Their teamwork was absent

Rule one: Win by addition.

But, here is the rub in this election, as it was for DeSantis too.

Running mates.

Case in point: In the south neighborhoods, the Motznik sign was planted next to the Ravenstahl sign.

Neither Dok Harris nor Kevin Acklin had any running mates. Mark DeSantis didn't have any either.

The ones at the top of the ticket need others down the ballot. NEED em. Gotta have a team. A winning team would have lots of others with serious skin in the race.

If Kevin or Dok wanted to start a real movement, they would have had people with tight relationships within every school board campaign and in every city council race. Neither had any.

And as a final illustration to this point was a debate question. Kevin Acklin would NOT name one other person who would be in his administration.

Joint appearances are necessary. It takes two or more to tango.

In terms of teamwork (especially in a Pittsburgh political campaign), the opposition has a long way to go.

Republican Neugebauer hopes to oust Peduto from City Council

Republican Neugebauer hopes to oust Peduto from City Council His would be the first Republican blood in city government since the Great Depression, and he's the only hope for his party this year. It failed to field candidates for the other three council seats on the ballot Tuesday, and Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, a Democrat, won the GOP nomination for the top post via a write-in bid.

I do not know this guy. I do not vote in that district. But, the media is up to it typical tricks. This feature ran the weekend before the election. So, trick number one -- ignore, even the news worthy.

Then the other is to defame the opposition with this flashback of history since the time of dirt.

But all of this goes down the drain in 2009 if Luke Ravenstahl wins as he is on the ballot as a "R." And, if he isn't a victor, it is because he was on the ballot as a "R" too. But then we'd have another mayor who has been in office since the start of time who was an independent.

In other news, the city's all-Democratic government isn't monolithic on issues that don't matter much. On areas that count greatly, they walk lockstep. Those nine most diverse opinions are evident when it comes to spending money -- money that we don't have even.

Mr. Neugebauer also critiques Mr. Peduto for being "a little out of touch with specific neighborhoods. He focuses a lot on the overall city" rather than on the parts of Bloomfield, Friendship, East Liberty, North Oakland and West Oakland that round out the district.

Great. The old knock-em-down-for-being-global plank. Need more parochialism do we?

Jobs do this to you: "I've spent 15 years of my life working for the people of District 8," countered Mr. Peduto, counting his time as an aide to former Councilman Dan Cohen. "There isn't a week that goes by that I'm not at some type of community meeting, for 15 years." Because you've gone to 15 years of meetings as a paid employee, you are not entitled to another four years of pay checks. That is status-quo logic at its best.

I hope to meet Mr. Neugebauer some day and thank him for running. Where is his 'victory party' on Tuesday night? Post in the comments so that the word gets out.