McCarter out, someone else in

The ABH says that States McCarter is out of the mayor's race. He's in, he's out, it's all part of the mayoral hokey-pokey. Given the somewhat disorganized nature of his entrance (seriously States, did you forget to tell Flagpole, or did you just blow them off?), and the very mysterious and sudden nature of his departure, this whole running for mayor thing just looks like an ill-conceived idea from a guy who finally came to his senses.

So why did States drop out? Well, barring the possibility that Tom Chasteen hired some thugs to shake him down, we're left with one conclusion.

He couldn't win, and he knew it.

But wait, doesn't States himself say that, "he believes he would have won"? On that, we're calling shenanigans. If he honestly thought he could have won, he'd still be in right now, barring, of course, family or health concerns, both of which he ruled out. Nope, States knew that he was going to get his ass kicked, so he cut and ran. And there's nothing wrong with that.

If States or his fans don't like to hear that as the probable reason for his departure from the race, we apologize. But unfortunately, the Commissioner was less than forthcoming with an actual reason, so we're left to draw what conclusions we may.

Of course it could be that he was scared out of the race when he realized that his anti-Bruno Rubio rhetoric had aroused the ire of the mighty journalistic behemoth that is Athens Politics. (We're obviously just kidding. Hilary was mad at him too)

The ABH also notes that States seems to have already hand-picked his replacement on the Commission. Hmm, we always thought that the correct time to create a political machine was before you became a lame duck.

So, who's going to jump in and fill the gaping void left by States McCarter? Andy Rusk thinks he can. Of course, he also says he wants to use the mayor's office to "publicize his beliefs" [emphasis ours], which, if you'll pardon us, sounds just a leeeeeetle bit self-centered.

Sez Rusk, "The mayor is a PR person, a figurehead."

No argument here, and most of the time, the mayor isn't even a particularly good figurehead. But the thing is, that the mayor doesn't have to just be a figurehead. Rusk's point about the bully pulpit is well-taken, but it should be a bully pulpit for the citizens that aren't being represented in government, not for the mayor's personal beliefs. Now, it could be that the ABH misquoted or distorted what Rusk was trying to say. We hope so, and it certainly wouldn't be the first time the ABH has gotten it wrong.

Still, it's nice to see a candidate who at least gives the appearance of being blunt and plain-spoken, but unfortunately, those candidates tend to lose (even if they do end up getting appointed chair of the DNC). So, even though it's still early, we wonder if Andy Rusk isn't going to end up being the Mike Hamby (ran for mayor in 1994, keep up people!) of this year's mayor's race.

Scoop us up, bitches!