Fresh Loaf

Matthew Cardinale, editor of Atlanta Progressive News, took issue with a blog post I wrote that criticized articles on his website concerning candidates in the mayor’s race. I admit I was somewhat harsh, but I feel my points were valid. Still, in the spirit of journalistic goodwill, we’re giving Cardinale the opportunity to respond. (For the record, we’ve trimmed his letter for the sake of space and relevance — and I added my own annotations.) Enjoy:

In a post entitled, “Where’s Mary, indeed?,” writer Scott Henry makes a number of false, unsubstantiated, defamatory, unprofessional and vicious statements regarding me and my publication, the Atlanta Progressive News.

The relevant text is as follows:

“The latest negative tidbit to surface is a weird piece of innuendo proffered by the Atlanta Progressive News, which is something of a far-left blog masquerading as a media outlet. Acting as an apparent proxy for the Norwood campaign, APN has cluttered e-mail inboxes with a piece insinuating that (Kasim) Reed, in his capacity as an attorney, once battled the NAACP on behalf of Cracker Barrel restaurants.

The ‘article,’ like much of APN’s output — including several attack pieces previously written about Lisa Borders — falls so far short of basic journalistic standards that it scarcely bears notice. Still, another local blogger who also works as an attorney was so offended by the lousy legal analysis she found in the APN piece that she felt compelled to post a point-by-point rebuttal.”

Let me go through and respond to his statements individually.

1. First of all, APN’s article was not innuendo, it was factual. If anything, it’s Henry’s post (and previous posts he’s written on other topics) that are characterized by innuendo. It is a fact that Reed, in his capacity as an attorney, once battled the NAACP on behalf of Cracker Barrel restaurants.

According to the federal database, PACER, Reed absolutely was an attorney, did represent Cracker Barrel, and on the other side was the NAACP, which both filed amicus briefs on behalf of a class of workers and helped organize this and a series of legal cases pursued against Cracker Barrel at the same time.

Now, some could argue that Cracker Barrel is entitled to a legal defense, or that Reed was just doing his job, etc., but that does not change the fact that he “in his capacity as an attorney, once battled the NAACP on behalf of Cracker Barrel.” Henry’s failure to back up his statement also means that his comment is the one that is innuendo, but it is also false.

[From Scott: I described the article as “innuendo” because, in referencing a 1999 case in which Reed was one of many attorneys working on behalf of Cracker Barrel, Cardinale points out that the restaurant chain “historically would neither serve Black customers nor employ homosexuals.” But the case in question had nothing to do with alleged civil rights violations; it was a worker’s comp case dealing with employee overtime.]

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What's got her so excited?

Speaking only for myself, the events of the past two weeks — at least those relating to the mayoral runoff — have certainly confounded expectations.

In the fortnight leading up to the Nov. 3 general election, Kasim Reed’s campaign pulled something of a rope-a-dope, implying that his opponents weren’t true Democrats. Both Mary Norwood and Lisa Borders took the bait, spending time and energy trying to establish their own Democratic credentials — an effort that likely lost them both some votes.

It was a masterfully divisive maneuver on Reed’s part, but I’ve talked to some voters who were disgusted by it for that very reason, folks who didn’t like seeing a wedge driven between political parties in a non-partisan race.

I assumed the runoff campaigning would get dirtier still. How could it not, given that Norwood seemed to have a lock on white Northside votes? It appeared the only way Reed could hope to win was by undermining Norwood’s curious popularity among black voters — and the only way to do that was to make race an issue in the race.

But I was mistaken. That’s not what has happened — at least, not yet. In fact, it’s been quite the reverse.

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Reed, flanked by Barnes and Borders

So, as we know, ol’ Roy came out for Kasim Reed today on the steps of the Capitol.

Barnes lavished praise on Reed as a legislator for helping advance the then-governor’s progressive agenda, which included hate-crime laws and changing the state flag.

But the two words he used most often to tout Reed were noteworthy: “competent” and “qualified.”

Nobody — not with the campaign or with the press corps — mentioned Mary Norwood’s name, but it seemed fairly clear those two words were chosen to imply a distinction between the two candidates for mayor. (It’s a distinction we raised ourselves in endorsing Reed.)

