14 responses so far ↓

• 1 ea // Aug 25, 2008 at 8:40 am

  My understanding was that McKinney/Clemente would NOT participate in Recreate 68.

• 2 Tim Oliveira // Aug 25, 2008 at 10:00 am

  Where did you get that idea?

• 3 Dave Chandler // Aug 25, 2008 at 6:29 pm

  Take a look at the t-shirt Spagnolo (the guy at the beginning of the video) is wearing: “Defend Denver” with a picture of an AK-47.

  Recreate ‘68 talks non-violence but suggests violence.

  McKinney and Clemente should not have been there. There aren’t any leading activists in the Colorado Green Party supporting McKinney anymore.

• 4 Robb Black // Aug 25, 2008 at 8:39 pm

  OMG! Not a tshirt with an AK47! The sky is falling the sky is falling! Seriously. SERIOUSLY! How about this…perhaps the CO Green Party needs to leave the GPUS and start their own lame-o party where you all can wear t-shirts with pictures of unicorns and lollips on them.

• 5 Not Amused // Aug 25, 2008 at 8:52 pm

  Chandler, if you are that easily offended/unnerved then you need to find a monastery to live in. It was a shirt, get over it.

• 6 breaks5 // Aug 26, 2008 at 2:07 pm

  Based on what’s happened so far in Denver with the protest movement, I’m wondering what all the chicken little concern is about anyway. Thus far, they seem to be doing pretty good work, they just lack the numbers to be effective. That’s a shame, to put it mildly.

• 7 joell // Aug 26, 2008 at 3:23 pm

  Dave Chandler

  “There aren’t any leading activists in the Colorado Green Party supporting McKinney anymore.”

  the major problem with the Co GP’s “leading activists” is a myopic top-down decision making mentality.

• 8 Antonio D'Lallo // Sep 3, 2008 at 12:32 am

  Dave Chandler is correct! Even before the Green Party national convention, state of Colorado Greens were uncommitted to a presidential candidate. Leading Green Party activists in the Metro Denver area (Arapahoe, Denver, Adams, and Jefferson counties) are not supporting McKinney/Clemente. I am the Adams-Jefferson County Chapter chair and I can tell you flat out that our leadership won’t support McKinney’s campaign. Some of us have chosen to stand aside on this issue, while others adamantly oppose her running for the presidency. There are a few Greens that will vote for her here in Colorado. It depends on the chapter and the individuals you ask here. Not all of Colorado sides with Metro Denver Greens that’s for sure, but they aren’t actively promoting her campaign either or it would have been plastered on our state website and discuss list. The leadership in our area are those persons most active in VRD’s, tabling events and committed to growing the Green Party in Colorado. After the presidential campaign is over and all this stuff dies down, we’ll get back to the business of serving our metro constituents. People would do well to remember that those who oppose McKinney in Colorado are not going away after the campaign and will continue to volunteer their time toward the party’s growth and well-being, so try not to be too viscious and mean-spirited with your words because you may meet us face to face someday.

• 9 Dave S // Sep 3, 2008 at 11:21 am

  Antonio,
  Why are so many Colorado Greens not supporting, or even opposing, McKinney’s run for president? When so many Greens around the country are working hard to get McKinney a shot at 5%, that sort of behavior indicates a lack of concern in CO for growing the national party, which doesn’t jive with the impression I got of the CO Green party at the convention. I’m not trying to be mean-spirited, just trying to understand

• 10 Ronald Hardy // Sep 3, 2008 at 1:56 pm

  Yes, lets try to understand each other rather than belittle or attack each other.

• 11 Lou Novak // Sep 3, 2008 at 6:42 pm

  I’m trying to understand why the Colorado Greens aren’t supporting the GPUS nominee. There just doesn’t seem to be enough there to warrant their abandonment of the McKinney/Clemente ticket.

  The campaign didn’t return their email? The candidates participated in events without the permission of the local?

  I’ve read the emails/blog posts, watched the videos and I’m wondering if there isn’t something else going on here.

