Let's Talk Politics

The Pittsburgh mayoral race.

-Sigh-

This vote, I fear, is going to be for the lesser of the two evils.

In this corner, the incumbent “Lucky” Luke Ravenstahl (D), or as I like to call him, “Mayor Doogie.” The kid hasn’t the faintest clue what he’s doing, and spends most of his time either searching for Tiger Woods or hanging out in Dan Onorato’s pocket. His “plans” to revitalize the city are not very well-thought out, it seems. But still, he is young, and a young mayor would more than likely focus on things that are important to the young people around here—namely, attracting employers to keep young people in the region. As young voters in this region, it's our responsibility to be accounted for. Moreover, Mayor Doogie desperately wants to do well, which I think is probably because he is not yet far enough in his political career to be jaded. Thus, his electability is all based on speculation of what he could do, given he had a decent plan. We’ll see.

Summation? Meh.

In this corner, the challenger Mark DeSantis (R). Okay, please hear me out. I don’t dislike DeSantis because he is a Republican. Party affiliation really has very little to do with the job of mayor. As many of my peers have pointed out, he’s obviously not going to privatize Social Security within the city limits, nor declare war on a rival city (look out, Cleveland!) so the fact that he is a Republican in and of itself is a moot point. He does seem like a sincere guy with some good intentions, who has a genuine interest in rebuilding this city. Okay. The things that concern me: the fact that he wants to merge the city and county. As Mayor, he can’t actually force Allegheny County to do anything, but the fact that he doesn’t realize that this is not the best idea makes me nervous. I do understand, as is the argument, that fragmentation within local government can potentially result in economic and racial segregation, but in my opinion, the merging of the city and county in this situation would do nothing to solve the problems that we’ve already created for ourselves. And also—city residents, do you really want members of the Fox Chapel Yacht Club voting for your mayor? I certainly don’t. I enjoy having public transit.
Other things that bother me about Mark DeSantis: the fact that the man donated money to Rick “Dead Baby Under the Christmas Tree Because it’s Not Just a Fetus” Santorum and George W. “I Don’t Even Need to Come Up With a Funny Nickname Anymore” Bush. Plus the fact that DeSantis worked on the first Bush administration. Bottom line, party affiliation or none, the judgment calls that he has made have not impressed me.

Summation? Meh.

Final summation? At this point, none. Guess we’ll have to wait for the debates.

Pittsburgh residents, what are you thinking? If the election were tomorrow, who would you vote for and why?