Our rhetorical salvos upon the House of Ravenstahl (link, link, link, link, link, link, link, link, link) mean nothing if we fail to give credit where credit is due.The P-G's Dan Majors provides us with that rare pleasure.
And it was the Ravenstahl campaign, by agreeing to participate in seven debates, that provided him the forum to take those shots. Dr. Shuster called that exposure "overkill."
"Most strategists tell you that an incumbent shouldn't give his challenger any more opportunity for visibility than is absolutely necessary," Dr. Shuster said. "I would have cut it off at four [debates], and said, 'Hey, buy your own ads on TV.' "
The mayor, however, said the debates were just as vital to his campaign as they were to the challenger's.
"I thought it was [important] for the public to hear where I stand," he said. "I've never had the opportunity to run citywide before. I embraced the opportunity to debate my opponent and illustrate the differences between myself and my opponent. I'm satisfied. It gave me the opportunity to get my message out there.
"It's part of the public process, and it's for the residents of the city of Pittsburgh. This isn't about me or my opponent, it's about the future of the city, and anytime you can have a debate and a discussion about that, it's important for the voters."
It seemed for a while like Ravenstahl would dodge the debates, or at least format them out of meaningfulness. But it was not so. The Comet enjoyed the plethora of debates this season, and feels better informed than before.
Way to go.
Now, for the latest in Luke Ravenstahl poisoning your children, see link and link.
Luke gets some credit for the debate participation.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the debates were considered prep for 2008? Better to learn how to debate against somebody you are going to beat. Like Luke said he never ran a city wide campaign. We will see tomorrow if the plan back fired a little.
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