Mary Norwood campaign gets down and very dirty
November 24, 2009 at 2:54 pm by Scott Henry in News
Holy shit! The new flyer by Mary Norwood is by far the dirtiest, most negative message to come out of this mayor’s race so far. In fact, it prompted me to wonder what the legal boundaries are for Constitutionally protected political speech.
As you can see, the headline reads:
Kasim Reed: Late paying his taxes, but wants to raise yours.
OK, it’s clear that Norwood’s not going to let this tax allegation drop, even though the AJC’s Jim Galloway offered a self-described “fact check on taxes” that thoroughly rebutted Norwood’s claims:
My AJC colleague Cameron McWhirter and other reporters spent weeks vetting the major mayoral candidates this summer.
In the course of that reporting, McWhirter checked Fulton County tax records. Reed met with him and provided detailed documentation about his financial holdings, real estate and tax payments. Reed owed no back taxes at the time of the meeting and owes none now.
The flyer provides a link to a story that WSB-TV ran after getting a tip from the Norwood campaign, but even that two-and-a-half-minute piece shows the unpaid tax claim to be a non-story.
Then there’s the other allegation: that Reed wants to raise taxes. I’ve interviewed Reed several times, sat in on numerous debates and forums and read all his campaign material — and yet I have no idea where this claim is coming from.
The only thing I can imagine it that, on some occasion, when asked if he would consider raising taxes if it were the only way to keep the city from defaulting on its bond obligations, he said yes — as any halfway responsible politician would. Someone who claims he’d never consider a tax increase under any circumstances is, IMHO, unsuitable for public office, much like a presidential candidate who says he’d never consider taking the country to war.
The flyer goes on to say that “Kasim Reed supported sales tax and multimillion-dollar property tax increases.” What’s Norwood talking about here?
Well, in this case, she cites the referenced bills — which makes her claims even more outrageous. In the case of the alleged sales tax increase, she’s talking about SB 39, the regional transportation funding bill that civic leaders across metro Atlanta were praying for during this year’s legislative session. If Reed had managed to pass the bill over GOP opposition, he’d have been carried down Peachtree Street on the back of a chariot while showered with rose petals. And Norwood posits this as a negative?
And the purported “multimillion-dollar property tax increase?” It was a bill to create a citywide referendum to allow voters to decide whether they wanted to establish a dedicated tax to fund public safety. In other words, Reed’s proposal would have let taxpayers make that call for themselves. At the time, I considered the bill something of an election gimmick since it seemed unlikely to pass, but it’s certainly a valid idea and Norwood is being disingenuous if that’s her evidence that Reed “wants to raise taxes.”
The flyer is so misleading overall that I asked Michael Owens, a political science professor at Emory University, how far a candidate is allowed to stretch the truth about his or her opponent. Could a candidate get away with claiming, for instance, that her opponent was a rapist if it wasn’t true?
Owens conceded that the legalities are fuzzy and he’d never heard of a candidate successfully bringing legal action against an opponent.
But he agreed that the flyer represents a sharp about-face for Norwood.
“She’s probably realized that her best chance to become mayor has already passed — to win the race outright on Nov. 3 — and now she’s coming out negative,” he said.
Here’s the other side of the flyer:
November 24th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
I saw this on another site. Simplest way to disprove this story is for someone to actually plug in Reeds addresses here and look at his tax record.
Maybe you guys can get all his addresses go through his records, take some screen shots, cover his address and then post the screen shots.
http://www.fultoncountytaxes.org/FULTONIWR/11a_depts_property_taxes.asp
November 24th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Really Scott? How long have you lived in this country? Do you think this sort of thing has never happened before? Have you never reported on a political campaign before? Do you think Reed’s campaign is a bunch of perfectly behaved politicos? This is nothing new and your faux shock is irritating. Personally I was surprised how tepid the first round of campaigning was… this flyer does not surprise me at all and I am not even NEAR qualified to be a newspaper editor.
Although you are a very consistent PR flack for Reed… I’ll give you that.
November 24th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
OMG DUDE ARE YOU KIDDING ME??????????????????????????
YOU DON’T KNOW WHERE THAT COMES FROM?????
HOW ABOUT HOW KASIM PROPOSED A MILLAGE INCREASE LIKE 8 WEEKS AGO????
SERIOUSLY? SERIOUSLY????
November 24th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Holy Shit!
This is a weak article.
What it should have been about is how big that sucker was. I mean seriously that flier was like bigger than a standard piece of paper. I wonder how much the postage on those fliers were?
November 24th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
AND THE FIRST IMAGE DOESN’T ENLARGE, DUDE.
November 24th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
IN THE SPONTANEOUS OUTRAGE THAT SCOTT FELT HE MUST HAVE FORGOT THE LINK.
AND WHY ARE WE SHOUTING?
November 24th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
THE WORLD IS GOING TO END! MARY NORWOOD PULLED A JILL CHAMBERS!
November 24th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
HOLY SHIT!
WHO IS JILL CHAMBERS, I GOOGLED HER AND I SEE THAT SHE IS SOME RED HEAD REP. OVER IN DEKALB. BUT WHAT DID SHE DO?
November 24th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Reed was spotted in a public park yesterday masticating. Right near a playground, he just stood there masticating. Holy shit! Somebody get the kids out of there!
November 24th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Double-down dirty. Mary’s campaign has the nerve to claim Reed has gone negative with lies and distortions. Pray tell, Mary, what has he said about you? That’s your campaign you’re describing, not Reed’s.
