Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Pens Fans—A Major Voting Bloc?
A specious argument that has run through the debate over the financing of a new arena for the Penguins is that if a deal fails to come to fruition and the team leaves town, the elected officials had better look out. According to this argument, the County Executive and the Mayor will certainly feel the wrath, just maybe not this election cycle since they appear to be pretty safe. One columnist noted “a small but highly vocal and deeply passionate Penguins fan base that would do everything in its power to have Onorato and Ravenstahl defeated the next time they dare run for office. Beyond that, people who believe sports are important to the region also will take a dim view of the Penguins leaving and feel new leadership is needed.”
Really? The next time both are running for office is in two months. Between them they have one opponent. Not much of an uprising there. And don’t forget that many Pens fans live outside the City and Allegheny County, meaning that they would have no ability to vote in these elections anyway.
Maybe he meant the “next next time”. Assume that the Executive aims for the Governor’s office in 2010. Are we to believe that a “small but vocal” group will make sure he does not win? Or that this will be the dominant issue? The job cuts in County government and the planned ones at the Port Authority would still have more of an electoral impact between displaced employees, their family, and their friends who will turn out to vote against the candidate. A platform that includes making government smaller, controlling spending, and “fixing” property taxes would probably play very well statewide.
And what about the voters who feel that the approach taken by the officials, even if it results in the Penguins leaving town, are doing the right thing? Does their vote carry any weight? Surely the columnist and the vocal fans recall that voting for the Plan B funding did cost some officials their jobs and they have yet to return to office as of yet. There are those who feel that sports are important but do not want sports kept at any cost.
If Pens fans are contemplating making a political donation to opponents of these officials in the future, maybe that ought to make the check out to the Pens instead. Putting down a hefty deposit on future season tickets might help with the financial picture of the franchise and its ability to settle on an arena deal.
Really? The next time both are running for office is in two months. Between them they have one opponent. Not much of an uprising there. And don’t forget that many Pens fans live outside the City and Allegheny County, meaning that they would have no ability to vote in these elections anyway.
Maybe he meant the “next next time”. Assume that the Executive aims for the Governor’s office in 2010. Are we to believe that a “small but vocal” group will make sure he does not win? Or that this will be the dominant issue? The job cuts in County government and the planned ones at the Port Authority would still have more of an electoral impact between displaced employees, their family, and their friends who will turn out to vote against the candidate. A platform that includes making government smaller, controlling spending, and “fixing” property taxes would probably play very well statewide.
And what about the voters who feel that the approach taken by the officials, even if it results in the Penguins leaving town, are doing the right thing? Does their vote carry any weight? Surely the columnist and the vocal fans recall that voting for the Plan B funding did cost some officials their jobs and they have yet to return to office as of yet. There are those who feel that sports are important but do not want sports kept at any cost.
If Pens fans are contemplating making a political donation to opponents of these officials in the future, maybe that ought to make the check out to the Pens instead. Putting down a hefty deposit on future season tickets might help with the financial picture of the franchise and its ability to settle on an arena deal.
