Wednesday, September 2, 2009

'It's A Long, Desperation Pass...A Collision ... Some Confusion...And, Wait! Now Harris Has The Ball! It's Harris! Harris Is Still Running!!"

Judge Joseph James is reported to have rejected a bid to remove Dok Harris' name from Pittsburgh's mayoral election ballot.

The numbers (too many unchallenged signatures, plus too many challenged signatures) made this a longshot from the beginning, and a strange dumb strategic move by Acklin. (By the way, has Acklin publicly admitted his role? If so, I missed it and would appreciate enlightenment; if not, Acklin's reputation takes an unnecessary and strange hit.) In any event, Harris devoted time, money and effort to defending his ballot position.

The Propositions Board (far right column) will be adjusted accordingly (those who bet on the challenge are losers; the November odds are unchanged).

UPDATE: The Tribune-Review's initial report contains a curious sentence:
Judge Joseph M. James said the Harris campaign can fix the problems within five days.

This could be a showstopper or a trifle, depending on the nature of "the problems," and creates doubt about the value of each newspaper's first report.

13 comments:

Jennifer said...

The Acklin campaign had a press conference this morning to talk about it (Before the hearing) and Matt Prestonis on DUQ's website talking about it so I'm guessing that makes it official.

Laura said...

What did I tell you, Infinonymous? Hmm? Oh right. I won this one. Send over the money.

Sincerely,

Agent Ska

Infinonymous said...

You told me you believed my Board odds -- which were 4-1 against the challenge, making it a longshot -- weren't long enough.

I don't recall that you made a specific wager, but I know that the currency of any bet arranged with you would have been cookies rather than money.

Laura said...

I said he wasn't going to lose.

So if I wager cookies will you wager cookies, too?

Infinonymous said...

I prefer to discuss that privately.

Anonymous said...

Not that curious of a comment. James struck 1,500 signatures, and the elections division termed an additional 500 as "questionable". This on top of the errors that Harris was allowed to amend.

Anonymous said...

Not that curious of a comment. James struck 1,500 signatures, and the elections division termed an additional 500 as "questionable". This on top of the errors that Harris was allowed to amend.

Infinonymous said...

It is an intensely curious comment.

The headlines are "Harris secures place on ballot."

The Trib indicates that Judge James provided a five-day window for cure of undescribed shortcomings.

We don't know the nature or probabilities of the situation, short of reading Judge James' order or a transcript of his verbal rulings, because at least one of the newspapers (probably both) produced an inadequate account of the day's events. Neither newspaper published the order/transcript, either.

Has Judge James certified an adequate number of signatures?

Jennifer said...

Anonymous (andy? Matt?) That's innacurate. The Judge didn't strike 1500 signatures. As I understand it, our attorney said she was willing to stipulate worst case scenario to expedite the process once the judge reached 1770 signatures, which was more than enough. The Judge actually only found and threw out 5 bad signatures. You're using sloppy language to imply something that didn't happen. Tsk Tsk. Notice no one from our campaign office is running around posting anonymous comments implying inaccuracies or spreading rumors. In fact, I have actively dismissed rumors that Acklin's campaign is a tool of Ravenstahl. I don't believe Matt would do that. I'm certain Matt knows I wouldn't do that, and yet it seems the rumor is still being pushed out there. I don't really care because I dont think your tactics will have any affect on the campaign. But I've lost a lot of respect for people I used to think well of. Tacit complicity of the campaign in Rovian like dirty pool? Is that really where you want your career to go?

Bram Reichbaum said...

Infi:

My guess is His Honor is giving Harris one more lowish hoop to jump through to demonstrate gravity, just in case. The man is hella-wise.

Jennifer said...

Not from my understanding Bram and I'll double check, but that 5 days is standard opportunity ro do things like get an affadavit (sp?) From Chris Ivey that he is registered voter Christopher Ivey and he meant to sign a petition for Franco Dok Harris. But since they have more than enough signitures there was no reason to worry about that. Just more wasted time and money. But I guess that was the intention. Moving on....

Infinonymous said...

It is exceedingly unlikely that Judge James would have delayed certification of an adequate number of signatures. Before any reliable conclusion can be reached about this issue, the tasks to be completed within the five-day period must be identified. By failing to address this issue, the Post-Gazette and Tribune-Review have botched the story. It could be nothing, it could be everything.

Regarding the Chris Ivey example: If Harris is obligated to get an affidavit from every registered voter whose signature is to be rehabilitated for nicknames, "Pgh" and similar "defects," Harris has not yet reached the end zone.

Chris Ivey said...

Anyway... Kevin Acklin has a new enemy. :)