This election

I swear this is my first stop on the internet, after cruising past my homepage (the NYTimes, traitor that I am to Pittsburgh). I haven’t looked at Null Space yet this morning, but I can guess what Chris Briem is saying: lower than even expected turnout. Last night I commented on 2PJ’s how the Mayor is vulnerable because of how close the race was. And it was closer than in 2007, but the real story is those voters who either a) really wanted Acklin or Harris to win and voted, b) were discouraged by Acklin/Harris’s prospects and stayed home, c) wanted Ravenstahl and/or the straight Democratic/Republican ticket to win and voted, d) thought Ravenstahl was a shoe in and stayed home or e) didn’t care and stayed home

We have little or no way of finding out why the vast majority of registered voters stayed home. Occam’s Razor suggests that voters either didn’t think the Mayor was going to lose, or that they don’t like the Mayor but not so much as to bother to vote when they think it won’t matter. Either way bodes ill for Pittsburgh, especially for a town that has as many older citizens as we do, percentage-wise. They are supposed to have higher participation rates.

So once again local political bloggers and other interested parties can grumble that if Pittsburghers really knew how Ravenstahl behaves, at least a bare majority would vote against him. In other words, politics as usual.

Now to go read Null Space.