Election Regrets

Kind readers, I hope you will pardon a politically-focused post, which aren't too common around these parts.

Georgia just had runoff elections for several recent primaries, and my biggest regret is that I did not get to vote against Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, from Georgia's 4th Congressional District. Even non-Georgians are probably familiar with McKinney's proclivity for public controversy, from her allegations of government improprieties surrounding 9/11 and the Iraq War to her recent scuffle with U.S. Capitol law enforcement. In the 2004 election, I happily voted against her, albeit to no avail due to the overwhelming blue-ness of my district. Imagine my disappointment, just weeks before the 2006 primary, when I discovered that recent gerrymandering re-districting has moved us into a different Congressional district. So sad.

Thankfully, the citizens of District 4 have had enough of McKinney's shenanigans, and she was defeated in a landslide by challenger Hank Johnson, who will almost certainly win in November. Some have argued that it would have been better to stick with a known incompetent than to elect someone who might actually be effective in implementing an objectionable platform. Perhaps. But McKinney is an embarassment to the state of Georgia, and to the U.S. in general, even in defeat:

Even in her concession speech, she still managed to take swipes at the President, allege voter fraud and media bias, and laud the leadership of Cuba and Venezuela.

The evening of the election, her personal bodyguard got into an altercation with a local news crew.

After the election, her staffers allegedly attributed her loss to "the Jews."

Classy. The irony is, this is the exact sort of behavior that cost her the election in the first place. My only hope is that she is unable to reclaim her seat in the next election cycle, like she did after being ousted in 2002. Only time will tell.

Fun facts I learned about McKinney:
- In Congress, she sponsored a bill to release governments records pertaining to the death of Tupac.
- Her bodyguard (the one involved in the scuffle mentioned above) had a small role in Enter the Dragon.