Congratulations to the Steelers for winning the AFC championship. I will admit that I almost prefer they would have lost, only because I hate to see die hard fans spending their money to go to Tampa Bay (which is where I believe the Super Bowl will be played this year). Some of them may not be able to afford it. But, hey, I don’t want to be the Grinch here. Go Steelers!
Well, another thing that bothers me about the Steelers win and if they win the Super Bowl is that Ravenstahl will be that much more popular going into the primary. I renew my musing that Carmen Robinson might be able to pull both the African American and the progressive vote. Being a lawyer and an East End resident, she has a couple of the prerequisites already. A couple of things would have to happen. First, Shields and Dowd would have to drop out of the race soon. Maybe not this second, but soon enough that if they threw their support behind Robinson, it would help. Second, Robinson would have to get out there to progressive places. Taza d’Ora (however it is written), the Quiet Storm, the Unitarian churches in Shadyside and the North Side, some thing in Squirrel Hill and some sort of event on Pitt’s campus. These are the places where she could reach out to progressives. She would need to find a progressive patter, even if it was just something about encouraging State support for solar, an Oakland downtown connector and human rights for all. The more she said, the better, of course, but there is still a strong ABL contingent out there among progressives, if the blogs are any indication.
Mind you, I haven’t met Ms. Robinson (or perhaps she prefers Mrs.). I don’t know if she is even a reasonable candidate. This is all by way of speculation. But I do believe she is the one current candidate that has a chance to cobble together a coalition that might beat the current Mayor. There is more she would have to do, of course. Dredge up and repeat the Mayor’s various escapades. Punch hard on the debt and the under funded pension funds. Find ways to encourage voters from the South Side, the North Side and the West Hills to at least stay home because they would be embarrassed to vote for Ravenstahl. All that would give her a chance to be the Democratic candidate for Mayor, which would make her a likely shoe-in in November.
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Ed, first off I thought you wrote a great letter to the PG the other day. Second thing - you are right about the mayor getting momentum if the Steelers win. I know a lot of Steeler fans who will probably vote for him just because he did that stupid name change gimmick. Last thing - if you want a chance at victory you should forget about Mrs. Robinson and start getting behind your councilman. He said he was still on the fence but receiving a lot of support to run. For all we know he could be quietly building his campaign team, or he may have already done so as I suspect, excuse me, I know he has thought about running for a long time now.
"I will admit that I almost prefer they would have lost, only because I hate to see die hard fans spending their money to go to Tampa Bay"
UGH!
Let's not look past Arizona.
Well, I knew I would get some flack for my comments... Perhaps the extra AFC championship shirts we will sell will help make up for people buying really expensive tickets for the Super Bowl. It would help if we won, and could sell even more shirts.
Chris, thanks for you first point, obviously I agree with your second. On your third point, I worry that Dowd has used up his capital in appearing to argue about minutiae with Doug Shields and others. On the flip side, this might be the one time when appearing to have little political experience but knowing your stuff (like Obama) might work for Carmen Robinson, at least with City progressives. She doesn’t automatically have the African American vote, but she ought to have the best shot at peeling it away fro Ravenstahl. But Dowd and Shields would have to get behind her for her to get the progressives, and talk to voters for her. Unlikely, I realize.
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