What an arrogant tool. Both WSB and WXIA say that this race is wide open and this guy comes out taking about Repub vs. Dem and proclaims that this race is down to him and Norwood? We call that wishful thinking where I come from. Get this guy outta here...he's as crooked as they come.

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Take a look at Kasim and the GOP. He can't get away just slinging mud. www.notkasim.blogspot.com

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@Atlanta - If this isn't evidence enough that Borders and Norwood will be in the runoff I don't know what is. Somebody ask Mr. Reed how he's going to work with the republican run state if he keeps painting them as evil crooks. Lisa Borders is the clear choice to challenge Norwood in the runoff. She's been transparent and played by the rules throughout her entire campaign and that's how I envision her mayoral administration.

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Reed is flapping in the wind which really makes me question that "poll" that came out earlier. He sounds desperate.

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I heard the Reed camp was beyond broke. Does anyone know how long this commercial is airing and on what channels?

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The Borders camp's desperation shows in these comments from Canopy et al. Towery's poll shows Kasim well ahead, so he IS the standard bearer against Norwood. He was the biggest money raiser last report. And the ad does not paint Repubs as crooks. It paints Mary as a Repub. That doesn't make it suddenly hard for Kasim to do what he's done for years, which is get what he needs for Atlanta from a Republican legislature. As to Lisa playing by the rules: where does her shakedown accusation against Glenn Thomas stand? It's entertaining, but not very mayoral.

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@Borders on the ridiculous - Re: Glenn Thomas - it's called full disclosure. The guy asks for money for an endorsement and you call him on it. Those are the rules of full disclosure. Your boy could use a lesson. And the tone of the message is clearly foreboding and negative, don't kid yourself. Before when he was co-authoring legislation that more than likely didn't pass, he hadn't painted republicans as shady Fox News caricatures that couldn't be trusted. Now that he has, those relationships are sure to have soured. And between airport contract leveraging, out of state contributions, and hip hop endorsements it's not surprising he had some money. My question is, why did he have to loan himself $100K? Was this before or after he skirted around releasing his tax returns?

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For those in District 6 who care to know, Liz Coyle is a dyed-in-the-wool Republican.

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Liz a Republican? Who'd a thunk? She's never seen a big-spendin' gummint program she didn't like, from endless school construction (despite a shrinking school population) to the Beltline. Ah well, a K Street Republican maybe.

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http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/freshloaf/2009/09/14/pennington-apologizes-for-eagle-raid-%E2%80%94-but-leaves-more-questions/ Coyle is strongly supported by Peggy Denby, so I think Republican in this instance is code for the "take back Midtown for the straight families who hate nightlife" variety.

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@Anonalawyer - you have a point about Liz Coyle and Peggy Denby. Guilt by Republican association, anyway. Ms Peggy is a key henchwoman of Lynn Irvin at "Campaign for Atlanta." The Irvins are big Buckhead Republicans, former Rep Bob Irvin (Lynn's husband) having headed the State House Republican caucus for many years and run against Saxby for the US Senate nomination. But Peggy also is in the city trough with that Keep Atlanta Beautiful deal, isn't she?

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The Buying of Alex Wan Part Trois is on the city's disclosure website. This month his out-of-district big / notable donors were Phil Kent (Turner Broadcasting), the Jungle Club on Faulkner Road, Georgia Better Government and the 'honorable' Steve Labowitz. In-district Kenneth Britt, former Alston & Bird lawyer and Arnie Silverman, city contractor. $11k all in. Beth Shapiro, Cathy Woolard's old sidekick, pocketed quite a bit of Alex's money in consulting fees.

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I am a proud card carrying liberal. Gay. Midtowner. Vote DEM every chance I get. But if it takes a white woman Republican to fix this mess then bring it on. What is she going to wreck? I know for a fact that she supports the gay community. She is involved in neighborhoods whites typically fear to venture and she works well with people of all races. She has my vote!

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CL has forgotten about the District 6 race, and the comments on this story provide the a reasonable place for a Vote-O-Meter update. The District 6 City Council race is close and will result in a run-off. Who will be in it is the question. The Vote-O-Meter forecasts that if that Council election were held today, the voting would be Liz Coyle – 31%, Alex Wan – 22%, Steve Brodie – 21%, Tad Christian – 18%, Bahareh Azizi – 5%, Miguel Gallegos – 3%. The race is tight, voters are shifting their preferences, and it is anyone’s ball game. Coyle is showing signs of stalling. Wan is pulling in big money. Brodie is gaining momentum, especially with his efforts against the SPI club on Peachtree. Christian is winning in yard signs. Azizi continues to impress but not when it comes to votes. Gallegos has faded.

