Fresh Loaf

Word on the street is that Sen. John McCain will join Sen. Saxby Chambliss Thursday at 6:00 p.m. for a fundraiser at downtown’s 191 Club. The event is hosted by former Georgia-Pacific CEO Pete Correll and Cousins Properties CEO Tom Bell. Cousins HQ is in the same building as the 191 Club, 191 Peachtree.

Chambliss faces a run-off election next month against Democratic challenger Jim Martin. CL’s Scott Henry reported yesterday that McCain and Chambliss will also appear together Thursday at Cobb Energy Center.

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Retired Georgia-Pacific Corp. Chairman and CEO and private equity honcho A.D. “Pete” Correll is the latest local bigwig said to be eyeing the Atlanta mayor’s race.

Correll, you will recall, took on the role earlier this year as savior of Grady Hospital, helping to manage the mostly bloodless power transfer from a community-based board to one headed by top business leaders. Under Correll’s guidance, the money-losing public hospital has been awarded a $200 million Woodruff grant and hired a new CEO.

We’d heard Correll mentioned before as a potential candidate for mayor, but frankly hadn’t given it much thought because of his advanced age – 68 – and the perception that he’s committed himself to resuscitating Grady, a project that could take the rest of his natural life.

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The departure of Atlanta City Council President Lisa Borders from the Atlanta mayor’s race earlier this week has, by political strategists’ calculation, left behind a large window of opportunity for the right candidate.

Specifically, we mean someone backed by the Atlanta business community – anointed by the Chamber of Commerce, as it were. Borders, a protege of mega-developer Tom Cousins, had been that person, but now she’s out.

Therefore, the buzz of the moment has concentrated on a well-known and universally respected chief executive, a man of unique achievement who’s arguably done more than anyone since Ted Turner to restore the vibrancy of Atlanta’s downtown business district.

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