I watched the mayoral debates and the election from the beginning to even now. I often felt at times like I was watching a low budget Hillary Clinton and a not so eloquent speaking Barrack Obama debate back and forth about how the other wasn’t a worthy candidate. I was surprised, as I am sure many others were, that the Black community backed Mary Norwood as much as they did. I realized that people were fed up with the Shirley Franklin “slash” Maynard Jackson way of running the city. Kasim Reed fell victim to this shadow of Shirley Franklin early on in the campaign. The thing he did better than John McCain was separate himself from his past predecessors. He established his own identity and didn’t allow people to only reference his past work with the Franklin camp.

The issue of race or gender didn’t play out as dramatic as the Presidential elections but the elephant was not allowed to just sit in the room. Mary Norwood referred to race baiting after being successful at playing race politics by showing up at, of course, all the local Black hot spots. I didn’t see her at the church but I am sure she considered going to one if she didn’t. Kasim called her a Republican and killed her at her own game. He never mentioned race but everybody knows when he ran commercials calling her a Republican he was basically saying she white and she don’t care about our city. He never mentioned her race and at times forgot she was a woman and went to war with her word for word until the point where last week, me and my friends were betting 5 to 2 he would slap Mary before the debate ended.

I grew to like Mary Norwood.  She wasn’t like Hillary Clinton who appeared to be cold and sinister to me at times; she was likeable in a good southern way. She was small but stood tall when it came to debating and taking on any naysayer who even tried to mention she wasn’t qualified. She had spoken directly with me at the W Hotel when I covered the debate. I was impressed because out of all the candidates, her spirit seemed the most genuine to me.

I, like most people in the city, crowned Kasim Reed the winner. But the fact of the matter is, at the moment, Mary Norwood has not conceded.

Kasim Reed Volunteering at Hosea Feed The Hungry & HomelessKasim Reed Volunteering at Hosea Feed the Hungry & Homeless
According to Associated Press:

ATLANTA — With a slim lead of 620 votes, a former state senator claimed victory in the race for Atlanta’s mayor early Wednesday, though the contest was too close to call and could be headed for a recount.

Kasim Reed led with 99 percent of precincts reporting, but city councilwoman Mary Norwood told supporters that she was not conceding and was open to a recount. Under Georgia law, the runner-up can petition for one when the margin of victory is less than 1 percent of the total vote. Voters cast 84,076 ballots, so the margin would be within the percentage.

This is not mathematically enough for her to win, unless, of course, like Bush she has a brother who is the Governor.  Until truth prevails my eyes will be watching.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/reed-s-lead-grows-225197.html

The AJC Runoff Results

http://projects.ajc.com/election-results/2009/12/01/metro-atlanta-runoff-races/