[Chattanooga's new mayor, Ron Littlefield]
You heard about Hamilton County Dems last Saturday, now listen to what happened to Chattanooga this week. As if prelude of things to come, Chattanooga put a populist into the mayor's office this week. He wasn't supposed to win. His opponents had all the money--almost four times as much. His opponents had all the glitz and glamor, and they had the power. In fact, everyone said his opponents were supposed to win!
But populism was striking hot against a local plutocracy called RiverCity Co., a group of very wealthy developers who have used public/private money to control downtown development. But the underdog and Democrat, Ron Littlefield, generated such an earthquake in this quiet city that even I was astonished. I was there reporting on his victory at the Littlefield headquarters, April 12. We were crowded in a warehouse on 11th St. I've been reeling since, trying to figure why all of a sudden would Chattanooga and Hamilton County be the hotbed of populism Dean-style.
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