Zeroing in on the Democratic primary two weeks away -- the first major hurdle in his first mayoral re-election campaign -- Mayor Luke Ravenstahl acknowledged last night that he is pushing a write-in effort to gain the Republican candidacy, while editing a campaign commercial criticized by city Councilman Patrick Dowd.

It figures that Mr. Ravenstahl would try to be both the Democratic and Republican nominee, since last night's debate at WPXI-TV with fellow candidates Mr. Dowd and Carmen Robinson -- the final televised debate before May 19 -- was largely devoid of party ideology.

Mr. Ravenstahl, 29, described himself as "a conservative to moderate Democrat." Mr. Dowd, 41, said he was "a liberal who understands fiscal responsibilities." Ms. Robinson, 40, a Hill District attorney and former police sergeant, sounded so opposed to gun control that rocker and NRA board member Ted Nugent could have been backing her on guitar. "The only people who don't have guns during gun bans are law-abiding citizens," she said.

The debate followed a now-familiar pattern. Mr. Ravenstahl cited the city's fiscal's rebound, while saying it had to do more with public safety and pension fund problems. The other Democratic candidates then faulted his performance, though in a less energetic manner than their last debate on KDKA-TV. The trio has appeared together so often (off television) that they know each other's attack lines fairly well.

Mr. Dowd again attacked Mr. Ravenstahl for buying $250,000 worth of garbage cans, and the mayor again noted that the councilman's office had requested the cans before twice criticizing their price tag.

"Mr. Flip-flop over there," the mayor called Mr. Dowd. "That's pretty creative. I didn't know you could be on three sides of an issue."

The councilman exacted a bit of revenge on another old topic. Mr. Ravenstahl apologized during last week's debate for a "misleading" campaign commercial that touted his record of making "tough decisions" on the city budget, when as a councilman he had twice voted against the city's recovery plan. Last night, Mr. Dowd said the mayor's campaign had to pull the ad off the airwaves, though Mr. Ravenstahl's campaign manager said instead that its wording was re-edited.

"The mayor accused me of being creative," Mr. Dowd said.

Mr. Ravenstahl's campaign got creative for trying to take advantage of the hole in the Republican slate. It has been advertising on conservative WPGB-FM (104.7) and working to get the 250 votes needed to qualify as the party's candidate.

No Republican mayoral candidate is filed. Democrat Pete Flaherty won the GOP nomination with his "Stick With Pete" campaign in 1973, and Tom Murphy was a successful write-in in 1989, but eventually dropped to let fellow Democrat Sophie Masloff run unopposed.

Two independents have announced they are running for mayor in the fall: former Republican Kevin Acklin of Squirrel Hill and Franco Dok Harris of Shadyside.

The debate will be rebroadcast at 10 p.m. tonight on PCNC and 7 p.m. Saturday on WPXI-TV. Post-Gazette Executive Editor David Shribman will moderate a forum with the three candidates at 3:15 p.m. Thursday at Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland.