Republican mayoral challenger Mark DeSantis used his first press conference since announcing his candidacy to take a swing at Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's decision to golf on the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's dime (or 90,000 dimes, to be precise) at the June 27 and 28 Mario Lemieux Celebrity Invitational.

"His acceptance of a gift has now caused him to be investigated by the city Ethics Board, and that conduct does nothing but hurt the city and its residents," Mr. DeSantis said at the press conference, referring to a Friday decision by the Ethics Hearing Board to write to the mayor, asking for an explanation of his attendance of the event and how it gibes with the city code's ban on accepting things of value from entities that do business with the city, as UPMC does.

"Accepting gifts from interested parties is unacceptable. ... I don't even want the appearance of that."

During the question-and-answer part of the press conference, Mr. DeSantis again said the mayor "is being investigated by the Ethics Board, and that's not good." (Technically, what the board is doing seems to fall a little short of an investigation, since it is not yet exercising its powers to assign a city lawyer or outside counsel to delve into the affair.)

"So I think it's time now that we put a stake in the ground, both candidates, and say that we're simply not going to accept gratuities or gifts from anybody that does business with the city" or is seeking a contract, Mr. DeSantis continued. "If I'm invited to a charity event, I'm more than happy to participate as mayor, but I won't accept any gratuity at all, period. I just won't accept any gratuity or gift from anybody. ... There's other ways to participate without accepting gifts, and that's what I would do." He would "shake hands and meet people and greet people and talk to people."

Asked whether the real problem was the mayor's acceptance of a gift bag at the event, which he promised to return, Mr. DeSantis said the problem was "a gift bag, but it's also a round of golf." That, he pointed out, has some inherent value.

How much inherent value? We at Early Returns don't know for sure. We contacted the Mario Lemieux Foundation to find out whether the mayor has yet returned the gift bag, what was in it, and how much its contents and the golfing are worth, but were shut down at question one. "We're not commenting on anything," an employee told us. "It's a private golf event."

Mr. DeSantis challenged Mr. Ravenstahl to pledge not to accept any gratuities -- a challenge the mayor brushed off July 5 -- and then made five more promises that he urged his rival to embrace.

He wants both candidates to promise not to "misrepresent their past business or political experience" or that of their opponent. The Republican's campaign is apparently a little annoyed that the mayor has tried to tie their candidate to President George W. Bush, using the fact that Mr. DeSantis worked for the administration of George H.W. Bush, the current commander-in-chief's father.

He wants "a campaign that treats city of Pittsburgh voters with respect," whatever that means.

He also wants eight debates. "You have to remember that the mayor was appointed," he said. (Actually, Mr. Ravenstahl was elected to City Council, chosen to be its president by a vote of his colleagues, and ascended to the mayor's post upon the death of Bob O'Connor as per the city's charter.) "We think eight debates gives the voters plenty of chances to understand who we are and what we're about." He noted that Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, a Democrat, and his Republican predecessor, Jim Roddey, debated more than 20 times in 2003.

"I want to debate my opponent at least eight times because a thoughtful discussion of the issues and challenges facing the city is the only way to give voters a real choice," Mr. DeSantis said. "Ravenstahl's request of just two debates is not acceptable."

That's a reference to a June 20 letter from the mayor asking for a televised debate on KDKA-TV hosted by the League of Women Voters, and another by WQED-TV in which high school seniors would pose the questions. The mayor's campaign hasn't ruled out more debates, and committed to a Sept. 27 forum hosted by the Civic Design Coalition.

Mr. DeSantis also said he will release a plan to keep the city out of bankruptcy, and asked the mayor to do the same. Reminded that the city's $80 million year-end bank balance was pretty hefty compared to past years, he said that the city has "debt and liabilities unprecedented in the United States right now. ... We must make responsible decisions, right now, to prevent complete insolvency."

The mayor was in Louisville, Ky., studying city-county cooperation, and his campaign didn't have any immediate response to the Republican's challenge.

Murtha: Bush is delusional

CBS News Sunday Morning did not air Rep. John Murtha's scheduled commentary on the Iraq war yesterday. Instead, it's posted on the program's Web site.

Not surprisingly, the Johnstown Democrat doesn't have many kind things to say about the Bush administration's conduct of the war. In fact, he gets straight to the point with his opening sentence:

"The president is delusional."