Cynthia McKinney is running for president

As many have speculated, and some have anticipated, six term congresswoman Cynthia McKinney is indeed running for president.  While she has not made a formal announcement, she has been making appearances with Green Party candidates across the country in recent weeks (in Illinois, Texas, South Carolina, Californaia, Pennsylvania, and of course the state she used to represent in congress, Georgia).  

Her language in recent speeches has gone from speculating on running to much more definitive of late.  Taking questions after a fundraiser in South Austin, Texas on Thursday:

People should leave "behind the constraints inherent in the current political paradigm that forces you to accept torture and war," said Cynthia McKinney, presidential candidate for the Green Party and former Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

"When one million black people did not get their votes counted, then who's the spoiler? This is exactly what happened to these Florida voters in the 2000 election," McKinney said.

and in answers to Q & A after her keynote speech to Baruch College on Nov 28

"She didn’t mention it in her talk, but the Honorable Cynthia McKinney has agreed to be the candidate for the presidency of the United States on the Green Party ticket," Dr. Donald H. Smith broke the news at the end of the former congresswoman’s speech.

"The Green Party has always supported my candidacy, even when I was in the Georgia legislature," she said. "Members of the Green Party were supportive of my efforts then, when nobody thought that I could run and win. Members of the Green Party were a part of the volunteers that put me into the state legislature, and when I ran for Congress over the years, members of the Green Party would come to Georgia and volunteer in the campaign.
"They [the Green Party] first asked me in 2000 and again in 2004 to become a part of their national drive. With the Democratic Party having left so many of its base supporters behind, the appeal of the Green Party was one that I could hear," explained McKinney.

Meanwhile, she's picked up endorsements and support in recent days from Illinois 2006 Gubenatorial Candidate Rich Whitney. and Congressional candidate Cindy Sheehan.  She's also apparently making a couple of appearances in Iowa today.

It's obvious now that whether or not Nader decides to run, the Green Party will have a prominent, viable candidate for president in 2008.  How succesful that campaign will be may very well be determined by who wins the democratic nomination.

It'll be interesting to see what Kucinich does.  In 2004 he hung on the the bitter end, collecting a few delegates he hoped to parlay into some position at the convention, which didn't work at all.  Kucinich and McKinney are more or less idealogical twins, opposition to the War and the Patriot Act, and support for impeachment being among the many issues upon which they agree.  They have also made many appearances together (most recently at the School of the America's protest last month in Georgia).

2008 just got a little more...interesting.  If Bloomberg and Ron Paul jump in over the next few months, it'll be the most interesting campaign in a long, long time.