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2014 Municipal Election: Toronto Mayoral Race

js97 said:
Yes it is politically brilliant - but so is Stephen Harper

I find it completely disingenuous that she's on 'full' campaign mode, paying Warren Kinsella through funds of god knows from where, and flying around to do a 'book tour'.
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1 - She's reintroducing herself to Toronto. People have short memories. She's preemptively setting the record straight on potential attacks from Ford (i.e. government housing myth).

2 - She's evening the playing field. Rob Ford has unlimited free press. It's negative but it puts his name in people's minds. Constantly. How do you compete with that? A book tour and intense speculation of will she/won't she? gives Olivia plenty of free press, but in her case it's a retrospect into her political and life achievements.

When she announces in February or March, she'll be starting from a place of name recognition and will have been answering hard questions about her life to reporters in dozens and dozens of interviews. She'll be prepared.

I've always been a fan of John Laschinger and was thrown off by his no-effort campaign for Pantalone. I don't blame him, he had little time to shift from Giambrone and a campaign is part management part candidate and Pantalone was not well prepared. What I've seen of Olivia's campaign has regained my admiration for the man. I'm looking forward to being inspired by and proud of Toronto again. Those of you whose hearts beat Toronto are going to shed a few tears of pride and happiness in our city. Just watch.
 
Oh, it's very smart of him, you don't have to convince me of that.

She's introducing herself to TO without having to answer any real questions or catch any slack cause she's not in the election yet. I just think it's ethically wrong that she's doing it while she's an MP, circumventing election spending limits and rules, using her MP resources etc.

But Laschinger didn't expect Rob Ford to continuously drop these bombs...

lol
 
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js97 said:
Oh, it's very smart of him, you don't have to convince me of that.

She's introducing herself to TO without having to answer any real questions or catch any slack cause she's not in the election yet. I just think it's ethically wrong that she's doing it while she's an MP, circumventing election spending limits and rules, using her MP resources etc.

But Laschinger didn't expect Rob Ford to continuously drop these bombs...

lol
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Ford has campaigned for the last 3 years, using his office resources and blatantly thumbing his nose at campaign laws. It would be disingenuous of Laschinger to not take advantage of some strategic gymnastics to prepare Olivia before the official kick off. At least she's doing it within the permissible timeframe.

As for not expecting Ford's bombs to keep dropping, what kind of campaign manager -- heck, what kind of Torontonian -- would he be if he didn't know that Ford is a walking scandal generator? I think it's going to make Laschinger's life easier. Ford's come back story was starting to look like a good strategy to re-election but he's clearly abandoned it by saying it's now his private business. He'll continue drinking/taking drugs and the pressure of the campaign will only make it worse. The odds of Ford showing coked up, drunk or at least hung over to a debate are pretty good.
 
I meant the part when his video leaked the same day Chow has her book launch. lol. Talk about stealing her thunder! I know there is no way that was intentional, but talk about coincidence.
 
js97 said:
I meant the part when his video leaked the same day Chow has her book launch. lol. Talk about stealing her thunder! I know there is no way that was intentional, but talk about coincidence.
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Ah, good point. It might have stolen some of her thunder but in some ways, it may have gotten people looking for a way out of the Ford circus and Olivia is touring and her videos and interviews are circulating.
 
The Toronto Star just put up a column by Bob Hepburn saying that Tory is about to make it official:

John Tory preparing to enter mayoral race: Hepburn
Talk-show host's decision will end months of speculation and change dynamics of race with Rob Ford, Olivia Chow.

By: Bob Hepburn Politics, Published on Wed Jan 22 2014

After months of uncertainty, John Tory is preparing to jump into the race to become Toronto’s next mayor.

The official launch of Tory’s campaign is planned for late February at a huge kickoff event at a Toronto venue inspected last Saturday by senior Tory election advisers.

