Is It Better to Beat McKinney or Leave Her in Congress?

The RCP Blog takes on the issue of the upcoming runoff election between Georgia Representative Cynthia McKinney ("I've never met a Capitol policeman I didn't want to slap") and DeKalb County Commissioner Hank Johnson. I've seen Johnson interviewed and he seems like a pretty straightforward, serious guy. The polar opposite of McKinney. RCP seems to think that Johnson has a pretty good opportunity to remove McKinney yet again from Congress, and I would agree. As I've stated previously, I think McKinney is probably behind right now and will have some work to do to catch up.

I must admit that as a conservative Republican I have mixed feelings about this race. The Republican candidate doesn't have a chance, so one of these two Democrats will win the seat. On one hand McKinney is clearly nuts and the nuts lobby is already overrepresented in Congress. The Dem side is full of them and the country would be better off if Ms. McKinney was kept out of Washington.

However, from a purely political standpoint, I'd almost like to see her reelected. Having her running around the Capitol and making incoherant pronouncements is a gift from God for Republicans. Pointing at her and reminding voters that she's a Democrat is probably worth more than a few points in certain elections.

I suppose there's a tiny chance that if she won the runoff she could be crazy enough to drive voters in her district to elect the Republican candidate. Not likely, but there's still plenty of time for McKinney to develop new conspiracy theories. If you saw the film from election night she was boogeying the night away with Cindy Sheehan, and that can't help among serious voters.

This is one of those situation in which the country could win regardless of who comes out on top.