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"never seen a big-spendin’ gummint program she didn’t like" Back when I was a Republican, that statement meant you were a Democrat.

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Brodie's fans will be on here soon making hay with his $4600 twin contribution from a Texas developer, Regan & Riley and Glen Plow. I've no idea what deal they're involved in, but let's hope it's not on 13th St.

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Hey Bahareh What is PAAIA of Connecticut Ave in DC and why do they give you $1500 for your D6 run, other than that you're a really nice person? OK, I looked on the Googles and it's Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans. Ahem, lucky Tad CHRISTIAN did not find out until this late in the campaign. Those 'Mary is a Republican' ads would have been as nothing! There are even fewer Iranian Americans in D6 than there are Chinese Americans (I'm looking at you Alex).

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(APN) ATLANTA -- Former State Sen. Kasim Reed may have received the endorsement of Atlanta's biggest labor union, but what these labor leaders may not know is that as an attorney, the Mayoral candidate has defended big corporations against cases being pursued by apparently victimized workers, including compensation disputes, sex discrimination, race discrimination, and violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Atlanta Progressive News used the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) database to identify federal cases where Kasim Reed served as an attorney for corporate defendants; he is listed as Mohammed Kasim Reed [his full name], an attorney at Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker. After working for Paul Hastings, Reed went to work for Holland & Knight. According to a 2006 article from the Black Commentator, the job description for Mr. Reed published on Holland & Knight's website read: "M. Kasim Reed represents employers in employment law matters, including sex, age and disability discrimination, civil rights litigation, and contract-related disputes… He has extensive experience representing employers before various state and federal courts, as well as before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and other federal and state administrative agencies." Incidentally, since that time all references for Reed have been apparently removed from Holland & Knight's website, which is unusual, especially when a firm should be proud to have a former employee running for Mayor of Atlanta. One of the most controversial clients that Reed represented was the national restaurant chain Cracker Barrel, which historically would neither serve Black customers nor employ homosexuals. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People filed an amicus brief on behalf of two workers, Serena McDermott and Jennifer Gentry, who represented a class of workers at Cracker Barrel. This essentially means Reed went up against the NAACP to protect Cracker Barrel. The suit was "filed under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and was served on Cracker Barrel on May 3, 1999. The MCDERMOTT case is styled a collective action, alleges certain violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and seeks recovery of unpaid and overtime wages," according to an 8-K filing with the Securities Exchange Commission by Cracker Barrel obtained by APN. "On March 17, 2000, the Court granted the plaintiffs' motion in the MCDERMOTT unpaid wage case to send notice to a provisional class of plaintiffs. The Court defined the provisional class as all persons employed as servers and all second-shift hourly employees at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store restaurants since January 4, 1996," according to the filing. "McDermott and Gentry allege that certain tipped hourly employees were required to wait 'off the clock,' without being paid the minimum wage or overtime compensation," according to Allbusiness.com. In a second case, Reed defended construction company Parsons Brinckerhoff against a sex discrimination case brought by Patricia Kay Wilson of Roswell, Georgia. In a third case, Reed defended real estate investment firm Hayman Company against a race discrimination case brought by Deloris Swann. Previously, APN reported that during the Spring 2009 quarter, Reed received more campaign contributions from real estate interests, developers, and construction companies than any other candidate for Mayor including Lisa Borders, and more than twice as much as Norwood. Perhaps Reed's record of defending real estate, developer, and construction interests in court is part of what made him such an attractive candidate to those interests. It should be noted that Reed's corporate donations, including those in the above sectors, came from all over the US, including cities like New York, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia. In a fourth case, Reed defended ATC Health Care against a claim brought by Marjorie Smith, alleging ATC's violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. In an additional case, Reed defended music industry giant BMG against a copyright infringement claim brought by Willie James Baker. This is probably just a small sample of similar cases where Reed defended corporate interests against apparently victimized workers, as this is merely his federal cases while working at Paul Hastings, and does not include any Holland & Knight cases. DEVELOPING... EDITOR'S NOTE: A reader emailed concerned about our reference to Reed as "Mohammed Kasim Reed" in a paragraph about his listing in PACER. The reference was made in case anyone wants to replicate our research on PACER; they will not find any references to "Kasim Reed" on PACER. The reference was not in any way intended to be racially charged, but simply a reference of fact. About the author: Matthew Cardinale is the News Editor for Atlanta Progressive News and is reachable at matthew@atlantaprogressivenews.com.

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