EDITORIAL - Carbolic Smoke Ball likes the fact that Luke Ravenstahl brought our city national fame because he is, to put it in terms that are politically correct, atypical. Ravenstahl, at 27, is perhaps the youngest-ever mayor of a major U.S. city. Mr. Ravenstahl is not the answer for Pittsburgh, but we still think that the only way to draw attention to Pittsburgh on a national scale is to have a mayor that is a sideshow attraction.
Accordingly, we think it would be a hoot if Sophie Masloff were re-elected Mayor at age 89, and we endorse her today. Hell, she got herself on Letterman at the age of 70, and we dare say they'd have a parade for her if she were elected today. There is nothing wrong with having a mayor who's a side-show attraction. What difference does it make how we get the attention so long as we get it?
While Sophie is the best choice for this election, the question is, why are we limiting ourselves to mayors who are sideshow attractions only because of their age? What we really need to put us on the map is a mayor with pronounced congenital physical peculiarities, a circus freak of genetic-mutation proportions, a human oddity, an unfortunate mistake of nature.
Western Pennsylvania has sports teams that fit this description (e.g., the Pirates); roads (e.g., McKnight Road, Bates Street); even entire neighborhoods (e.g., Oakland). But none of these can run for mayor.
Is there any question that a two-foot tall mayor would be a world-class celebrity, and that having such a mayor would provide publicity to Pittsburgh that it otherwise wouldn't get? The question scarcely survives its statement.
Admittedly it would be preferable to be known for some accomplishment unique to the region such as, oh, being the steel capital of the world. But Pittsburgh has no such distinctions any longer, as much as we try to delude ourselves. So, today we endorse Sophie, but for the next mayoral election we say, "Circus freaks only need apply."