At the rally, Tory will unveil a campaign platform that features four key points: a call for more transit and an improved TTC; a youth employment strategy to combat growing joblessness among residents under 25; a renewed focus on city-wide economic development; and a restoration of decorum and co-operation at city hall after the turmoil seen under Mayor Rob Ford.
....
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I would like nothing more than for Chow and Tory to jointly issue a statement to the effect of: "While we may represent different paths to get there, we share in common a vision for a better Toronto. And on October 27, we ask that the voters of Toronto choose which path they believe will best position us to fulfill that vision. But either way, know that we both trust that the other is arguing for their path from a thoughtful and considered perspective...and that while we may disagree on the specifics, a vote for either of us is a vote for a better Toronto."

Basically, take the high road and position themselves above Ford from the start...and maintain absolute civility for the entire campaign. I wish...
 
Gavin said:
I would like nothing more than for Chow and Tory to jointly issue a statement to the effect of: "While we may represent different paths to get there, we share in common a vision for a better Toronto. And on October 27, we ask that the voters of Toronto choose which path they believe will best position us to fulfill that vision. But either way, know that we both trust that the other is arguing for their path from a thoughtful and considered perspective...and that while we may disagree on the specifics, a vote for either of us is a vote for a better Toronto."

Basically, take the high road and position themselves above Ford from the start...and maintain absolute civility for the entire campaign. I wish...
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While I don't know that they'll issue a joint statement, both Tory and Chow are positioning their campaigns to only minimally address Ford like you suggested. They're going to pitch their vision for the city and take the position that Toronto deserves better than what has become of City Hall over the last 4 years. They'll certainly debate Ford but their campaign focuses will largely omit him.

I've been saying for the last few months that I expect Ford to come in 3rd or worse and the path to that result is starting to come together. It'll be Tory vs Chow in the end with Ford getting around 15-20%.
 
MetroMan said:
While I don't know that they'll issue a joint statement, both Tory and Chow are positioning their campaigns to only minimally address Ford like you suggested. They're going to pitch their vision for the city and take the position that Toronto deserves better than what has become of City Hall over the last 4 years. They'll certainly debate Ford but their campaign focuses will largely omit him.

I've been saying for the last few months that I expect Ford to come in 3rd or worse and the path to that result is starting to come together. It'll be Tory vs Chow in the end with Ford getting around 15-20%.
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Yeah, like I said, wishful thinking. I don't doubt that they'll keep it professional between themselves at every turn, though.

I'm going to have a hard time choosing between them, to be honest...which is what makes them both such good candidates -- that there can be enough about both of them to seriously appeal to the other side.
 
I'm still monitoring Soknacki--who knows, he might wind up being the David Miller to John Tory's Barbara Hall, if you get my drift...
 
Soknacki began his campaign strong, a dark horse of this race mayhaps.

I think Stintz will fall off the campaign trail first. With more (bad) press from Ford, and the publicity and momentum Chow and Tory will gain in upcoming days, I'm betting people are already forgetting her.
 
Toronto Region Board of Trade Speaker Event

David Soknacki, Former City Councillor and 2014 Toronto Mayoral Candidate

Toronto City Hall and Economic Leadership

Join Former City Councillor and 2014 Toronto Mayoral Candidate David Soknacki as he discusses his vision for Toronto.

What is City Hall's role in fostering job creation and economic opportunity?
What are the risks facing Toronto's economy and how can we take advantage of our unexpected economic strengths?
How can experience leading a business be an asset in civic politics?

Date & Location
Date: January 23, 2014
Time: 12:00pm - 1:30pm
Registration and Networking: 11:30am
Toronto Region Board of Trade
Downtown Centre
1 First Canadian Place, 4th Floor
Toronto, ON
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http://www.bot.com/events/pages/details.aspx?MeetingId=18da27a6-595b-e311-aca4-0050569c005c
 
An interesting thought I had on the "Mayor Soknacki" prospect: it'd make a neat symmetrical geographic balance among the mega-mayors to date--North York, Toronto, Etobicoke, and now Scarborough...
 
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