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How much does momentum help when you’re running for elected office? Just ask Hillary Clinton and the many other candidates who’ve stalled out after an early surge.

Look, Kasim Reed has a lot of ground to make up in his effort to win the Dec. 1 runoff for mayor against front-runner Mary Norwood, but right now, he’s got the momentum. On Monday, he picked up an endorsement from former state legislator Jim Martin. Yes, Martin has been twice defeated running for higher office, but he was a longtime House member who still enjoys respect as an honorable public servant. I know I’m often dragging race into these matters, but it doesn’t hurt Reed’s image that Martin is white.

But that boost was a lead-up to today’s announcement that former candidate Lisa Borders is endorsing Reed at an event going on at this moment. From the pre-release:

“After many months of campaigning, it is critical for us to come together as a demonstration of strength and unity. Atlanta lies at a critical crossroads and her very future depends on leadership that can unite us and move us forward,” Borders said. “Now is the time to lay aside our differences and work in the best interest of all citizens to ensure each has the opportunity to rise to their full potential. Senator Reed’s ideas for afterschool recreation centers, his focus on public safety and his willingness to work toward increasing revenue opportunities for Atlanta are in line with my policy objectives.”

Having talked to Borders’ campaign folks over recent weeks, it was pretty clear that she wasn’t going to support Norwood. I know this will irk many Norwood followers for me to point this out, but almost no one on the City Council believes Norwood has the competence to be a decent mayor. She simply doesn’t command much respect down at City Hall. I don’t want to put words in Borders’ mouth, but it’s my strong impression that she considers Norwood a lightweight.

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Following up on Andisheh’s post from this morning about Lisa Borders endorsing Kasim Reed, an e-mail was sent to Reed’s volunteer list with details about the press conference:

Kasim Reed for Mayor Volunteers,

We invite you to join us on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 1:45 p. m., for Lisa Borders’ formal endorsement of Senator Kasim Reed.  We will assemble at Park Tavern, located at 500 10^th Street NE, Atlanta, GA 30309 (at the corner of 10^th and Monroe).

Please wear your campaign t-shirt as a representation of your continued support of Senator Reed’s mayoral campaign.

We hope to see you there!

Are any of you planning on attending?

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WSB-TV reports Lisa Borders plans to endorse Kasim Reed today for Atlanta Mayor. Reed and Mary Norwood face each other in a Dec. 1 run-off election.

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Borders reacts to the shocker

Probably the biggest surprise of Tuesday’s elections was Lisa Borders’ poor showing. Granted, various polls had showed her support waning and Kasim Reed’s numbers growing. But no one I talked to had expected Borders to net only 14 percent in what was widely perceived as a three-way race. I mean, City Hall shouter Dave Walker got nearly 10 percent in the Council president’s race and he didn’t raise a dime!

So how did the former runoff hopeful become an also-ran? A few thoughts:

1. She didn’t define herself — Easy for us to say, but it’s true. Mary Norwood positioned herself as the throw-the-bums-out, anti-City Hall candidate, a spokesperson for everyone sick of business as usual. Reed cast himself as the determined outsider, criticizing those on whose watch the city had faltered and promising to restore hope to inner-city neighborhoods. Quick — what did Borders claim to represent?

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Even though polls will stay open in Atlanta for another five-and-a-half hours, Fox 5 is already reporting Lisa Borders and Kyle Keyser finished first and second in today’s Atlanta mayoral election, with 100 percent of precincts reporting.

Here’s the screenshot:

Either Ken Cook’s Doppler Radar doubles as a time machine, or someone at Fox 5 posted the wrong information online. I’m guessing the latter.

Just to be clear, the polls are still open and no results are available. The chart you see above actually appears on Fox 5’s web site, but the numbers are ARE NOT the actual results.

UPDATE: Fox 5 has fixed the chart on its web site. No votes have been counted. Keyser and Borders haven’t won. Ken Cook does not have a time machine.

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From the Lisa Borders campaign on Mayor Shirley Franklin’s announcement that she’ll vote for Kasim Reed:

“I have enjoyed working with Shirley and her administration. I have learned from both her achievements and her mistakes. I will take both of those lessons into office.”

