Stealth Candidacy

For Cynthia McKinney.

"She's got integrity," Churchill says.

In the hallway, the local Green Party boss is waiting, hoping for an audience with McKinney.

"Cynthia's candidacy has brought some real vibrancy and energy to the party," says Thano Paris, a 20-something dishwasher and co-chairman of the Green Party in DeKalb County, which McKinney represented in Congress.

Paris, in his beret and army surplus jacket, reveals that his chapter more than doubled since McKinney joined the ticket -- from four or five members to 10 or 12. The chapter has $10 in the bank; Paris and pals spent $300 of their own money to promote McKinney's appearance. They couldn't reach her to confirm, so they sent an e-mail to the campaign Web site and hoped for the best.

The site, where McKinney's campaign seems most alive, carries Roseanne Barr's picture and endorsement: "Since I will vote for a woman before I will vote for a man any day . . . I am going to vote for Cynthia McKinney." On Roseanne's blog, an entry says, "Vote Cynthia McKinney -- Green Party," and runs through her policy positions: Supports gay adoptions. "End the death penalty; it's based on race & class." Legalize medical marijuana and needle exchanges. Declare the United State carbon-free and nuclear-free.

Though the Green Party is generally associated with environmental issues, McKinney has tried for a broader appeal, often citing the party's "four pillars: ecological wisdom, social justice, grass-roots democracy and nonviolence." She accepted the nomination in July after a curious primary season in which she competed against consumer advocate Ralph Nader, who had not officially announced his intentions and eventually decided to run as an independent. Nader got more than 2.8 million votes -- 2.7 percent -- as the Green Party candidate in 2000 when some thought his presence on the ballot cost Vice President Al Gore the election. In 2004, the Green candidate, activist David Cobb, garnered just under 120,000 votes, or one-tenth of 1 percent.

McKinney moved to California after losing her seat in Congress. She hopes to pursue a doctorate at the University of California at Berkeley, focusing on COINTELPRO, an FBI operation that spied on Black Panthers and civil rights-era leaders between 1956 and 1971. McKinney believes it still exists.

Now she's back home in Georgia, addressing the crowd in the library auditorium.

There is a stray Barack Obama T-shirt or two. When Obama is mentioned, McKinney's father, Billy McKinney, calls out from 10 rows back: "How many black people have you seen in his campaign?"

One of Cynthia McKinney's fellow panelists says Obama, indeed, has black staffers.

Bill McKinney calls out again: "I haven't seen anyone."