The highest authority of the Georgia Democratic Party is the state Democratic committee.

The state Democratic committee last met on Saturday, October 3, 2009.

At that meeting, the state Democratic committee elected a new Secretary; adopted the Party platform; and discussed amending the Charter & Bylaws.

At no time did the state Democratic committee authorize or approve any of the anti-Norwood mail pieces.

While I cannot speak for any other state Democratic committee members, I believe what Jane Kidd has done constitutes an intentional misrepresentation of the positions and/or policies of the Georgia Democratic Party [Article II, section 8, paragraph two; Bylaws of the Democratic Party of Georgia].

The state Democratic committee has not taken a position on the nonpartisan Atlanta mayoral election. And for Jane Kidd to explicitly proclaim that, “As far as we [the Georgia Democratic Party] are concerned, Mary Norwood’s a Republican,” grossly misrepresents a position –or the lack thereof– of the state Democratic Party [Galloway, Jim (2009-10-28). State Democrats jump into Atlanta mayor’s race against Mary Norwood. Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved on 2009-11-1.].

I would say that Jane Kidd’s actions violated the Georgia Democratic Party’s charter & bylaws, and that some sort of disciplinary action might need to be taken.

Look, the Georgia GOP built itself up over bashing Atlanta. And it was never about corruption, because the GOP (and the Democratic Party that conservatives like Perdue switched over to the GOP from in the 80s and 90s) were notorious for corruption. It wasn’t about incompetence, because hey this is Georgia we are talking about. And it wasn’t crime, because crime has always been a problem in Atlanta, and it is also a problem in Columbus, Macon, Savannah, Augusta, and even Albany.

Instead, it was resentment against the middle and upper class blacks: professionals, business owners, etc. And that was how people like Newt Gingrich built the Republican Party up from five or six guys to taking over the legislature. As a matter of fact, Gingrich kept running for Congress as a pro-civil rights moderate Republican and lost every time. It was only when he ran as a Jesse Helms/Strom Thurmond Dixiecrat and ran ads and sent out flyers linking his opponent to Andrew Young (a tactic that he learned from Helms) that he finally won. And the only reason why the Georgia GOP ever abandoned overt race-baiting was because a former Democrat who raises black foster kids (Perdue) is now running the party. The guy who Perdue beat, Bob Irvin, was cut from the same Rudy Giuliani/Frank Rizzo cloth.

And enough with the “it’s a nonpartisan election!” nonsense. Georgia GOPers spent TONS of money backing their candidates in the nonpartisan Supreme Court races, and Jim Wooten supported it 100%, remember? Or have you forgotten how hard the Georgia GOP tried to get Leah Ward Sears off the bench? Granted, I supported the effort to get Sears removed, but it shows how hypocritical stuff like this is.

Fact: Mary Norwood WILL NOT represent the interests of most Atlantans, but instead will represent the interests of suburbanites who detest most Atlantans.
Fact: the only reasons why Mary Norwood has a shot are A) because Bush and Perdue made a mess of the national and state economy and B) Shirley Franklin did a good enough job governing the city that white voters – including those from the suburbs – felt comfortable moving into the city.
Fact: a Mary Norwood administration, which again will be used as a springboard for Norwood’s higher office aspirations, will cause many residents ignored by her administration to move not only to DeKalb, but to Gwinnett and Cobb counties seeking leadership that is actually responsive to their needs.

Get real, folks. The reason why the suburbanites support Norwood is because they are convinced that she is going to fire a ton of black city workers and make the city more hostile to black business owners. And since these are the people that Norwood will be courting when she runs for Senate or governor later on, that is precisely what she will do. OK … so where will all these black folks that Norwood kicks off the city payroll or drives out of business go? That’s right: to the suburbs to find work or reopen their businesses.

Well, I hope that the people who hate Atlanta will get what they want: a mayor who hates Atlanta as much as they do, and will give the city the leadership that the white flight crowd wants Atlanta to have as opposed to the leadership that Atlanta actually needs. You know, people like Wingfield, who prioritizes laying off city employees over addressing the crime wave. Do you know how Rudy Giuliani dramatically lowered crime in New York? By hiring more police officers. Oh, and Giuliani didn’t drastically reduce the size of the New York City workforce either. He only cut the departments that had the most black workers. The departments that had the most white workers, he actually expanded those AND increased spending on them. That was why he endorsed Mario Cuomo for governer … he wanted more money from the state so he could keep buying the support of the Irish and Italian dominated unions with new jobs. More evidence that for the GOP, “fiscal conservatism” simply means firing black government employees.

i don’t get the whole concept of a political race being non-partisan – party affiliations give us an immediate idea of who’s who without having to know their specific verbiage regarding every single issue

for instance – i’m so far left, most democrats are too conservative in my book – so if i know a candidate is republican, i immediately, without a doubt, absolutely know that i don’t want them in office

Best we can hope is that the State Legislature doesn’t screw up more than usual.

As for the Shirley Franklin’s robo-call about firehoses and attack dogs during the Fulton Commish race a few years ago — that was dumb, dumb, dumb. The GOP will never forgive or forget on that one. Just shows that she can be a petty person.

I could support a Republican for Mayor of Atlanta — but they’d have to find a moderate Republican in Georgia, a rare species. But a Georgia Republican cannot admit to anything like moderation on social issues, tax policy, transit, etc. We only get Wingnuts like Westmoreland and Broun — and they don’t have a chance ITP.

Maybe Bloomberg will move to Atlanta and run. I’m sure the State GOP would get the bloody flux at the notion of Bloomberg using the word “Republican” — but he’d certainly fit into a truly non-partisan race.