Borders said Franklin’s low-key endorsement of Reed was not unexpected. Franklin has been working in the shadows of his campaign for a number of weeks, primarily by attacking Mary Norwood. Franklin has a history of endorsing candidates the day before an election.

Worth noting: One could argue that Franklin’s criticism of Norwood the last few weeks could have also helped Borders.

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Let’s say that, after voting, you want to go out tomorrow evening to support your favorite candidate for mayor — and score some free food. Here’s where you’ll find ‘em on election night:

• Lisa Borders — Her party’s in the new W Hotel Downtown at 45 Ivan Allen Blvd. She’s booked a 4th floor ballroom.
• Kyle Keyser — Yes, the longshot activist is throwing a party, too. It’s at Noni’s restaurant at 357 Edgewood Ave.
  
• Mary Norwood — Breaking with the tradition of using a hotel or event facility, Norwood is holding her party at the Varsity. Slaw dogs for everybody!
• Kasim Reed — He’ll be somewhere in the Hyatt Regency downtown. Check with the concierge for directions.

And, let’s not forget the candidates for council president:

• Ceasar Mitchell — He’ll be raising the roof at Park Tavern at the corner of 10th and Monroe.
• Clair Muller — Not too surprisingly, Clair isn’t a big party gal. We’re told she’ll be hanging out at home tomorrow night.

Be sure to vote, folks!

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Remember yesterday when I was praising a TV ad by Kasim Reed for its positive, upbeat, love-everybody tone?

Well, that was then. Today Reed has a new ad that smears Norwood as a Republican:

So much for civility. Now that polls indicate that Reed has pulled comfortably ahead of Borders, he’s changed tack and is trying to pull support away from Norwood in order to prevent her from winning on Nov. 3 without a runoff.

Will it work? Damned if we know, but we’ll be watching carefully to find out…

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A new Insider Advantage poll shows Mary Norwood’s still the frontrunner in the Atlanta mayor’s race with 45 percent support. Kasim Reed trails with 25 percent. Lisa Borders, who until two weeks ago was second in the race, is third with 16 percent. Jesse Spikes is in the low single digits. Eleven percent of the poll respondents were undecided. (Here’s a link to a PDF of the poll’s crosstabs.)

So sayeth pollster Matt Towery, CEO of IA:

“Based on this survey, if the election were held today, Norwood would likely be within one or two percent of winning the race without a runoff. Her barrage of ads and the apparent decline in Borders’ support suggests that white voters are moving to Norwood. That said, Reed now appears to be the African-American candidate with substantial support from the black community.

What’s interesting about the mayor’s race right now: It’s about image rather than platforms.

Borders, Reed and even the Georgia Democratic Party have accused Norwood of being a Republican. Norwood, who invited the criticism after she said earlier this week that she couldn’t remember if she ever voted for George W. Bush, responded with a TV ad. In it, she rattles off the names of Democrats and even Ross Perot, which, in my opinion, might’ve done her more harm than good.

The Reed campaign today issued a statement calling the Norwood spot a “slick and calculated denial of her well-documented Republican past” and a “scheme to trick Atlanta’s Democratic majority into making a false choice on the eve of this election.”

Political wonks take note: Campaign disclosure reports, which’ll tell us how much cash each candidate has to spend in the final days before Nov. 3, are due today at 5 p.m.

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Buck Man, we don't need your vote

In the final days before next Tuesday’s mayoral election, it seems both Lisa Borders and Kasim Reed have ceded Buckhead to Mary Norwood and are focusing their remaining efforts on Southside Atlanta.

What makes us say this? Consider the evidence:

Last night, both were no-shows at a candidate forum hosted by the Pine Hills Neighborhood Association, a group that includes residents who live south of Lenox Square between Lenox and Roxboro roads.

Also, both have gotten into a war of words over who makes the better choice for Democratic voters, an argument that is unlikely to resonate with a good percentage of Northsiders.

Borders is now taking every opportunity to say she’s a Democrat, from her latest TV ad to ongoing phone solicitations in which callers ask the called to “Vote for Lisa Borders, Democrat.” And those calls are going out to Buckhead.

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Can’t decide who you’ll vote for in the mayoral election next Tuesday because you’re just not fired up about any of the candidates?

