ATLANTA — Kendra Owens voted for Rep. Cynthia A. McKinney before, and probably will do so again, despite the fact that the Democratic congresswoman last week struck a Capitol Police officer after being stopped at a security checkpoint.
"Her apology was fine," Owens said from the food court of the South DeKalb Mall, just east of Atlanta. "The media needs to put it to rest."
A few tables over, plumber Marvaine Butts said McKinney was probably right to believe she had been singled out by the officer because of her race. "I understand where she's coming from as far as the racial profiling," Butts said. "I get plenty of that." He, like McKinney and Owens, is black.
The incident occurred March 29 in Washington, when McKinney tried to enter a House office building without wearing her identification pin. She failed to stop despite repeated requests to do so by the officer, who is white. He then touched her on the shoulder, and McKinney hit him with her cellphone.
The lawmaker has received little if any support from colleagues of either party, and a federal grand jury is mulling whether to bring criminal charges against her.
In McKinney's suburban Atlanta district, the altercation has created doubts about her fitness for office.
Khalil King, a businessman, said he wasn't sure he would vote for her again. "I just feel like she's overreacting," said King, who is black.
But to many Georgia Democrats, much more is at stake than McKinney's political future.
Support from moderate white voters is seen as crucial to the party's chances of winning upcoming statewide contests, and there is a fear that McKinney's conflict will cast a negative light on the Democratic Party.
"Her behavior puts a lot of Democrats on the defensive," said political scientist Merle Black of Emory University in Atlanta. "But she becomes very difficult for a lot of white Democrats to criticize in public, because they're concerned they might lose African American support."
McKinney's 4th Congressional District covers much of DeKalb County, the second most populous in Georgia. The county -- which is more than 50% black, according to 2000 census figures -- is considered a treasure trove of reliable Democratic voters.
The McKinney scuffle has become an issue in the gubernatorial race, in which Republican incumbent Sonny Perdue is likely to face off against either Secretary of State Cathy Cox or Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor.
