Fresh Loaf

Kasim Reed is not happy with memo

The Atlanta mayor’s race has just blown up with a controversy whose fallout could well linger over the rest of the election season. Sometime yesterday, an incendiary bomb in the form of an e-mail went out calling on African American leaders across town to throw their support behind a single black candidate for mayor  in order to head off a victory by Councilwoman Mary Norwood, who is painfully white.

The e-mail cites WSB polls showing Council President Lisa Borders gaining support to trail closely behind Norwood while state Sen. Kasim Reed remains trailing in the single digits. On the strength of the numbers, the e-mail author invites the recipients to join him in supporting Borders for mayor.

Reed is taking the missive seriously enough that he quickly retaliated with a statement calling the e-mail’s message “divisive,” “vitriolic” and “racist.”

And who is author? None other than Aaron Turpeau, a longtime political operative who could be considered the most prominent remaining gear in the old “Maynard Machine.” Turpeau worked on Jackson’s first two campaigns for mayor, then for both of Andrew Young’s successful bids, and then for Jackson’s third go-around.

But Turpeau, wasn’t simply Jackson’s appendage. Despite his longtime boss’ endorsement of Bill Campbell, Turpeau worked for both of Campbell’s opponents, Michael Lomax and Marvin Arrington. He later jumped on board Shirley Franklin’s campaign, which gave fuel to critics who dismissed Franklin as the “machine candidate.”

Turpeau hadn’t signed on to work with any mayoral hopefuls this time, a fact which stirred the curiosity of many political observers.

Obviously, however, Turpeau isn’t content to sit on the sidelines. In a follow-up memo (view PDF here), he elaborates on his position, which he calls, in a striking display of candor, the “Black Mayor first” approach:

1.    There is a chance for the first time in 25 years that African Americans could lose the Mayoral seat in Atlanta, Georgia, especially if there is a run-off;
2.    Time is of the essence because in order to defeat a Norwood (white) mayoral candidacy we have to get out now and work in a manner to defeat her without a runoff, and the key is a significant Black turnout in the general election;
(more…)

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Machinists, take note.

That is, those who still believe in the existence and relevance of the “machine politics” of Atlanta’s past will find their theories bolstered by the fact that former Mayor Andy Young just cut a radio spot endorsing state Sen. Kasim Reed for his old job.

You can listen to the spot here. Here’s a transcript of the lead-in:

About 20 years ago I met a young man who impressed me a great deal. He was in the process of putting together a student run foundation that would help college students to help themselves and help those who were less fortunate stay in school.
I took the liberty then of saying I hope you finish your education and come on back to Atlanta where you grew up ’cause in about 20 years we’re going to need a mayor like you.

That young man, as you may have guessed, was Kasim Reed — who, at 39 40, is still a young man.

According to my former co-worker Kevin “Professor Griff” Griffis, the “machine” created by the late Maynard Jackson hasn’t existed for years. With Jackson’s passing, the fabled machine no longer even has its mainspring.

(more…)

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Count me as the last to know — having just seen his obit in the AJC — that longtime Atlanta journalist and one-time CL news editor Tim Bentley died two weekends ago at age 55. I don’t believe anyone left in editorial here but myself worked with Tim when he joined the paper nearly 10 years ago. That’s a shame because he was one of the nicer people I’ve met in this industry — laid-back, upbeat, funny and very competent.

Tim didn’t stay long, no more than a year or so, as I recall. But I got the impression that Tim, who had near-white hair even then, never stayed anywhere very long. He seemed eternally restless to do something different, bouncing between journalism and politics.

By the time I met him, Tim had already written for array of magazines, political newsletters and local newspapers. Between those gigs, he worked on political campaigns for Jimmy Carter, Maynard Jackson, Max Cleland and others. Did I mention he was a Yellow Dog Democrat?

Not long after leaving CL, he was editing Business to Business magazine. I stayed in touch for a few years, partly because Tim was a great sounding board for potential stories, partly because he seemed to know everybody who was anybody in the realm of Georgia politics. But I’m sad to learn we won’t be crossing paths again. Ed Bean, editor of the Daily Report, has a fine remembrance of Tim on the Atlanta Press Club website.

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In an interview that aired this evening, the widow of three-term Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson told WSB-TV her husband wanted to run for President of the United States.

Valerie Jackson’s eyes filled with tears when she said her husband didn’t run for President because the “timing” wasn’t right. Jackson is host of WABE-90.1’s Between The Lines.

I wasn’t around during Maynard’s heyday, but nothing about his political biography leads me to believe Jackson could have even won statewide office, much less a presidential primary.

Don’t get me wrong. That’s not necessarily an insult. Seriously. Look at the people Georgia elects to statewide office.

Nevertheless, I’ve never heard anyone use the words “Maynard Machine” except as a pejorative. I always get the sense that, after 12 years as Atlanta’s mayor, he’s remembered more fondly for his skillful politicking than for his skillful governing.

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He died yesterday at the age of 65 from undisclosed causes, Christian Boone of the AJC reports.

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