Posted on 10/28/2009 3:42:52 AM PDT by markomalley
More than three decades after Maynard H. Jackson Jr. became the first African-American mayor of a major Southern city here, the era of uncontested black leadership in the cradle of the civil-rights movement is facing its first true test: A white city councilwoman leads the mayoral race by a wide margin just days before the Nov. 3 election.
Recent polls show Mary Norwood, a fiscal conservative who lives in a heavily white, wealthy section of Atlanta, with support ranging from 39% to 46% of likely voters. That puts her potentially within striking distance of winning outright next week or heading into a runoff with one of the two most prominent African-American candidates, City Council President Lisa Borders and former state Sen. Kasim Reed, both of whom have struggled to gather support from even 25% of voters.
Most striking in Ms. Norwood's numbers is her level of support among widely fractured African-American voters. An InsiderAdvantage poll on Oct. 16 showed Ms. Norwood leading all candidates among black voters, with nearly a third of African-Americans supporting her.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Another Atlantan checking in.
I have a bet with another Freeper that I will run naked down Peachtree if a white wins.
Wont happen. Might win a plurality but never the race. Our local media will make damnsure of that.
What you said word for word.
If I could also add to my prediction above.
When Norwood wins the plurality, it will not be because of O.
When she loses the race, it will be.
Did either of you read the whole article? It claims that, in polls, she is the leading candidate among black voters.
A white mayor was elected in Kansas City, Mo.
The mayorship (?) has been traditionally held by a black man (Cleaver, now a US Rep).
The attacks on the white mayor have been vicious and unending.
The legislature should have taken away the plaything that is the Atlanta Airport from the City of Atlanta years ago.
Bill Campbell firing Angela Gittens, who had been named Airport Administrator of the year by her peers in the year previous to her firing, made this obvious to even the clueless. While Shirley has been a big improvement, it was a really, really low bar.
I’m pretty sure Bill Campbell got out a couple of years ago.
One year.
Atlanta’s ex-mayor Bill Campbell leaves West Palm Beach halfway house
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2008/10/24/1024mayor.html
Gwinnett is having to deal with revenue shortfalls and the commissioners have to make tough choices: cuts and taxes.
These are unpleasant and challenging, but not what I would call problems (in the Maynard Jackson sense). I’ve lived in 9 states, and I think Gwinnett county is really pretty well run overall.
I don't see how you can say that. They spend hundreds of millions on construction projects and then went economic times slow down fall in to a crisis where the only option is to raise taxes (severely) and they do it with all of the extortionist skills of a Chicago mobster. The county itself is a complete disaster from Jimmy Carter all the way up to Pleasant Hill.
There is no crime in Atlanta, whatsoever. I recently went downtown to 5 Points, wearing nothing but glued-on one-hundred-dollar-bills, and started handing out free crack and machineguns to every single person I saw, and I wasn’t robbed once.
Actually, the city has exported so many of its criminals
to the suburbs, it might be safer downtown.
I’m glad I live in Forsyth...
GO GO GO!!!
Hopefully Birmingham AL will be next...
WTF??? A TRUE TEST? Because heaven forbid a white politician might win the Mayors race??? Who the hell cares?? A competent electorate just wants the best person for the job, regardless of race or gender. So how is this some sort of "test"??? A test for what? How rediculously stupid and biased this article is?
But after 30y, will it be “historic”?
You must mean like the huge waterslide/park that the county built (right next to an existing park) in the middle of a drought. Near my office so I see the boondoggle every day.
Cleaver was the only Black to win the KC Mayoralship. He was preceded by a White Republican. KC, MO is only about 30% Black.
Thanks for the info. I wasn’t paying attention before “this. is. beatiful.”* Cleaver. You have noticed that they’ve pulled out all the stops to “get Funk”, though, and it’s an entirely racist thing at its core.
*Funniest thing I’ve seen in KC politics. Cleaver, looking much like Richard Pryor, standing in front of the creek at the Plaza that just had raw sewage dumped into it, getting mad at the jokes about it, gesturing at the creek and proclaiming “THIS. IS. BEAUTIFUL.” - then trying to keep from controlling his laughter at the absurdity.
I really like Cobb County and especially Vinings, but we're thinking of moving to Cherokee to get less house and more land, now that the kids are grown.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.