Lomax thinks the election will come down to a few key endorsements. Other players, influential preachers included, will follow the endorsements and, the thinking goes, the votes will fall in line. That could be good for Franklin. Young is a member of her campaign committee. Langford says endorsements might have once been essential, but it's debatable now.
People now evaluate it for themselves.
The election will turn on who is willing to work hardest for an Atlantan's vote. The black community wants to see that, wants you to earn it, Langford says. They want to see excitement. Both Langford and Lomax could be right, because the excitement has seemed to follow Jackson. The former mayor could not be reached for comment, but given that his once-powerful but revived brain trust is aligning around Franklin, you get the sense that the election might come down to a referendum on his enduring influence.