It was actually a fairly big day in local politics. Luke Ravenstahl released a 11 point plan for a Pittsburgh Renaissance III and upgraded his website. But that was quickly overshadowed by the announcement that Franco Harris’s son, Franco “Doc” Harris, is getting in the race as a independent. Harris could garner quite a few votes, especially since Franco Harris is arguably the most popular former Steeler ever. If Doc Harris had run in the primary he might have siphoned off enough African-American votes to give Dowd a chance. Which is why it is clever of him to run as an independent (IMO). He might get enough Republican, progressive and African American votes in the general to win.
But I actually want to talk about Ravenstahl’s 11 points (which I have not memorized any of yet). This appeared on his website sometime in the recent past (maybe today, timed to coincide with the announcement). There is a certain amount of genius in these eleven vague statements, and apparently Luke has already given general answers when asked about what he has done specifically done already on any one of these points, or what he plans specifically to do to achieve these goals. Luke doesn’t do specifics, but the average voters love him for it. He’s not as boring as a lot of those DC politicians. Instead Luke is (still) like a college kid, smart and earnest but also someone who knows how to have a good time.
(devil’s advocate mode) To the average voter, these eleven points look like a lot of specifics. Just them being there makes it sound like Luke has done a lot of homework, and then explained it better than that Mark DeSantis ever did. DeSantis rambled on about micro-loans and letting workers rush out of the City. Luke told him, not gonna sell da city down da river (or up da river, or whatever). Luke is good at explaining things with just the right amount of details, so the average guy gets it. Let the brainiacs take a job in Luke’s administration, pushing pencils around. Meanwhile, Luke can make the big decisions the City needs. (/devil’s advocate mode)
You thing I’m wrong about the average voter? Wait till the primary. Pat Dowd needs to grab the attention of the average Joe soon, or all will be lost.
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2 comments:
It's actually "DOK" Harris, D-O-K, not DOC.
Agreed with your points about Luke keeping it simple, although I don't give him as much credit since he doesn't have the capacity to go beyond that.
My bad on the spelling of "Dok", I saw that but still typed the familiar.
Unfortunately, the simple resonates well with a lot of voters.
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