressional District. Sheehan is running against Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
Sheehan and McKinney are running campaigns with strong anti-war, anti-imperialist orientations. Getting on the ballot is quite a feat for any independent candidate and an even greater feat for progressives. But in the male-dominated, capitalist-controlled realm of electoral politics, the achievement of these women is a testament to their perseverance and strength.
In 2005, Sheehan first gained prominence in the anti-war movement following the death of her son Casey—killed in the early months of the Iraq War—when she set up camp near Bush’s residence in Crawford, Texas, to challenge the war. She became a catalyst to the movement. On Sept. 24, 350,000 people marched in Washington, D.C., in what was a brief resurgence of mass anti-war activity.
Cynthia McKinney |
The aftermath of the 2006 Congressional elections proved decisively that the Democrats would not end the war. Since that time, Sheehan has been a major voice for a layer of anti-war activists who are sickened by the warmongering of Republicans and Democrats and who seek a progressive alternative.
During her time in the U.S. Congress, McKinney became known for upholding highly principled positions and being supportive of a variety of different progressive causes. She has become well-known for her activism around Hurricane Katrina, her consistent stance and activism against the war, her support of the Palestinian struggle and bringing attention to the plight of political prisoners. She has overcome tremendous obstacles, not only as a woman but also as a person of color.
These are noteworthy developments for the people’s movement. Sheehan and McKinney bring much-needed progressive voices into the electoral discourse. Their ability to gather support for their candidacies indicates that growing sectors of the population are rejecting the two-party framework that has yielded only war and death. Their leadership can advance the development of a politically independent mass movement capable of challenging imperialism.
Gloria La Riva, the Party for Socialism and Liberation’s presidential candidate, is proud to join these progressive women by bringing a socialist voice to the electoral arena. The La Riva/Puryear campaign is already on the ballot in eight states with more to come. The PSL’s La Riva/Puryear campaign stands side by side with McKinney and her running mate Rosa Clemente in challenging the two-party system
The PSL welcomes McKinney’s and Sheehan’s candidacies as expressions of the outrage, frustration and desire for radical social change in the United States. Together, these campaigns have the potential to build a stronger base for the people’s progressive movement in the coming period.
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