TORPY: Keisha Lance Bottoms a dream candidate — for the GOP

She’d be a dream candidate — for Republicans. Did I mention she was the mayor of ATLANTA?

I can see Republican strategists in their bunker chortling with malicious glee while concocting the grainy, black-and-white ads accompanied by sinister music.

First, there’s the ad of her shocking the public by suddenly announcing she would not run for a second term. The world was in a pandemic, and the city was besieged by a wave of violent crime, but she didn’t stick around to finish the job.

Then, there’d be a commercial showing video of the Wendy’s burning on University Avenue in June 2020, after a Black man was killed by police outside the drive-through. The scene became ground zero for the protests for Rayshard Brooks, the man shot to death in the parking lot there after attacking two cops trying to arrest him.

Granted, the city had little control over the angry protests or a chance to stop the arson. But the scene degenerated into a no-man’s-land where armed vigilantes put obstacles in the road to stop motorists, not letting some through.

I went there on June 21 that year and visited the charred ruins with a friend as two young gunmen gave us a “tour,” sometimes pointing their guns at us. “Don’t make any sudden moves, or you will get shot,” one told us.

It was so surreal and threatening that I had to write it up as a warning to Atlanta.

“Welcome to Mad Max in The ATL, a bizarre scene with a postapocalyptic feel,” I wrote.

Two weeks later, a car was fired upon near the “checkpoint.” Secoriea Turner, age 8, was shot and killed.

Civil rights lawyer Mawuli Davis, who sued the city and Bottoms, said: “They did know, and they chose to turn a blind eye to it and allowed this to happen.”

The lawsuit is working its way through the courts.

Remember, crime usually is right up there as an election issue, along with jobs and the economy.

Granted, Bottoms had her moments. Days before the Wendy’s burning, an angry Bottoms addressed people protesting the George Floyd killing and implored them to disperse after rioting ensued.

“This not a protest. This is not in the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr.,” she told them. “This is chaos. If you care about this city, then go home.”

And the year before all this, she made the usually cranky cops happy, giving them a raise that she had promised in her campaign.

Bottoms, who said she’d talk when she makes her candidacy official, has a steep hill to climb.

Credit: Jenni Girtman

Credit: Jenni Girtman

Roy Barnes, Georgia’s last Democratic governor, noted: “Anyone from the city of Atlanta is going to have a hard time. There’s such a suburb versus city bias. And a state versus city bias. It’s as old as the state.”

Yep. Many a pol has carved out a career beating up on Atlanta.

As one might expect, former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin takes exception to that contention.

“Atlanta is the capital city,” she said, adding that Bottoms “has quite the résumé and name recognition.”

Franklin said Bottoms left the city and later went to work in the Biden administration, noting that’s a solid reason for leaving after just one term. Two of the dozen people I interviewed noted that Bottoms now has national connections.

However, I don’t see anyone dusting off the former president and sending him down to Georgia to stump for Bottoms.

Franklin pointed to Stacey Abrams’ close race in 2018 against Brian Kemp as an example that anything can happen. It was an open seat. “But there’s clearly a benefit of being a white male, with people thinking they’re a leader,” Franklin said, concerning the tight margin of victory.

Abrams has not ruled out a third run, but that seems troubling — for Democrats — considering she lost so badly in 2022.

Black women are especially popular candidates in Democratic primaries and in Democrat-dominated metro Atlanta. Four of the five core metro counties are led by Black chairwomen.

But, again, Georgia is not metro Atlanta. And you must win in November.

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

This time, there is an open seat again and a midterm election where voters may have just had enough of Donald Trump and his MAGA lackeys. Democrats are excited and don’t want to blow a good opportunity.

Veteran Democratic state Sen. Emanuel Jones notes there’s a “wide-open field” and a spirited primary is “not particularly bad for Democrats.”

Other Dems mentioned in the race are: former state Sen. and Jimmy Carter grandson Jason Carter (who ran for governor and lost in 2014); former DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond (he’s the first Black candidate to ever win a state seat — labor commissioner — from “scratch,” meaning he wasn’t appointed first, but he also lost a U.S. Senate race); and state Sen. Jason Esteves, who has an upside because he’s a newcomer and can carve out a narrative.

Concerning Bottoms, Jones said: “My question is, is she listening to herself? Or to the public? Because I haven’t heard an outcry that Keisha Lance Bottoms should run.”

The Dems have a good open window and 18 months to climb through.

Or perhaps it slams on their fingers... again.