Lightning Rod Puts Spark in Georgia Race

The most interesting new candidate to watch in Georgia’s congressional race this summer may in fact be an old candidate.

Two years ago, political observers pointed to Rep. Cynthia McKinney’s defeat in the Democratic primary for Georgia’s 4th Congressional District as the signal of a new moderation in Southern politics.

An outspoken liberal, McKinney built a reputation in Washington as a bull with her own portable china shop, particularly when she addressed the Arab-Israeli conflict. That tone seemed to hurt her in 2002, when the five-term incumbent was beaten by another liberal black woman -- a political neophyte and former state court judge, Denise L. Majette, who promised voters, “I won’t embarrass you.”

But with Majette’s recent announcement that she intends to seek the Senate seat of retiring Democrat Zell Miller, McKinney may be able to get her job back.

Her reemergence was met with a range of emotions: Plenty of voters in her district rejoiced, and so did Republican strategists who said her presence would be a tonic to conservative voters across Georgia. Democratic insiders fretted about the ripple effect of McKinney’s return. Her old political allies celebrated, saying her critique of Bush’s foreign policy -- seen as radioactive two years ago -- has proved to be prophetic.

“Any time, you pay a price for being a pioneer,” said state Sen. Ed Harbison, chairman of the state Legislative Black Caucus. In the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, “we were all poised to defend ourselves” and hesitated to criticize the president, he said. “Now, in hindsight, it looks like she was right.”

McKinney was steeped in the activist spirit of Atlanta’s old-line black leadership. The first African American woman to represent Georgia in Congress, she survived a redistricting that turned her district into majority white. Today, it is 53% black.

Accusations of anti-Semitism began to follow her in the mid-1990s, when she defeated Republican John Mitnick. A student of international affairs, she often took aim at American support for Israel, and in 1999, against the advice of the State Department, she sent a staff member to Iraq to report on the effect of U.S. sanctions.

Her most controversial moves came in the supercharged atmosphere after Sept. 11. In October, when former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani rejected a donation of $10 million from a Saudi prince -- which came with a recommendation that the U.S. reexamine its Mideast policy -- McKinney wrote the prince a letter thanking him for the offer, and saying black Americans could use the money.

The following spring, in a radio interview, McKinney suggested that Bush had prior knowledge about the terrorist attacks and could have warned its victims.

Majette went on to win the 2002 primary by 16 percentage points.

In written answers to questions posed by the Los Angeles Times, McKinney said the proceedings of the Sept. 11 commission have borne out the criticisms she raised.

“It took Richard Clarke to tell the American people what we all sadly know now: ‘[Our] government failed [us,]’ ” McKinney wrote. “I look forward to the testimony of Condoleezza Rice to shed some light on some of the answers to the questions I originally posed.”

McKinney rejected claims that she is anti-Semitic, pointing out that she invited former Knesset member and peace activist Uri Avnery to Capitol Hill.

“Working with peace activists is pro-peace, and peace is pro-Israel,” she wrote. “I am now, and always have been, an advocate for human rights.”

She said her campaign would draw attention to the gap in employment, homeownership and quality of life between blacks and whites in America.

McKinney will face several prominent Democrats in the primary, including Atlanta City Council President Cathy Woolard and state Sen. Nadine Thomas. Several other Democrats are still deciding whether to enter the race.

There is not likely to be a candidate more polarizing than McKinney.

One camp of voters is still angry that McKinney lost to Majette in the first place. One analyst said McKinney lost in the 2002 primary because, in a district where the Democratic candidate is almost assured of victory, white Republicans crossed party lines to cast a vote against her. Georgia has open primaries in which voters can choose a ballot from any party.

“The voting rights of those African Americans in that district were harmed, because they very, very clearly made their choice, and it was McKinney,” said David Bositis, a voting rights expert at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a Washington think tank that focuses on race issues.

Another group maintains that McKinney lost touch with a rapidly changing district. Middle-class professionals have poured in from other parts of the country in the last decade, and some say the appeal of McKinney’s combative liberalism had worn thin.

If McKinney is to win back broad support in the 4th District, she needs to tone down her rhetoric, said Billy Linville, a Democratic political consultant who has advised Woolard.

“If Cynthia McKinney will be a little humble, and apologize for some of her remarks and actions, and acknowledge that she may have focused on issues other than the needs of her district, then she could be a competitive player again,” he said.

Interviews around the 4th District revealed an electorate split by race and economics. At the North DeKalb Mall, located amid majority-black neighborhoods just inside Atlanta’s perimeter, shoppers at the discount stores said their loyalty to McKinney had only been heightened by the attacks on her during the last election season.

“I think she was unfairly treated because she spoke up about 9/11,” said Stephanie Brantley, 47, of Stone Mountain, who is black. “You need politicians that would speak their mind.”

Many said McKinney’s fiery demeanor was an asset.

“I don’t think she could tone it down,” said Kathryn Lyons, 40, who is black and a Stone Mountain resident. “I think that’s what people liked about her all along.”

Reactions were different in downtown Decatur, where the streets are lined with outdoor cafes and antique stores. Among a bustling, racially diverse lunchtime crowd of attorneys and government workers, few seemed to invite McKinney’s candidacy.

“She is a radical, racist socialist who does not represent many of her constituents,” said Suzanne Vesper, 35, an attorney from Decatur who is white.

Robert Reed Jr., a 60-year-old white engineer, smiled cheerfully.

“This will be the first time I ever give any money to the Republicans,” he said.

Vernon Jones, chief executive officer of DeKalb County, said constituents valued McKinney because she “clearly did deliver dollars back to her district.”

Several political experts suggested that, in an election season where even mainstream Democrats are lacerating Bush over Iraq, McKinney’s positions may no longer sound so radical.

“We now know there was some misinformation presented in terms of the war in Iraq,” said Democratic consultant Donna Brazile, a senior fellow at the University of Maryland’s Academy of Leadership. “I hate to put her in a box when you have the most radical right-wing Congress in a generation, and you have job loss, and a nation still trying to figure out what happened on Sept. 11.”

Republicans have little chance of winning the 4th District seat. But party strategists are counting on McKinney to act as a liberal lightning rod, mobilizing conservatives throughout the state, said Bo Harmon, a spokesman for the Republican National Congressional Committee.

“The Republicans can point to people like McKinney and say, ‘This is what the Georgia Democratic Party is offering you,’ ” Harmon said.

Times staff reporter Rennie Sloan contributed to this report.