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Over the past few weeks, the campaign rhetoric of Patrick Dowd, vying for incumbent Len Bodack‘s District 7 seat, has ratcheted up — so much so that Dowd’s camp has taken to calling his opponent “Boduck,” to suggest the councilor has dodged invitations to participate in debates.
“He’s been ducking every opportunity to interact,” says Dowd, a teacher at the Ellis School and a Pittsburgh Public Schools board member. “Does he not feel comfortable with his record?”
Not so, counters Bodack. “I’d put my record up against his. I’ll bring my campaign to the people.”
Dowd’s campaign manager, Abby Wilson, says the campaign has sent three letters to Bodack requesting debates, but “we haven’t heard a peep.” Wilson adds that Bodack’s campaign headquarters — which is located on the floor above his Butler Street district office — is inaccessible.
But Monday morning found Bodack in his sweats at his campaign office doing a 10-mile run on the treadmill, watching Country Music Television — and fielding questions from a reporter.
The councilor says he won’t agree to weekly debates, because they would only serve Dowd.
“He wants me to build a crowd for him; I can’t let his campaign run my campaign,” says Bodack. Plus, “My grandpa taught me: Never argue with a jackass, because then you’ll look like one.”
“It’s to the benefits of the taxpayers that I have debates with him [so that] we can publicly discuss our views,” argues Dowd.
Their last face-off was at a candidates’ forum at the Union Project on February 28. It is not certain that there will be any more debates. Bodack says time conflicts will preclude him from attending forums scheduled on April 19 in Friendship and Highland Park.
Dowd had slated a debate at Pittsburgh Filmmakers in Oakland for April 11. But because as a nonprofit Filmmakers is barred from hosting partisan activities, Bodack would have to attend in order for the event to take place.
This article appears in Apr 12-18, 2007.
As a Lawrenceville homeowner, I’m glad we have a spirited race going on between Len Bodack and Patrick Dowd. I only wish that Mr. Bodack would take the very important time to debate Mr. Dowd. In the 2004 mayoral elections, all of the candidates were given the opportunity to be heard in multiple forums, and they were not all equally articulate or knowledgeable – but they were given the opportunity and the community benefited from hearing them first-hand. Mr. Bodak’s belittling statements (“He wants me to build a crowd for him; I can’t let his campaign run my campaign,” says Bodack. Plus, “My grandpa taught me: Never argue with a jackass, because then you’ll look like one.”) doesn’t serve anyone. In my mind, it makes Mr. Bodack look small. Mr. Dowd has his own crowd. Not everyone has made up his/her mind. C’mon Len, let’s give the public a chance to hear you both.
Bodack went to a debate in the heart of Dowd supporters, at the Union Project, and with Chris Potter as the moderator, slanted, oh yeah. Dowd had a golden opportunity to to show off his superior public speaking skills and talk about his ideas and visions for the future. Instead he needled Bodack about raising too much money and waved a broom around talking about sweeping out the machine. Opportunity lost and if I were Bodack I wouldnt give him another bite at the applwe either. He had his chance, in the middle of all of his supporters and pissed it away. As for the Jackass comment it was no doubt leveled out of frustration with Dowd for his divisive remarks made about Lawrenceville volunteers by Dowd and his friend Clarke Thomas of the Post-Gazette.
“with Chris Potter as the moderator, slanted, oh yeah”
Just for the record, as the moderator, my job was to hold candidate responses to the time limits, and to ask questions submitted by others. Questions came from two sources: pre-written queries that the candidates were given in advance, and questions from the audience.
I suspect that the audience WAS largely pro-Dowd; the questions submitted from audience members were mostly hostile to Bodack. But I selected the questions which were actually asked, and I tried to pick out a balanced mix. Dowd and Bodack both had to answer some pointed questions. Dowd, for example, was asked some fairly withering questions about the performance of the school board.
I’ve found there’s little point in arguing with people who say you’re “slanted” or biased, partly because their OWN bias warps their perceptions. (And you are, obviously, a Bodack supporter.) But I did the best I could to make sure that no candidate got preferential treatment.