At a June 12 gathering in Chicago, the U.S. Green Party chose former Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney as its 2008 presidential candidate. Party members also picked Rosa Clemente, a New York City community activist and hip-hop artist, as their vice presidential candidate.
“This campaign is the opportunity the Hip-Hop generation has been working for. This is our time to address the issues affecting our communities — rising unemployment, the high cost of food and housing, a lack of quality public education and access to higher education, the prison-industrial complex, and unaccountable corporate media. These issues are not being addressed by either the Republican or Democratic nominee.”
Clemente, 36, is a native of The Bronx, New York, and a graduate of the University of Albany and Cornell University.
Florida Democrats Gain
Democratic hopefuls in several congressional races in Florida have for the second quarter in a row raised more money than their Republican incumbent foes.
The Miami Herald reports former Hialeah mayor Raúl Martínez took in $603,318 in the last three months. Rival Rep. Lincoln Díaz-Balart raised $481,558.
Joe García raised $531,049 vs. $392,103 for Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart. Both challengers do, however, trail in cash-on-hand.
Analysts have moved the races from “safe Republican” to “lean Republican.”
Patti: Hillary ‘Still a Friend’
Former Clinton campaign manager Patti Solís Doyle, now with the Obama campaign, told the Associated Press July 16 that she doesn’t believe her longtime friendship with Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) is damaged.
Solís Doyle recently joined the Obama team as chief of staff to his eventual running mate.
She had been replaced by Clinton after poor showings in several states. “I understand the deep emotion and passion, absolutely. She’s my friend and I threw everything into her campaign that I could possibly throw into it,”
Solís Doyle said in her office at Obama’s Chicago headquarters. “But as heartbreaking as it was, she lost. And now it’s time, for the good of our country and for the good of my kids, to move on and get Barack Obama elected.”
