DeSantis must play hardball - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Mark, you can win. But you must play hardball just to get to first base."Some coaching from Dimitri to DeSantis fills his Trib column.
The 'schooling' that DeSantis wants from the employees of the city should NOT occur in the first 100 days. Rather, I side a bit with Dimitri. The schooling needs to occur throughout the campaign and throughout the transition period.
After Bob O'Connor won the mayor's office in the early November election, I was puzzled at how long he took to do anything. The schooling and interviews and decisions need to come in the weeks after the November 6 election and before the early January period when the oath of office is taken.
The first 100 days needs to be celebrated with one big block party (I'd still like to throw mine in the Wabash Tunnel, by the way) and ninty-nine days of new leadership with real advances in policy and progress on many political fronts.
Furthermore, the first 100 days after this election need to be counted as 50. The vote in November 2007 is for a two-year term, not a four-year term. The first 100 days makes a nice benchmark for typical four-year terms. In these times, and in this situation, a 50-day review is in order.
Posts
3 comments:
Full article: DeSantis must play hardball
By Dimitri Vassilaros
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, July 30, 2007
Mark DeSantis was tossed a softball question that he could have -- and should have -- hit out of the park. But instead the Republican Pittsburgh mayoral candidate whiffed. Mr. DeSantis has the talent, time and treasure to mount a very credible campaign. But he must learn to play hardball if he wants to win.
DeSantis, a city native, has a killer resume that highlights years of experience and accomplishments in the private and public sectors. He dropped in last week to chat with the Trib. After listening to the sincere, number-crunching, policy wonkish, venture capitalist for about an hour, he inspired the following open letter:
Dear Mark:
The Republican Party is very fortunate to have you as a member, let alone its nominee. The guess here is that your I.Q. is greater than the sum of the nine members of Pittsburgh City Council. Your business acumen is reason enough to conclude you're the ideal person to tackle the massive financial problems of the virtually bankrupt 'Burgh.
story continues below
Consolidating the government's disparate budgets and pension obligations, issuing balance score cards to quantify the accomplishments of city departments and creating groups of police officers and private citizens to better fight crime are all fine ideas.
And since you claim campaign donations of more than $100,000 with the likelihood of an additional $400,000, you appear to be the best financed GOP mayoral candidate in memory.
However, given the lopsided advantage Democrat candidates have in Pittsburgh -- Dems outnumber Republicans roughly 5 to 1 in voter registration -- to win you must inspire the voting public.
You listed your issues online at desantisformayor.com:
* Confidence in our leaders
* Fewer and fairer taxes
* Efficiency, effectiveness and transparency
* Greater personal safety
* Sustainable economic development
* Bridging the cultural divide
They are so generic that even your main opponent, Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, could claim them as his.
When a question is lobbed about what Mayor DeSantis would do in the first 100 days in office, the electorate won't be electrified to learn that you'd want city employees to school you about how the government works.
But it could cause voters to wonder if you've done your homework -- especially since the position papers originally scheduled to be released by now won't be until the end of September.
Jake Haulk is president of the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. The local think tank seems to have a better understanding of Pittsburgh's finances than does the city. Mr. Haulk said he'd be more than willing to review the organization's studies about city finances to help you hit the ground running.
Since everyone knows that the city is a mess, just spell out what must be done to make it solvent. Chances are it will be the same strategy even if the city's finances are worse than they seem to be.
During your Trib visit, you mentioned Washington, D.C., several times but never mentioned the name of a Pittsburgh neighborhood. Mr. Ravenstahl likely knows them all and probably mentions them often.
You say "experience" is the chief difference between you and Ravenstahl, who's 21 years your junior. He's the one who has experience as mayor.
Mark, you can win. But you must play hardball just to get to first base.
Dimitri Vassilaros is a Trib editorial page columnist. His column appears Sundays, Mondays and Fridays. Call him at 412-380-5637. E-mail him at dvassilaros@tribweb.com.
This is a negative article about DeSantis from Dimitri.
The 5-to-1 number is mentioned, again.
Everyone knows the voter registration figures. Posting it in the article just rubs the nose of the candidate in the gloomy facts for no reason. Classic MSM (mainstream media) coverage.
The article calls out to DeSantis, so as to 'egg him on.' After being called an 'egg head' Dimitri does the 'egg on.'
Dare ya.
Dumb people might fall into that trap. The smart won't.
Bully picks on class brain for a fight on the playground -- man on man with hardballs!
Jeepers.
Dimitri also goes after ONE answer within an long conversation to base his rant upon. He does knock the generic framework statements on the web site, but that wasn't even about the conversation with the trib. The focus in on the negative of ONE answer among many.
Finally, what is the attibution of the letter. Was it a Letter to the editor? I don't know its context and orgin. Who wrote it?
Post a Comment