Atlanta Mayor’s Race Promises A Brawl

By Jim Galloway’s reckoning, the eight campaigns gearing up for Atlanta’s Mayor’s race later this year promise a boisterous slugfest. In the Political Insider, Galloway describes a “beauty pageant” hosted by the Buckhead Coalition during which the candidates had a chance to prove to donors which ones of them should be taken seriously. Galloway provided a link to listen as well as one where you can watch the action, but also summarized the affair in his own style, a combination of straight reportage and shade-throwing unmatched by, well, anyone.

Here’s one example: “Peter Aman, a former chief operating officer for Kasim Reed, struck a Trumpian tone [Note: The Aman campaign has objected to this description, so we must also concede that the move might have been Bloombergian]:”

“I have the integrity to lead the city of Atlanta, for all Atlantans – because I’m not a politician. Unlike many of the others on this stage.”

Here’s another: “Councilwoman Mary Norwood… proposed this newish idea on the topic of transportation:”

“With traffic… we need a subway from the western part of the region into the Lindbergh MARTA center. That’s where we need to be able to get people, up and down our MARTA spine into Buckhead.”

We don’t want to be accused of leaving anyone out and the quotations of and descriptions from each of the other six candidates including Councilwoman Keisha Lance Bottoms, State Sen. Vincent Fort, Councilman Kwanza Hall, Council President Ceasar Mitchell, former head of the Atlanta Workforce Development Agency Michael Sterling, and former council president Cathy Woolard. Read the whole thing.