• 12 Antonio D'Lallo // Sep 5, 2008 at 2:41 pm

  Dave S and Lou,

  Your impressions from the convention were probably correct. I did not attend but I did hear about the enthusiasm for McKinney/Clemente from those who attended. I can very much appreciate the hard work that Greens are doing for the McKinney campaign because we worked very hard to register voters, print up material, fundraise, prepare venues for McKinney to speak, housing, etc…We, too, worked hard for McKinney. We had hoped that McKinney would help us campaign for Colorado Greens running for office in addition to promoting Green Party’s 10 Key Values during the DNC. However, there were problems with McKinney from the outset here that many people did not hear about. Many Greens were uncommitted from the start or just plainly did not feel comfortable endorsing a candidate that was once a Democrat, had an issue with some of our key values, or was an unknown. McKinney/Clemente’s hip hop movement/campaign presented problems with our gay-lesbian-bisexual-transgender community as hip hop and rap in general tends to be homophobic, heterosexist, and sexist. There were many other issues to numerous to list about McKinney here but know that it took much work to convince some Colorado Greens to support her campaign here only to have her ignore our requests for her to attend our ARD and Tent State University events as opposed to her attending events with Anarchists bent on violence. So, she is still on the Colorado ballot and she is still being endorsed by some Greens in Colorado, but some of our local chapters are standing aside. Thank you for your inquiry.

• 13 Antonio D'Lallo // Sep 5, 2008 at 4:54 pm

  Lou,

  There isn’t anything else going on except what was explained in the video. The Youtube video of Claire explaining the situation sums it up. Colorado Greens make up a wide variety of political backgrounds and fill the political spectrum. There are some Greens here that support McKinney and others that would never support her in the first place. It depends on who you ask. I certainly don’t speak for the entire state, but can only give a perspective from my local: they don’t like McKinney. Some of the values she stands for and some of her ideas on issues are spot on and agreeable, but you would need to attend our meetings and visit with individual Greens to get a fix on how each person really feels about our national Green campaign. Some of us are concerned about her commitment to non-violence, one of the Green Key Values. Like I said in my previous post, my personal issue because I support and have fought for LGBT rights is the hip-hop/rap movement’s involvement in the campaign. It is a double edged sword for me because it will draw African-American voters that traditionally don’t vote or participate to get involved, that’s a great idea! I hope it is a great thing for the Green Party. On the other edge, hip-hop/rap is notoriously sexist and heterosexist, anti-gay. I cannot support that at all and won’t get involved in the Green National politics if it becomes the standard. If I want anti-gay attitudes and ideas then I can join the Republican Party or the Democratic Party in the Bible Belt/South. This issue about her speaking at R ‘68 will peter out, as will R’68, and our local chapters in Metro Denver will continue our work. Realize this, Metro Denver Greens and many Colorado Greens want to work toward growing the Green Party and furthering our values, platform, and principles in our state. We’ve invested so much time and effort to growing our numbers, planning events, and participating in civic activities. Thank you for your question and ideas.

• 14 Ronald Hardy // Sep 5, 2008 at 11:29 pm

  The LBGTQ Greens in Wisconsin are behind McKinney Clemente.

  The Lavender Caucus voted for McKinney Clemente at the Chicago Convention.

  There seems to be a disconnect about “Hip Hop” and commercialized (c)rap. Rosa Clemente has spoken out EXTENSIVELY against the misogynism in rap music and that is EXACTLY what the hip hop political movement is all about. The hip hop movement speaks out strongly against demeaning women and instead *empowers* women. Rosa has spoken extensively about that as well. The hip hop movement is NOT the same as the commercial junk out there that refers to women as ho’s or the junk that promotes violence. They are very very very different.

  While the best Obama can state toward LGBTQ issues is that same-sex partners should be able to visit each other in the hospital, Cynthia McKinney supports same sex MARRIAGE.

  How can this be a problem for the LBGTQ community in Colorado?

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