May we suggest you try process of elimination? Sometimes choosing a candidate to support is best approached by determining who wouldn’t get your vote even in the event of ice-skating on the River Styx.

Fortunately, there are plenty of people with Internet access who are only too willing to help eliminate some candidate options through the careful application of innuendo, character assassination and good old-fashioned trash-talking.

As a rule of thumb, you haven’t earned your stripes as a candidate yet unless you’re the target of an anonymous opposition website. So, without further ado, here are selected hater sites:

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Southeast Atlanta residents won’t want to miss tonight’s mayoral candidate forum.

Candidates Lisa Borders, Mary Norwood, Kasim Reed and Jesse Spikes will field questions from moderators Derrick Boazman and Bishop Matthew Norwood at the Atlanta Youth Academy on Forrest Park Road. (Map here.)

The event, which is sponsored by nine neighborhood and community organizations, is billed as Southeast Atlanta’s first mayoral forum. Discussion will focus solely on the issues that impact the part of the city which includes the Grant Park, Reynoldstown, Benteen Park, Summerhill neighborhoods, among others.

A reception will be held from 6:30-7:00 p.m. The two-hour forum follows. Child care will be available.

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Agree or disagree with our endorsement picks? Have a say in our endorsement live-chat with Mara, Scott and Thomas, today at 1:30 pm.

If the chat window doesn’t appear above, click Here

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Do you think we made a mistake in our 2009 political endorsements? Are you voting for the same candidate as us? Talk to staff writers Scott Henry and Thomas Wheatley on this blog tomorrow from 1:30-2:30 p.m. NOW! to get answers to your questions about the Nov. 3 mayoral and City Council elections.

And until then, let us know who you’re voting for by taking part in our polls for City Council Post 2 At-Large, City Council Post 1 At-Large, City Council president and mayor.

Update: Like Billo very wisely said, “Fuck it! We’ll do it live!“

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KASIM'S OUR MAN: Reed deserves the edge for his clear-eyed, pragmatic vision of Atlanta’s future

Even as it heads into the final days before the election, the Atlanta mayor’s race remains, as it has for months now, a showdown between three well-funded, skilled politicians, who are followed some distance behind by an earnest outsider. Voters seem largely indifferent and indecisive — perhaps because there’s a tough choice here, but also some easy ones.

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Karl, sophomore: Lisa Borders. I like her transportation issues more than anything else. She seemed to be the only candidate who actually knew anything about transportation, and who wasn’t trying to do the John Oxendine plan where you just kind of pave through the city. Mary Norwood is pretty good, but she feels more like gentrification. And she comes in and drives a Buick.  That just stuck in my head. Lisa is the only one that comes off as being able to handle the job.

Ariel, senior: I’m leaning towards Kasim Reed. Crime is a real big issue right now, and he has some of the best ideas as far as hiring more police officers. As a Georgia State student, we’re in the middle of Atlanta. After 6 o’clock, all the stores close. It’s weird, because it’s still daylight but people don’t feel safe. I feel what he’s trying to do is put that police presence back into the city of Atlanta, which is real important for me as a student. I saw yesterday that he was talking about hiring 750 more police officers.

Jessica, senior: Mary Norwood, mostly because I like to vote more conservative. The most important issue to me is taxes, especially since I’m a new Atlanta resident. Not that I pay property taxes, but my water, sewer are taxed highly for a lot of reasons. I’d like to see, at least on a local level, someone I can relate to on some views, compared to Kasim and Lisa Borders, who are more liberal. Economically,  we need reform, and Atlanta is not doing very well managing its finances right now.

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Georgia Equality, the statewide LGBT advocacy group, has announced their support for Lisa Borders for mayor and Ceasar Mitchell for city council President.

If you need the latest on either the mayoral or city council race, Scott Henry abides.

Here’s Georgia Equality press release:

At a time when public safety and the need for strong leadership are on the minds of all Atlantans, the Georgia Equality Board of Directors has voted to endorse Lisa Borders in the 2009 election for Atlanta Mayor, as well as Ceasar Mitchell for the position of Atlanta City Council President.

Borders, the current City Council President, stands out among a group of highly-qualified mayoral candidates running this year. The Georgia Equality Board of Directors found Borders to be the candidate with the best fluency and understanding of the issues important to LGBT Atlantans, as well as the candidate best-equipped to govern a city in need of a decisive leader with keen insight into public safety and municipal management.

