I received this message from Democratic activist MG upon Majette's victory:
With 95% of precincts reporting and 60% of the vote in her favor, I think it is now fair to say that Judge Denise Majette has defeated Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney in today’s Democratic primary in Georgia’s 4th District!!
As most of you know, McKinney has been the single most outspoken detractor of Israel in Congress, and implied that President Bush had prior knowledge of the September 11 terror attacks in the US. Among contributors to her campaign were several people who have been implicated in directing charitable contributions to terrorist organizations. Some of her desperate actions in the waning days of the campaign, such as recycling and phone-blasting old endorsements from people not supporting her in this race, like President Clinton, were without known precedent in US politics.
Majette’s victory is absolutely outstanding news, and following the defeat of Rep. Earl Hilliard by Artur Davis in Alabama earlier this year, this means that two incumbent members of Congress who have taken positions hostile to the interests of the United States and of Israel will not be returning to Washington in January.
Many will attribute this outcome to the strength of the pro-Israel community in the US, and I do think that we should be proud of our efforts on behalf of Davis and Majette. However, it should not be overlooked that neither of these candidates would have succeeded if they were challenging incumbents who had delivered to their constituents during their many years in Congress. No amount of money would persuade voters to betray someone who faithfully represented their interests in Washington.
In the case of Hilliard and McKinney, neither well represented the interests of their districts or improved the life of their constituents during their tenure. But perhaps in the fat and happy years of the late 90’s, people of their districts were content enough that they were able to evade serious challengers. However, given the challenges the nation now faces, and given the new reality after September 11, the voters in Alabama, or Georgia, or anywhere else in America are not going to tolerate representation that apologizes for terror. Hilliard ingratiated himself to Momar Quadaffi. McKinney did so to a Saudi prince who blamed September 11 on US support for Israel. Voters are not going to put up with that anymore. That is the big lesson to draw from these two outcomes. (How unpopular was Cynthia McKinney? Before Majette spent her first dollar on advertisements, her name recognition polled in at 28%, however, she LED McKinney 41%-37%. Yes, at least 13% of the people preferring Majette had never heard of her. So don’t let anyone convince you that anybody bought this race!)
Another lesson, though, worth remembering, is that activism does make a difference. Tonight the US-Israel relationship is more secure than it has been because of the outstanding leadership of Denise Majette and the courageous and valiant work of those who helped her win. ...
Special thanks to the Indepundit for helping spearhead the dump-McKinney campaign on-line. Woo-hoo!
Cynthia's "concession" speech is here.
OpenSecrets has an In-State v. Out-of-State breakdown of contributions to the primary runners. Max Sawicky has some more recent data. And Instapundit readers turned up FEC forms (without an in-state v. out-of-state breakdown) for Majette and McKinney.
Here is a round-up of the coverage:
- "Challenger ends McKinney's run after 10 years" (AP)
- "State investigates misleading election-eve calls in 4th District" (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
- "GOP voters told crossover is illegal" (Washington Times)
- "The night the lights lit up in Georgia" (Howard Owens)
- "Georgia GOP Voters Say They Were Threatened With Jail, Fines" (CNSNews)
- "VICTORY! McKinneys Sent Packin'! Majette Takes Landslide" (Reid Stott)
- "NPR Crapola on the McKinney Defeat" (Matt Welch)
- CNN sees Jews v. Blacks (Jonathan Irom)
- "DENISE MAJETTE WINS!" (War Now)
- "Georgia Twofer" (Ed Kilgore on NRO)
- "Barr, McKinney Lose In Georgia Primaries" (Washington Post)
- "Barr, McKinney defeated in Georgia primary" (UPI)
- "Reps. Barr and McKinney lose in Georgia primaries" (USA Today)
- "Barr, McKinney lose in Georgia primaries" (CNN)
- James Zogby cries anti-Arab racism in media coverage of primary (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
- "Mideast Goes to Georgia" (LA Times)
- "McKinney blames ouster on Republican crossover" (Washington Times)
- "Father of Ousted McKinney Spells Defeat 'J-E-W-S' " (Forward)
- "How Denise Majette beat Cynthia McKinney" (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
- "For Black Politicians, 2 Races Suggest a Rise of New Tactics" (The New York Times)
- "Impact of McKinney Loss Worries Some Democrats: Tension Between Blacks, Jews a Concern" (The Washington Post)
- "District Change Doomed McKinney" (AP)
- "The Safest Depository" (Will Warren)
- "THE JEWS DID IT" (Eugene Volokh)
- "Political Ties Between Blacks and Jews Strained" (LA Times)
- Cynthia McKinney to become Black Muslim (Rod Dreher)
- "For defeated McKinney, 'there is still work to be done'" (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
The MRC slammed network news coverage of Majette's victory (aired the night after):
In reporting the results of the Georgia congressional primaries, Peter Jennings mimicked the anti-Jewish mantra of the most vociferous supporters of incumbent Democratic Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, who lost to challenger Denise Majette. Jennings pointed out that McKinney "was beaten by another Democrat who got large donations from out-of-state supporters of Israel," but he failed to acknowledge that most of McKinney's donations came from Muslims or Arabs outside of the district, some of whom support terrorism or have ties to groups which fund it.
One, the Washington Post reported, once declared: "Let us damn America, let us damn Israel. Let us damn their allies until death."
Jennings also skipped over how McKinney had marginalized herself by claiming that President Bush knew in advance of the September 11th terrorist attacks. Instead of describing her as an Arab supporter, he distorted her affection for the radical Muslim and Palestinian causes by depicting her only as "a vocal critic of President Bush's Middle East policy."
On the August 21 World News Tonight, Jennings read this short item about the Tuesday election results:
"In Georgia, two very different outspoken members of Congress lost their jobs in yesterday's political primaries. Republican Bob Barr was the first Congressman to call for President Clinton's impeachment. And Democrat Cynthia McKinney was a vocal critic of President Bush's Middle East policy. She was beaten by another Democrat who got large donations from out-of-state supporters of Israel."
Over on the CBS Evening News, John Roberts managed to note McKinney's outlandish claim about Bush while not offering fears about the role of supporters of Israel:
"Primary voters in Georgia have muffled two outspoken, high-profile members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Four-term Republican firebrand Bob Barr, a vocal leader in the campaign to impeach President Clinton, lost almost two-to-one to another Republican incumbent, John Linder, in a redrawn district. And five-term Democrat Cynthia McKinney was ousted by a relative political unknown. McKinney created a storm by suggesting President Bush may have known in advance about the September 11th attacks."
The August 21 NBC Nightly News didn't mention the primary results.
UPDATE, Aug. 23: Winner Denise Majette, on CNN's "Inside Politics": "We were able to win because we were able to build a strong coalition of people across the district. And the money that we received from outside of the district just helped us get our message out. But the funding that we received and the support that we received began right there at home." Asked about Johnson's comments, Majette responded, "The people of the Fourth District made the decision on who was able to best represent them in the Democratic Party. And that's the bottom line. ... I intend to have meetings individually with the members of the Black Caucus, as well as other members of Congress, before I get there in January. I'm looking forward to that. And I think I'll be able to reassure them that I will be someone who will be an effective legislator and who will be able to work with the people in Congress to get the job done."
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