PITTSBURGH - In a move pundits are calling a desperate attempt to salvage Tuesday's election, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl has traded his youthful looks for the face of a Pittsburgh political icon, beloved late Mayor Bob O'Connor. Mayoral Chief of Staff Yarone Zober revealed that Ravenstahl had plastic surgery at Allegheny General Hospital early Saturday morning to make him look exactly like O'Connor. In addition, on Monday morning Ravenstahl will start the process of having his name legally changed to "Bob O'Connor."For the past several weeks, the mayor has been discussing with aides possible ways to overcome poor results in a secret poll commissioned by the Ravenstahl team that showed him trailing challenger Mark DeSantis. Ravenstahl has tried peppering recent campaign speeches with multiple references to O'Connor, often referring to him as his friend and mentor, but in the end it wasn't enough for the 27-year old novice. He decided he had to become O'Connor. "We decided that if we were going to lose this election, it's because people were voting against Bob O'Connor," said Zober.
Zober candidly admitted that at first it was "a little creepy" hearing Ravenstahl's monotonic voice coming out of Bob O'Connor's face. "But you get used to it."
Zober noted that Bob O'Connor's widow approves of the surgery. "She had wanted a statue erected of her late husband, but having a look-alike in the mayor's office with the same name is the next best thing."
