Wednesday, July 11, 2007

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?

10 comments:

nB said...

Candidates running for anything in Pittsburgh have no choice but to say they want to "rebuild" the city. Genuine interest or not, what else are they going to say?

Urban Jeff said...

I hate politics, but I did go on the bike ride with Lucky Luke. I shook his hand and thanked him for his support of the cycling community.

Did he actually get into a fight with your cousin in high-school?

Mark Rauterkus said...

The bike lanes in Pittsburgh are a joke. I want real bike lanes. We should have real bike lanes for hundreds of worthy community reasons.

I too look forward to the debates.

I too have serious problems with a "R" like DeSantis. I'd love to see him say he supports a Republican like Dr. Ron Paul.

Time will tell. Let's all keep an open mind.

Anonymous said...

Let me jump on this, Katie my pal.

Mark DeSantis won't win...I considered running for goodneess sake...hope to get the "Krazy" vote.

But anyway, Lucky has pedigree in the form of two politically entrenched parents.

I beg of you, vote for DeSantis just so nepotism doesn't win yet again in this rust-belt union-stronghold yet again.

See you on the 21st? You guys have missed TWO shows now. I'm feeling unloved.

Trapper

k_maxi said...

Jeff- the "fight" between Luke Ravenstahl and Joe was staged...at North Catholic, Joe used to film a segment of the morning announcements called "Dorkumentary," which usually involved him interviewing lunch ladies. There is one episode in which Luke Ravenstahl, then captain of the football team, throws Joe into a locker. Ask him to see the video some time!

Trapper--if Ravenstahl doesn't win, I would think it'd be more because of party affiliation (people love tags) and less because of nepotism--even if nepotism got him where he is now.

Thanks to everyone else for their feedback! Keep it coming!

Anonymous said...

KT,

The Party affiliation goes without saying. Jesus himself couldn't win in the city if he were a Republican.

Sad but true.

Trapper

Schultz said...

Before you judge Mark DeSantis take some time to get to know him first. I was just fortunate enough to have lunch with Mark and a fellow blogger (Mike Madison of Pittsblog) here on the Southside and I have to say that without a shadow of a doubt Mark DeSantis is very passionate about running for Mayor and working to make Pittsburgh the best it could be. I repeat - he wants what is best for Pittsburgh, what is best for me and you, what is best for the future of our city. He is not in this race to get on Letterman, get on billboards, meet actresses, or golf on UPMC's dime.

DeSantis is running to change the way the city is run, to make Pittsburgh a safer and cleaner place to live, and to make it a better place to do business. If you took away party affiliation from the two candidates and this race was decided based on the experience and leadership of Ravenstahal and DeSantis then DeSantis would win hands down.

Thanks for listening,

Schultz, a Democrat for DeSantis

Anonymous said...

Schultz,

Don't get me wrong. I wrote DeSantis' name in, and will vote for him again in the fall.

I haven't got my fundraising call yet; I work for a company that provides outgoing and incoming Voter's Voice calls, and I haven't heard from his campaign yet.

We need others to support him as well.

Trapper

Anonymous said...

I don't live in the 'Burgh, so I can't vote BUT, I have noticed that 40/60 years of Dems running things has not exactly enriched the local econ nor lowed taxes in a near dead rust belt, union dominated area. So you figure it out.

Gunn Lino

Unknown said...

From my humble libertarian standpoint, I am VERY tired of watching business after business being driven out of this city due to excessive taxation and anti-capitalist policies. I am very pro-DeSantis and hope to see Mayor Opie go by the wayside. However, Pittsburgh hasn't had a republican mayor since 1936 and Dems outweigh Republicans 5 to 1 in this town, so predicting this outcome isn't rocket science...