Friday, November 2, 2007

Peduto Wants You to Vote for DeSantis

We don't want to put words in the Councilman's mouth ... but we must.

It is apparent to us from context clues that one-time Democratic mayoral contender Bill Peduto would rather see you vote for Mark DeSantis than for Luke Ravenstahl -- or even than for himself.

When we interviewed him back in June, here is how we reported the conversation:

Getting back to politics briefly, we mention Mark DeSantis. "No, no, no. I'm not getting involved."

Peduto had told us earlier "it would be hypocritical" for him to come out and support Ravenstahl, considering his recent opposition. Yet that was not what we had in mind.

We asked if it wouldn't break his heart, if he had to watch some of his strongest supporters, his web-based policy-action committee and his progressive reform network, come out in favor of a Republican for mayor.

He had to think about that for a few beats.

"Would it break my heart?" he asked. "No. Not in a non-presidential year."

That was significant enough. Then came the interview on WQED yesterday evening, which aired before the final debate.

Peduto was chewing the fat with a reporter in Bloomfield, when it just so happened that DeSantis walked past with a cadre of supporters (woops -- we meant reporters -- Freudian slip!) across the street.

Bill popped up and outside to holler, "Hey, find your own neighborhood!"

Hahaha. The thing was, he then crossed the street to make a joint appearance.

Of course when the reporters asked him if he was supporting DeSantis, he repeated his line of "No no no, I'm staying out of it" -- but he definitely allowed himself to get embraced by the challenger.

Mark teased him by saying into the cameras, "I want to thank you so much for all your support!"

Hahaha. This was an eminently avoidable situation, if Peduto was really that uncomfortable with DeSantis. Instead, they looked as friendly as siblings.

And why not? Both of them are geeks at heart. Both of them are good-government reformers. Neither of them are the biggest Luke fans in the world.

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From a pure gamesmanship standpoint, when the Councilman makes his run in '09, the narrower Luke's margin of victory this year, the better. A vote for Mark accomplishes this twice as effectively as a write-in for Bill.

You may be thinking, what if Peduto can manage to make an impressive showing with write-ins? Unfortunately, that's not really possible. Anything less than 5% looks extremely negligible -- we all already know Bill has his partisans -- and anything greater than 6% is thoroughly inconceivable -- too few voters will recall his name on the spot.

Besides -- if Peduto was angling for, or interested in, write-ins -- we would have heard about it by now.

Some of the hard-core Pedutoites might still be itching to tap out the name of their hero. The Comet, however, is reasonably certain that The Man himself is looking forward to voting for DeSantis.

8 comments:

  1. Their "chance" meetup in Bloomfield was clearly planned. Peduto showed his true (Republican) colors.

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  2. Or perhaps DeSantis showed his true (progressive) colors.

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  3. Bram Reichbaum writes:

    "Or perhaps DeSantis showed his true (progressive) colors."

    Cracker please!

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  4. I think you're right about Peduto. If DeSantis wins, it's bad for him, since he clearly won't be the favorite in a Dem primary with non-Luke Dems like Lamb, Ferlo, etc., (or a tainted, recently defeated Luke) as primary opponents.

    But a weakened Luke will still keep the Dems that are unlikely to challenge an incumbent mayor, particularly this incumbent, out of the fray.

    Naturally, this is what's best for Bill - his main focus.

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  5. I'm not so sure a DeSantis victory wouldn't be good for Bill. Luke would be remembered as a conservative Democrat; the thinking might be that the Dems screwed up by blurring party distinctions and failing to run a real Democrat's Democrat, a liberal Democrat.

    Related: Did you say, "Ferlo"? Like, does Jim have a son or daughter with whom to grace us?

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  6. no luke will be remembered as a screw up..and what makes you think that the Dems are looking for a progressive..they had one and he walked away from them

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  7. I called Bill Peduto out a couple of months ago with an open letter about this topic. He replied within hours.

    What's wrong -- not with Bill -- but with the whole lockstep boosterism is the blowback.

    When anyone in the D-camp breaks ranks, they get spanked. Payback is a bitch. And, the threat of punishment is always looming large.

    This is why folks like Jeff Koch, who know better, will say little about the evil that may hit council in his old seat should Kraus take his two-faced ways to Grant Street.

    In this example I raise, there are no political implications for a run in 2 years.

    The mentality of "To the victor go the spoils" kills this city.

    The lockstep boosterism for the sake of personal survival sucks.

    Few are free to do and say the right things for the sake of the greater good and the city, beyond one's personal gain -- or lack of personal harm.

    http://Elect.Rauterkus.com

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  8. http://republicansforravenstahl.blogspot.com/

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