Green Party: Disappointing news for fans of Cynthia McKinney

Rumors had been flowing for a while that Cynthia McKinney, the former controversial and left-wing congresswoman from Georgia who lost her party's primary in 2006, was considering a run for President in 2008 on the Green Party ticket. McKinney had multiplied appearances this summer. She was a featured speaker at the Green Party Convention in July and recently declared that her parachute was "neither red nor blue." Expressing disappointment at the Democratic party, she endorsed Shaheen primary challenge to Pelosi.

Alas, we shall not see more of McKinney on the presidential trail. She announced on her blog yesterday that she was withdrawing her name from consideration, though she pledges to actively help Green party candidates around the country:

After careful consideration about the political conditions facing our nation, the level of development within the Party, my own readiness to take on such a daunting task and my own long postponed personal priorities, I write to inform the Party that I must at this time withdraw my name from consideration for the Party's 2008 Presidential Nominating contest. I remain committed to our collective work of transforming our nation and to mobilizing peace loving Americans, justice seeking activists and others disfranchised by the powers which currently control our nation toward that end.

Though most third party discussion in 2000 and 2004 came from the Left and Ralph Nader's candidacy, the biggest 2008 speculation has surrounded Bloomberg's potential entrance in the race (though it would be nice if we stopped talking about it at this point, given the number of times he has denied it) and the possibility of a conservative candidate emerging from the Christian Right if Giuliani emerges as the GOP nominee. If this split were to come true, it would balance out the spoiler effect the Green Party has been accused of playing. It could perhaps give some voters (at least in non-swing states) less reservations about voting Green, which would be a very welcome development.