“Bottoms is Atlanta’s sixth consecutive black mayor since Maynard Jackson was elected in 1973.”
And?
This was a very narrow victory, with Bottoms basically eking out a victory over a right-of-center Demopublican who paradoxically had the support of progressives–who hate Bottoms with a vengeance, it would seem, on account of her insiderness with the D party ‘machine’. I’d like a TPM commenter to shed some light on this. If there’s one thing that could stop the Blue Wave, it’s the combination of the avarice and stupidity of D officialdom and the purity politics of certain self-styled idealists.
(In NY we have a possibly similar grassroots aversion to Gov. Cuomo, who is basically the embodiment of D cronyism and the corruption of Ds by hedge fund and real estate interests.)
Cuomo’s a product of the old NY Democratic machine, going back to his grandfather (an influence-wielder with alleged mafia ties). At the same time, though, that’s kind of one of the reasons he’s a lot more effective than many alternatives would be. I’d rather have someone like him up in Albany than someone more… feckless, no matter what the purity police say. Seems the voters of Atlanta feel similarly.