Atlanta mayor responds to attack for not endorsing 2014 Democrats

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed responded Friday to a robo-call that some Democrats received, which criticizes the mayor for not doing more to help recent gubeatorial candidate Jason Carter (D) win, with a long statement bashing the Georgia Democrats' 2014 strategy of distancing themselves from President Barack Obama.

The news of the robo-calls broke sometime Thursday night or Friday moing. The automated call allegedly slams Reed for not endorsing Carter for goveor and urges Democrats to "never forget" Reed's inaction. The recording apparently questions whether Reed considers himself a "true Democrat."No one has claimed responsibility for the call and it has still not been posted online.

The sentiment behind the calls is not surprising. Just few days ago the Georgia Democratic Party chair DuBose Porter said that he Reed should have done more in the 2014 election cycle. This was after Reed criticized Democrats for not reaching out more to minority voters.

The mayor is not one to ever stand quietly when attacked, so Friday moing Reed unleashed massive Twitter rant against the robo-calls and whoever is responsible for them. Reed's Twitter handle is @Kasim Reed where the tweets can be viewed.

In addition, the Atlanta-Joual Constitution (AJC) posted a statement from Reed's communications director Anne Torres:

"There is no lack of short-term memory in politics.  In fact, it appears that selective memory is plaguing some members of the Democratic Party in Georgia specifically conceing the 2014 election results.  Certainly, a healthy debate of how Democrats can move forward after the midterm election is welcome and needed, but that is not happening here.

"The robo-call that made the silly claim that Mayor Kasim Reed did not do enough for Jason Carter to win this year’s goveor’s race and that he 'must decide if he is a true Democrat' was clearly sent by someone who is hoping that voters will have short term memory, and will be distracted enough to ignore how $30 million was spent to support this failed effort.

"True Democrats stand with their Party, even when overpaid consultants and campaign managers tell you otherwise.  When President Obama faced a tough re-election, I do not recall seeing these so-called 'true Democrats' standing to defend the President’s record and leadership.   They were not seen when the Mayor was riding from Tampa to Jacksonville or Orlando.  They were certainly not seen when he was campaigning in snow in Ohio.  However, Mayor Reed did stand behind President Obama, and when he ran for re-election as Mayor in 2013, he proudly accepted President Obama’s endorsement and support.  

"True Democrats do not lead their party to failure and then blame their loss on President Obama.  True Democrats understand that all voters matter – including African-American, Hispanic, and minority voters.  They work to communicate with key constituencies during the entire campaign, not merely at the end of it in a token fashion.

"True Democrats support policies that help people from all walks of life, like the minimum wage increase supported by President Obama, enacted by Mayor Reed’s administration for municipal employees and popular with Georgia voters…

"The Mayor’s position on this election has been clear and consistent from the start.  In July, in an interview with GPB’s Bill Nigut, he said that to win, the campaigns needed to invest $3 to $5 million dollars to engage minority voters, increase registration and tuout and speak to the issues we know Democratic voters care about.  His post mortem analysis is not a personal attack on Michelle Nunn or Jason Carter.  It is a repudiation of campaign strategies that repeat the same mistakes cycle after cycle.  It is a repudiation of a Party that backs away from President Obama and Democratic values…" (click here to read the entire statement)

Reed is not wrong in pointing out that Georgia Democrats, along with many others across the country, stayed away from the president and often criticized his policies. That might have been a major mistake for Democrats in 2014.

He is also not wrong by pointing out that Democratic candidates didn't necessarily run campaigns consistent with the party platform – the word "poverty," for example, was hardly ever used by anyone on the campaign trail or in the debates. Georgia has a sixth worst poverty rate in the nation.

But one must wonder if there are other reasons why the mayor didn't put his political weight behind Carter. Reed has had a very good working relationship with Georgia Goveor Nathan Deal (R). And historically, the incumbent in Georgia goveor races almost always wins.   

Towards the beginning of the 2014 cycle, Reed commented that Georgia Democrats should invest in the U.S. Senate race, which didn't have an incumbent and where Democrats actually had a fighting chance, over the gubeatorial race. Reed, who is very popular in the African-American community, never officially endorsed Carter. He did say he'd vote for the Democratic ticket, and he hosted a fundraiser for the state senator in September.  

Clearly, Carter wasn't the strongest candidate to run against the Republican incumbent. At just 39 years-old, he started in politics in 2010 when he was elected to Georgia Senate. Once there, Carter was never chosen to any leadership positions or sponsored a bill that became law.  In the debates, the young senator seemed to speak in generalities and political clichés, next to Deal and Libertarian Andrew Hunt who both went into great detail explaining their positions. Can anybody blame the mayor for not pushing a lackluster candidate?  

Reed has been very thoughtful in his political career. He was courted by Georgia Democrats to run for goveor and for U.S. Senate on more than one occasion. But Reed, after serving in the state House of Representative and the Senate, tued down the offers and focused solely on being a mayor. He's been very visible across the state, established good relationships and works well with Georgia Republicans, he is one of the most loyal allies of President Obama, and he's very popular among minorities.  Frankly, Reed is perfectly set up for a gubeatorial or U.S. Senate run once his second term as mayor ends. The only question is how much he needs Georgia Democrats at this point? With Obama's resources, he might not need them at all…