Spencerblog will be heading down to Chester soon to get a sense of the mayor's race. Butler vs. Linder. It's will probably be the closest race in the county.

UPDATE: I suspect this race will be more a referendum on the competence and tenure of Wendell Butler than on any big vote for "hope and change" expected from John Linder.

The city's unemployment rate will remain depressingly high no matter who wins. It's schools will be among the worst in the state. All Linder or Butler can do is preside over its continued decline.

Butler's attempt to claim the support of President Obama in billboards and elsewhere seems to have backfired. How badly remains to be seen.