Wednesday, December 16, 2009
News Mary Norwood reflects on runoff loss
Posted by Scott Henry @ScottTheHenry on Wed, Dec 16, 2009 at 6:45 PM
Councilwoman Mary Norwood, who came within 715 votes of being Atlanta's first white mayor in three decades, has found a friendly ear for whom she could unburden her thoughts at having lost the Dec. 1 runoff to now-Mayor-elect Kasim Reed.
"We came so close to winning and we lost. It just breaks my heart," Norwood admits in a lengthy sit-down with Matthew Cardinale, aka Atlanta Progressive News. "I took on the entire political establishment. You know what that's like; you've tried to take 'em on."
Because it's probably the only place you're going to see her talk openly about such matters, here are some other tidbits from her interview:
- Norwood plans to launch a "citywide coalition of people that care tremendously about the city." It's not clear whether she's talking about a political interest group or an insurgency.
- The second front in the battle for the mayor's office was waged in the comments sections of local blogs (like the one you're reading now!). "They [Reed's campaign] had an amazing group of people representing their group on the blogs every day," Norwood says.
- Shockingly, political fundraising is a bitch. "I literally had to make thousands and thousands of phone calls. I was on the phone over a year nonstop asking for money," Norwood explains.
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Norwood concedes that her "I'm not a Republican" TV ad — which most pundits cite as her biggest gaffe — may have alienated some of her core supporters. "The campaign made the decisions they made. And what we know is that I was portrayed in a light that was not flattering and not accurate and I responded to that," she says. "Did I lose some votes? Probably, but I came in first place" in the general election.
For the time being, Norwood is busy cleaning out her Council offices. For someone who constantly complained she was denied access to city documents, Norwood claims to have a surprisingly sizable repository of ephemera:
"I'm packing up boxes and boxes of knowledge so I don't lose the institutional knowledge and work at City Hall. We've got 16 file drawers full of information. Those will be boxed up and stored. When we start the organization, it will be a great repository of knowledge and information for citizen."
(Photo by Joeff Davis)
Comments (10)
Showing 1-10 of 10
Mary, my blogospheric criticisms of you did not cost Kasim one penny. Whether they changed any votes is unknowable. Despite your usual scatter-brained comments in the APN interview, I'd still like to see what you could do as Kasim's Planning commissioner. The real estate slump will keep Kasim and his developer buds from doing anything too devastating, but it still would be good to have a self-professed neighborhood friend over there.
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MARY I WAS ROOTING FOR YOU 100% BUT WHEN YOU DECIDED TO PLAY THEIR POLITICS YOU LOST ME AND PROBABLY MANY MORE...
Claiming people on Creative Loafing blogs (or blogs in general) were paid by the Reed campaign is as asinine as her choice in pant suits. Almost every person with actual thought out comments were people who have been on these blogs for years. Mary Norwood truly is a Republican: When things dont go your way, start blaming those nasty liberals in the media.
Seriously...that worm Norwood thinks the blogs cost her the election? Oh, it is to LAUGH!
Just wait and see what Reed does/does not do for this city. He is just more of the same... and his developer friends will ensure that you and I have no part in what happens to this city. And of course having Scott Henry act as your defacto PR Director also helped get him elected.
Some really unnecessary pot shots at a failed candidate. You're actually making fun of the number of documents she's gathered over her tenure on the Council. How many years has she been on the council, CL? Have you performed an analysis of the documents she said she hasn't rec'd vs what she does? Cheap shot. But I'm learning that's the CL M.O. A word to the wise, there's a difference between irreverant writing and the ignorance you regularly accuse Atlantans of.
Now we see why he campaign went up in flames at the end. She has absolutely no clue why she lost this race.
Norwood had a ton of astroturfers on the local blogs too, not to mention APN pretty much in her pocket. To complain about how Reed had folks on the blogs is just silly at this point.
Mary got what she paid for in terms of a social media and online campaign strategy. Maybe next time she'll take new social media and online campaigning seriously, and hire someone who knows what they're doing, rather than some unfocused flake with with a laptop and absolutely NO strategy to present, and absolutely NO knowledge of the Atlanta political blogosphere. Maybe she'll actually participate in the process herself. With an authentic voice and presence online. We never heard an authentic Norwood voice in ANY online medium or platform. All we heard out was a constant stream of canned, plastic "Hi, I'm Mary Norwood. Vote for me! I'll lower taxes!" "Hi, I'm Mary Norwood. Vote for me! I'll lower taxes!" "Hi, I'm Mary Norwood. Vote for me! I'll lower taxes!" "Hi, I'm Mary Norwood. Vote for me! I'll lower taxes!" "Hi, I'm Mary Norwood. Vote for me! I'll lower taxes!" "Hi, I'm Mary Norwood. Vote for me! I'll lower taxes!" "Hi, I'm Mary Norwood. Vote for me! I'll lower taxes!" "Hi, I'm Mary Norwood. Vote for me! I'll lower taxes!" That got some seniors into their Buicks... and very little else. Welcome to the future of politics... as Norwood slept through it all. Pity.
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