John Lewis, member of the Congressional Black Caucus, genuine civil rights hero (who carries a metal plate in his head from a beating), and a moral man, and other members of Congressional Black Caucus are moving away from Cynthia McKinney. According to The Hill:

Rep. John Lewis (D—Ga.), a civil—rights pioneer and the senior member of the Georgia Democratic congressional delegation, told Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D—Ga.) to stop making political hay out of her scuffle a week ago with a U.S. Capitol Police officer.

'I told her she needs to lower the temperature and stop holding the press conferences,' Lewis said, recounting his conversation with McKinney on the House floor yesterday. 'I don't think it had any impact because she is still going on all the TV shows.'

Lewis said other members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) had also told McKinney to back off, adding that she had little support in the group. It held an emergency meeting last night to discuss the issue, a House source said.

Meanwhile, at least two witnesses are appearing before a grand jury, so there may be an indictment coming. The public has not yet seen surveillance camera videotape of the incident. If McKinney looks bad, her goose is cooked. That may explain the distancing underway. The more she claims racial victimization, the more damage she will do to the cause, under this scenario.

Ed Lasky and Thomas Lifson  4 6 06