In an e-mail this afternoon begging for cash so she can repeat smears more widely:
“Because my opponent is now resorting to desperate lies and distortions, we need your help to raise the money we need to fight back between now and December 1st. My campaign represents change for Atlanta; and that’s why every contractor, political insider and crony are pouring money into Kasim Reed’s coffers. They know that this is our best chance to turn Atlanta around! I am asking you to make a $25, $50 or $100 contribution TODAY and give me the resources I need to fight back!
While I have been sticking to my promise of keeping this campaign about the issues, my opponent continues to launch false, negative attacks against me and our vision of an Atlanta that can be a better place to for us and our children.”
This would be funny if it were not disgraceful. And someone on the campaign go back to grade school. It should be “every contractor and crony IS pouring money.” Except presumably this is as untrue as the rest of the stuff emanating from Norwood HQ lately.
November 24th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
Hey, Joe, Jill’s campaign tactics shouldn’t be held up as a standard for anyone. I’ve told her so myself.
I’m not saying Norwood’s flyer is the worst thing I’ve ever seen. I’m saying it’s intentionally misleading and scuzzy. I said the same thing about a previous flyer by another candidate: http://tiny.cc/TJack. Dirty campaigning shouldn’t be rewarded.
November 24th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
SCARY NORWOOD!!!!
why am i shouting?!
November 24th, 2009 at 10:46 pm
Scott,
I agree with you. Neither Mary nor Jill should be rewarded for this sort of thing.
What did you think I was saying, other than mocking all the shouting? `:/
November 24th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
These sorts of tactics really turn me off. The T-Jack mailer was bad too, as were all of the Jill Chambers mailers in her last race. But what really annoys me about Norwood is that she should have plenty of positive things about herself to emphasize, or legitimate negatives to emphasize about Reed. She got 46% of the vote and she enjoys strong support throughout the city, so why does she need to resort to dirty misleading mailers?
November 24th, 2009 at 11:19 pm
Scott, Have you seen this afternoon’s e-mail blast from the Mary campaign, banging on about how Kasim is “resorting to desperate lies and distortions”? Are you aware of negative messages from Reed? Is this Mary’s team’s version of the Big Lie?
November 25th, 2009 at 6:19 am
Not that this justifies this outrageous flyer, but I believe it WAS the Reed campaign that insisted Mary Norwood is a Republican. Which, in intown Atlanta, comes across as just as much of a smear – and just as irrelevant to whether the candidate is able to run the city – as this whole “late taxes” thing.
November 25th, 2009 at 8:54 am
Reed is only pretending to be a thespian to get votes in the 6th District. It’s outrageous, but the press won’t do a thing about it because they love him so.
November 25th, 2009 at 10:01 am
Kasim Reed had vans down at the homless shelter this morning, carrying vans full of them to the polls.
Classy.
November 25th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Homeless people aren’t allowed to vote?
November 26th, 2009 at 11:50 am
Didn’t we settle this whole business of deciding if a voter needs to be property owner or not back in the eighteenth century and then again in the South in the mid twentieth?
Homeless, if they are residents of the district have as much right to vote as anyone else. Also why it is that this topic comes up every single election and there is never ever photos or videos of it happening? Seems with so many “eyewitness” reports that someone would have a video camera or an iphone. Perhaps we need to put Rep. Long on the case.
November 28th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
I see that Kasim Reed’s signs all along I-20 are staked into the ground directly (like inches away) in front of Mary Norwood’s. Stay classy Reed campaign!
November 29th, 2009 at 11:13 am
I see that Scott Henry has purged a lot of the messages that call him out for being in Reed’s pocket. Wow. I thought I could trust CL… not so much anymore Scott.
November 29th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Politics As Usual – Your FACTS ARE Incorrect.
The AJC published a piece yestereday (Saturday) that provided a table listing the interest and penalities since 2002 (not including his commercial property that is discussed seperately).
Yes you have endorsed Kasim and you are carrying his water – but at least you could tell your readers the truth.
I used to like your editorials as I enjoy challenging the establishment. However, you have gotten so dishonest in your editorials that I do not think anyone pays attention to it anymore.
http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/candidates-attack-each-other-216354.html
Excerpt as follows:
Here’s a breakdown of how much money in late penalties and interest Reed has paid on the two properties he owns:
Year Penalties Interest
2002 $0 $60.29
2003 $0 $87.16
2004 $0 $39.67
2005 $0 $63.29
2006 $9.36 $106.70
2007 $14.74 $60.68
2008 $813.49 $408.67
Source: Fulton County Tax Commissioner’s office
Thanks but no thanks Loaf – you are full of it!
November 29th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
Creative Loafing is treading thin ice! This paper endorsement process is clearly bought and payed for by a certain clique. They are not objective and darn right mean and petty. I have NO respect for this paper and it’s sorry sack of staff writers. This paper is more of the problem. Shame!
November 29th, 2009 at 10:09 pm
To the ?Norwood Campaign Echo Chamber of Vituperation: Anyone who thinks $60 of penalty and interest is a big deal hasn’t got the brains to find his way to the voting booth. Grow up and stop recycling Mary’s dim-witted and mean-spirited bathwater. Loaf’s reasons for supporting Reed recognize that the city’s multi-million dollar crisis demands a leader with intelligence and the ability to make things happen.