Cynthia McKinney

I admit, I find this race absolutely fascinating. McKinney, best known as the Congresswoman from Georgia who slapped a police officer who had the temerity not to recognize her when she tried to bypass the security station at an entrance to a Congressional office building, is in a fight for her political life against Hank Johnson. The papers are abuzz with this race, and here's an example.

McKinney seems to me to be the kind of nutjob that isn't particularly dangerous in Congress (who's going to actually listen to her, really?), but who doesn't by any means belong there. I'm rooting against her not because I know anything about her opponent, but because defeating her will eliminate an ineffective, screeching looney from the halls of Congress. If Hank Johnson does his job and pulls this out next Tuesday, he will be in all reality the Congressman-elect (I gather Republicans don't do too well in this part of Georgia). That's good news for everybody, even if he turns out to be a liberal idealogue. I'd rather have a sane partisan than a crazy nutjob in Congress any day.