Home > Ballot Blogs > Archives > 2006 > November > 01 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USTaylor stops at Halloween bash
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When you are 14 years old and throw parties for a living, having Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor crash one is a big deal. Just ask Keely Monge.
Keely, a freshman at Westlake High School and the owner of Kaffeti Event Planning, threw a Halloween party at her grandmother’s Regency Hills subdivision, a well-appointed neighborhood in South Fulton.
As part of his evening tour through Atlanta to meet potential voters, Taylor stopped by as a guest of Rep. Roger Bruce (D-Atlanta), who also lives in the subdivision.
“It is exciting that he came. I didn’t know he was coming,” said Keely. “It is a great opportunity for him to get more voters. I have been with Mark Taylor from the beginning.”
Keely’s Halloween party was the second of three stops that Taylor made Tuesday night at holiday gatherings.
“I think he has got an excellent chance of winning. To have a sitting governor with less than 50 percent in the polls is saying something,” said Bruce, citing recent poll numbers, which show Perdue leading the three-man race, but with only about 48 percent of the vote. “We are going to work like crazy for the next seven days.”
After Keely’s party – which Taylor said he didn’t want to leave because the music was so good – he visited a sick constituent, before heading to Greenbriar Mall, where he met with trick-or-treaters.
He met princesses.
He met several Supermans.
A couple of Spider-Mans, a few angels and a sprinkling of pirates.
Equally important however was meeting with the parents, who clamored to have their children photographed with the gubernatorial candidate.
Renee Anthony and Cotrina Jones said they had just been speaking about Taylor, when he walked past them.
“We were just talking about voting for him,” Anthony said. “Then we bump into him. That’s something.”
With that Jones gathered her daughter, Isley Millender, Anthony’s son, Reggie Anthony and little Kira Campbell for a picture.
The Big Guy with two princesses and a crying pirate.
“As a parent and a voter, I planned on voting for Mark Taylor,” Jones said. “And I wanted to get his picture with my daughter so that she can look at this when she gets older – and hopefully a responsible voter.”
Taylor’s first stop of the evening was as Cascade United Methodist Church, where he attended the church’s annual holiday gathering.
“To all the young people, all the trick or treaters, say thank you to whoever brought you to church tonight,” Taylor told them. “And study hard and be HOPE scholars. Everybody can dress like HOPE Scholars.”
Cascade’s pastor, the Rev. Marvin Moss, said it was important to have Taylor at the church to instill in his members the importance of voting.
On Wednesday, Taylor is scheduled to worship at Friendship Baptist Church and Ebenezer Baptist Church.
“We want to make sure that we provide the opportunity for all persons to be informed about the election process so they can make the best decision,” Moss said.
At Cascade, aside from the parents, Taylor found host of informed constituents – even those who couldn’t vote. Donavon Edwards, 9, recognized Taylor as soon as he walked into the party.
“Why do you have a Pinocchio nose on in that commercial,” Donavon said, talking about one of Perdue’s campaign ads were he paints Taylor as a liar.
“Because Sonny Perdue is trying to make me look like a bad guy,” Taylor responded. “But I am not.”
Donavon then put his hand on Taylor’s shoulder.
“I would vote for you,” he said.
Permalink | | Categories: Campaign trail diary: Taylor
