Change, competition vital for Pittsburgh

Last week, Tony Norman, one of the members of the Post-Gazette’s editorial board, wrote… Last week, Tony Norman, one of the members of the Post-Gazette’s editorial board, wrote in his column that he received threats on his cell phone within hours of running an editorial endorsing Republican candidate Mark DeSantis for the mayoral election.

This comes as no surprise; after all, Pittsburgh is an overwhelmingly Democratic city, and there’s really nothing wrong with that. Cities come in diverse ideologies, and while many major population centers shift toward the left, there are many Republican strongholds as well.

However, there is something wrong with a city that refuses to allow change. As a Democrat and a self-described liberal, I believe that I embrace the true liberal ideology: to not judge a person by his or her race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or belief system. The problem is, many Democrats follow the first four principles, but never open their minds on the last one.

As a Democrat, I admit that I vote mostly for Democrats. I support Barack Obama in the race for president in 2008 and can’t much imagine a situation where I’d vote for one of the Republican candidates who are running.

One thing I understand, though, is that toeing the party line is just about as dangerous as you can get.

I work the polls as a Judge of Election in South Fayette Township. At the end of the night, when I tally the election results from my district, I notice an alarming amount of straight tickets among an alarmingly low amount of votes.

A straight ticket is the easiest ballot a voter can cast. One touch of a button, and all Democrats, Republicans or Reform candidates are highlighted. Many, if not most times, the voter has little to no idea whom the individual candidates are; they just know the party they choose to vote for.

I am a strong opponent of the “straight ticket” button. While I completely agree with a voter’s right to choose all Democrats or Republicans, I don’t believe they should be encouraged to do so. A voter should have to individually select every candidate for which they choose to vote.

Pittsburgh is, unfortunately, a “straight ticket” kind of town. Many people don’t know much about Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, or his former opponent, Mark DeSantis. In Pittsburgh, however, the words “Democrat” and “Republican” carry their own individual meanings, and most people are afraid to question them.

Personally, I don’t feel that Mayor Ravenstahl has done such a poor job. Most of the criticism that has befallen him is over his age; which, in my opinion, is an unfair and discriminatory argument. Those of you who know me personally (and many of you who don’t), understand my feelings on age discrimination.

However, in this last election, I supported Mark DeSantis for mayor of Pittsburgh, because I recognized this year as Pittsburgh’s one and only chance to break a horrible cycle – a cycle that has done little good for this city.

Democrats have been in charge in Pittsburgh for 73 years.

That’s all of my life, all of my father’s life and most of my grandfather’s life.

Doesn’t it make sense that when a party can count on being elected every year, they won’t have to do anything to prove their worth?

Competition is healthy, and there’s absolutely no doubt about that. When there’s one store in a neighborhood, they’re free to charge whatever they want, and nothing can be done about it.

The same goes with a political party. When there’s only one party, the party is free to act as they please – all the while being assured of a win the next November no matter what they do.

It’s a shame that Pittsburgh blew its chance to bring another store to the neighborhood on Nov. 6. It seems like the Democratic price will stay high in this city for the rest of my life – and probably my kids’ lives too.

Are you tired of a one-party system that’s been around for almost as long as the Communist Party controlled Russia? E-mail Peter at pbm1@pitt.edu and let him know.