IVI-IPO Announces Candidate Endorsements
for the February 5, 2008 Primary Election

The only Presidential Primary Endorsement announced by Independent Voters of Illinois, Independent Precinct Organization, was in the Green Party Primary, for Cynthia McKinney.

For the 2008 Primary, they endorsed in the Democrat Primary, five Congressional candidates, six Senate candidates, seven state House candidates as well as thirty-one local and judicial races. For the Republican Primary, they made endorsements in one Congressional race, one state House race, and five local contests. But they declined to endorse in any Presidential Primary including in the one contested by an Illinois native son, except for the Green Party, where they gave the nod to Cynthia McKinney of Georgia,

Since 1944, the IVI–IPO has been dedicated to good government activism and an idealistic vision of open, honest government in Illinois through pragmatic means that confront cynicism and corruption with equal force. The organization's primary tools are voter's registration, voter information and candidate endorsement. IVI-IPO also lobbies on behalf of governmental reforms designed to open the system and better inform the public on the political process. The IVI–IPO is a not-for-profit, multi-partisan, independent political organization. Their endorsements reach hundreds of thousands of voters throughout the greater Chicagoland area. Their work on campaign finance and ethics reform in the past and in the present has gotten high marks from all quarters. Sixty-four years old, and they say, "our commitment to good government is as strong now as it has ever been." The IVI-IPO's mission "is to achieve social justice through good government by increasing voter participation and knowledge, by providing a framework for candidate evaluation, and by electing responsive government officials."

MAPA reviewed the voting and political record of Cynthia McKinney and found her to be most consistent with the principles of MAPA, particularly as that relates to the urgent need for favorable and progressive immigration reform, and for the need to unite Latino and African American workers and communities.

At the closing of the recent Green Party Presidential Debate, Jared Ball announced that his campaign would yield to and support Cynthia McKinney’s bid for the Green Party Presidential Nominee. The “Capital Resistance” component of the “Jared Ball for President” campaign will join the McKinney team and serve as the outreach and presentation arm of the her campaign.Please accept our thanks for your support and encouragement during our campaign - with special thanks to the volunteers and donors who made our work possible. Supporting the Green Party and any Presidential Candidate the party chooses is one basic step that any concerned citizen should take to bring about positive change in our nation today. Our campaign has been about building the Green Party and opening its doors to the true majority in this nation – women, the indigenous, the Hispanics, African-Americans and all poor and working class residents of our country without representation. We hope you will to join us in supporting the McKinney campaign to bring about this reality for the benefit of our communities.

Peace,
Jared Ball for President Campaign

Fortunately, there are several other credible Green Party candidates. The best is Cynthia McKinney, the former Georgia congressional representative, who has switched from the Democratic to the Green Party and is seeking a spot on the top of the ticket. McKinney has her drawbacks, but we'll endorse her.

. . .

McKinney has a lot to offer the Greens. She's an experienced legislator who has won several tough elections and taken on a lot of tough issues. As an African American woman from the South, she can also broaden the party's base. She was a solid progressive in Congress, where she was willing to speak out on issues that many of her colleagues ducked (she was, for example, one of the few members to push for an impeachment resolution).

I've been a registered Green since 1992. I'm proud that we finally have a Green Party candidate/nominee for U.S. President with Cynthia's credentials and experience. We have never had this before! Her experience and credentials are on par with the R's and D's! As a Puerto Rican/Xicano and Teamster, it is also very refreshing that we have a woman of color as our candidate/nominee. We need to use this opportunity to recruit communities of color (African, Latinas/os, Native, Asian-Pacific, Arab/Middle-East) to join the Green Party. Buena suerte, Cynthia!

Angel Torres, Phoenix AZ

Sunday, January 06, 2008
CPSC Official Endorsement for President in 2008: Cynthia McKinney

The Colorado Palestine Solidarity Campaign would like to officially endorse Green candidate Cynthia McKinney for President in 2008. To learn more about Ms. McKinney, please visit her campaign website at: Run Cynthia Run!
Posted by Colorado Palestine Solidarity @ 10:14 AM

http://colorado-palestine-news.blogspot.com/2008/01/cpsc-official-endors...

We thought you'd like to know that we were so impressed with Cynthia's announcement speech on YouTube, that we made a 2008 campaign bumper sticker in her honor. (Our) sites have thousands of Progressive visitors every day, so we're doing our part to spread Cynthia's message of hope. Let's hope we can persuade many of our fellow disillusioned Democrats to cross over and go green for 2008!

I was inspired to donate $500.00 to the Cynthia McKinney campaign after viewing the video and I sent it on to people on my list. Greens and non-Greens. I want to go on record as endorsing Cynthia's campaign and I withdrew my application to be a Nader delegate to the national convention in July. I serve as the Chair of the Green Party of Riverside County in California and have donated to Hugh Esco campaign in the past. I cut and pasted an email from one of my co-workers, non-green, in this message for your perusal.

Excellent speech, she makes many valid points. Sheâs right America does deserve a government as good as it's people and we do need to move towards peace and lose our addiction to oil and solve our many domestic issues. If we take care of these things at home then we are better equipped to be good world citizens as well. Thanks for sharing!

I am delighted to support Ms. McKinney for President. Can you please tell me how I can arrange to receive a sign for my front lawn and a sign for my window at work? Once I hear back from you on these items, I will make a financial contribution to the campaign (the first time I will have donated to a presidential candidate since Jesse Jackson!). Thanks. Jon

Hi my name is John Sexton, originally from North Georgia, now living in Humboldt County, California. You have our full support. Please come and speak to our community!