Just posted at Bram's blog. he seems to think that the field for the 2009 mayor's race is about to close. The race has yet to begin. He wants to put out a 'last call' for candidates, it seems.
My reply:
Last call, what a joke. You don't get to proclaim 'last call.' And, it ain't happening now, fur sure.
In the last go-around, Mark DeStantis was unknown until after he was a write-in, in MAY.
It wasn't until New Year's Day, Jan 1, 2001, that Josh Pollock came boldly onto the scene with a front page P-G article about his race. His ink was the first to spill in that year and there might have been 7 Ds in the race that year.
It is a long road Bram. Don't do what the others do and declare others the 'lamb' before it begins. Progressives are to be 'open minded.'
The 'done-deal mentality' has been killing Pittsburgh for many decades. That has to be outed and put to an end.
Those who wish to champion the status quo are sure to rush the last call and end before it even began.
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8 comments:
I think falling off his rocker would imply that he's off base and unfortunately, he's right on point. I think Bram and most pittsburgh bloggers with any knowledge of city politics will tell you that there's a 99.99% chance that Luke will still be mayor in 2010. However, most pittsburgh bloggers, probably including Bram, will tell you it's a bad thing that we know that already. We'd love to be writing about an up and coming challenger who will at least keep Luke on his toes (DeSantis certainly did) if not have a serious chance of beeting him (Chelsea Wagner may have been the only one with a prayer), but no one has surfaced and we're running out of time for them to do so. That does not mean that we are "championing the status quo" just that we're saying there isn't likely to be a serious mayoral race next year.
Off base is what I mean, and it is unfortunate. He can get back onto the rocker again. Not fatal for Bram.
The FATAL or HURTFUL statement is the buy-in to the done deal mentality. Like there is a window of change and it is about to close.
Luke being mayor, to the 99.99% guarantee, is NOTHING about getting candidates still in the race at this early stage. Different topics.
Pittsburgh has too many 'know it alls' in 'high places.'
Chelsa could be the only one who could beat Luke if you're without creativity and imagination. Pittsburgher's are rick with both.
Luke could pull a typical politician stunt and have 40,000 votes swear against him in 5-hours.
Not only isn't it not over -- it has yet to begin.
I would love to agree with you, but Luke has tried over and over and over and over again to get people not to vote for him with "stunts" that should have turned 40,000 votes, but so far he has been unsuccessful.
"In the last go-around, Mark DeStantis was unknown until after he was a write-in, in MAY."
And he lost big.
It would seem given the lack of focus by the GOP and the political corruption in both parties that a quality third party candidate, ideally LP, could gain some ground in the upcoming PGH Mayor's race. While "Young Luke" may be a 99.99% shoo-in, there is no such guarantee that the GOP has such a number for second place.
"And he lost big."
He lost the election, but did he really 'lose'? After all, 35% of the vote as a republican in Pittsburgh is nothing to sneer at. Who really lost is the residents of Pittsburgh, who have to deal with the boy wonder and his mindless minions, like Matt. I don't think you can find a rational person who would disagree that Mark DeSantis would have been a better mayor then Luke. But grandma's swinging the 'Straight D' axe outnumber rational people in this town by far.
However, I love election season beacuse Luke is put under a microscope and that guy just plain screws up so much it's a good time for me...
So the snide "He lost big" comment is true on the surface, but very shallow.
Thanks, Burgher Jon. Yes it pains me to succumb to "stinkin thinkin", but I am only interested in candidates who can win, not make namby pamby fruity statements. For a candidate to win they need to build an organization and raise a lot of funds, which takes time.
I'm not saying we're out of time, but I am saying that if Shields enters the race, that becomes a 3 way race in which one of the ways has an inside track on almost all the anti-Luke East End support.
So if Shields is in, no other challenger can win in the Dem primary ... and as has been amply demonstrated, the odds of a non-Dem winning in this town are slim to nonexistent. It's as simple as that. So if anyone else would like to challenge Luke, they absolutely have to beat Shields to the punch and jump in before he sucks up the oxygen.
That's not me "declaring" anything except the cold hard facts.
Shields can, and has proven, he can suck up a lot of Oxygen. That is a cold hard fact. But, oxygen, as part of the air we all share, is still without a cost.
Oxygen isn't votes.
Shields could make a fuss -- but he hasn't been effective.
The upside to Shields in the race is for him to be a sparring partner for the others as he is such an easy target and talker.
But Shields won't want to do that for long. Perhaps a week or two. Perhaps an event or three.
Even when Shields was running all about town for all those years often in elections with O'Connor -- the aim was to NOT rock the boat and to NOT say much of substance.
Once, on day #1, in a campaign, O'Connor pulled out a new idea -- the trolley / street car from Oakland to Downtown via The Hill District. That idea went down in flames and was never touched again. It was a bight light of creativity that was blinding for its contrast -- and lack of defense. It was abandoned.
Interesting to note that Peduto pulled out his transit plan recently (heavy rail), again. Same problem, different tracks.
If Bram is interested in cold, hard, facts -- understand that if Shields is in, Shields can't win the D primary over Luke in 2009.
By all means, Shields could be one to help insure that Pittsburgh gets another mayor, other than Luke, in 2009. He has a number of pivotal roles to play if he wants to accept those challenges. But, being a winning D candidate in a primary isn't one of them.
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