Many people are taking steps these days to “go green.”

Cynthia McKinney is hoping more people choose to go green when they go to the polls to vote for president in November.

McKinney was selected by the Green Party to represent them on this year’s presidential ballot.

She and her running mate, Rosa Clemente, will represent the Green Party in its mission to clinch the presidency.

McKinney told The Daily that the decision to run an all-female, minority ticket is not as much related to the recent Democratic primaries, but more so to the true nature of the Green Party.

“The Green Party has always stood for gender equity, the Green Party has always stood for racial equality, and so people, particularly members of the corporate press for various reasons of their own have chosen to pigeon hole the Green Party as just a party for people who love nature,” McKinney said. “Well, of course, we love nature. I would hope that everyone loves and appreciates nature, particularly since nature gives life and helps sustain that life.”

McKinney, a former Democrat from Georgia, served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 to 2003 and then again from 2005 until September 2007, when her tenure ended.

She has also been highly outspoken against the Iraq War and in promoting healthcare coverage for all Americans.

Known as a hip-hop activist and a journalist, Rosa Clemente joins McKinney on the Green Party’s 2008 presidential ticket. Clemente has been active in supporting the independence of Puerto Rico, the welfare of political prisoners and speaking out for racial equality.

Not only is the Green Party’s ticket this year unique in that both candidates are female, but both are also women of color. McKinney is African-American and Clemente’s heritage is African-American and Puerto Rican.

K.C.M. Curry, McKinney’s campaign manager. said the Green Party is running an all-female ticket in honor of Virginia Woodhull’s presidential candidacy in 1872 in which she selected Frederick Douglass as her running mate.

“We are proud to run an all-female ticket and hope that change will continue to occur as Virginia Woodhull worked for change over 100 years ago,” Curry said.

Woodhull is credited with being the first woman to run for president. However, her campaign was declared illegitimate and her name was not added to the ballot because she was a few months shy of 35 — the age set by the Constitution as the mandatory minimum for presidents.

McKinney said the recent success of women in politics shows a growing acceptance of women in the male-dominated political ring.

“Women candidates and women successes, particularly the candidacy of Hillary Clinton, show that more Americans are willing to accept a woman or a person of color as the chief executive,” McKinney said.

McKinney said her party has always been one of change and progression, and that stance led to the all-female ticket.

“The Green Party in the United States has taken their progressive stands on racial issues, gender issues, and value issues in support of people of color and in support of women,” McKinney said. “So, it’s a natural outflowing of the Green Party’s stated values that they would eventually have a ticket that was comprised of women of color, people of color. The more women run, the more women will win.

McKinney said her goal is to take at least 5 percent of the vote during the presidential elections in November.

She said her hope is that by taking the largest margin of victory the Green Party has ever taken at the federal level. will begin to add further legitimacy to the party’s goals and values.