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Looks like this sucker’s starting to get a little more competitive:

The race for the Atlanta mayor’s office got a little tighter in the last week, according to a new poll released Friday.

The new WSB-TV Channel 2/InsiderAdvantage poll shows that Mary Norwood still leads the race with 33 percent, but her lead over Lisa Borders slipped to just six percentage points. Last week Norwood led Borders by eight percentage points.

Although she is still second in the race, Borders actually dropped in percentage points, going from 34 percent to 27 percent this week.

The big gainer was Kasim Reed. He remained in third place, but jumped from nine percentage points to 15 percent.

There are still plenty of folks to convince. Twenty-three percent of the poll’s respondents are still undecided.

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Don’t read this expecting an answer because I don’t know. Obviously, websites and social networking have assumed a prominent position in politics since Howard Dean first used the Internets to build a coalition of Deaniacs and Daily Kos became a must-read blog for millions.

Speaking as a reporter, I find myself questioning a candidate’s commitment if he can’t be bothered to put up a website. But does Web savvy portend a winning campaign?

Take a look at the three leading candidates for Atlanta mayor. Recent polls say Mary Norwood is leading the pack, followed fairly closely by Lisa Borders, with Kasim Reed trailing. But when it comes to attracting supporters on Facebook, Reed is far and away the front-runner. He’s got 4,502 Facebook supporters, compared with 2,886 for Borders and a mere 881 for Norwood.

According to Emory University associate professor Michael Leo Owens, as quoted in the AJC, “This will be the Facebook election.” Does that mean Borders and Norwood should pack it in?

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Tuesday’s looking to be one of those days just jam-packed with forums.

While Georgia STAND-UP hosts its City Council candidate forum in Southwest Atlanta, a coalition of transportation advocates will be grilling Mayoral candidates about their stances on transit, bicycles and pedestrian friendly streets — and how mobility options other than automobiles could improve Atlanta’s quality of life and economic potential.

Citizens for Progressive Transit, the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition and PEDS are hosting the 6:30 p.m. forum at the Atlanta Regional Commission. Mayoral candidates Lisa Borders, Mary Norwood, Kasim Reed, Jesse Spikes and Glenn Thomas will give their take on the issues. Longtime business columnist and smart-growth advocate Maria Saporta will moderate the discussion.

For more information about the forum, visit the coalition’s website. For directions, click here. You can also try CfPT’s online transit trip planner. The ARC is convenient to three MARTA stations and Five Points bus transfer center. The coalition’s advocacy team will provide free bicycle valet parking.

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1. AJC moving to metro Atlanta’s real downtown (The daily will be abandoning its intown digs for a new, OTP office. Yep.)

2. Lisa Borders up in latest mayoral poll (Though Councilwoman Mary Norwood still holds the lead, Council Prez Borders appears to be making progress. Someone’s pissed.)

3. Creative Loafing Inc. and its largest creditor will duke it out next week (The fate of the six-newspaper chain will be determined at an equity auction TOMORROW. Stay tuned.)

4. Threesome assault defense, ‘Ah jest wanted to watch’ (Total weirdness.)

5. Troy Davis deserves hearing, says Supremes (Somebody — the U.S. Supreme Court, no less! — is finally granting the longtime death row inmate a hearing on his innocence claims.)

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Atlanta mayoral candidate Lisa Borders says a rival campaign distributed fake fliers promising free beer and food at a block party she hosted this morning at her downtown headquarters.

From the Borders web site:

[Borders campaign manager Stacey Abrams] said the campaign made a donation to the Gateway facility, a downtown Atlanta homeless service center, when people began coming to block party with a fake flyer that promised free food and beer. “We are deeply saddened that another campaign would use the most vulnerable members of our community in an attempt to disrupt our event to say thank you. By misusing our logo and handing out these flyers, they misled men and women who have faced more than enough difficulty. We were glad to work with the Gateway Center to feed and shelter those in need.”

Sounds like an awkward moment, no? The press release doesn’t name the campaign that allegedly distributed the fliers. If you were handed one, send us a line.

Responses from Borders’ opponents are after the jump.

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