Are you voting strategically for Tory?

[kEiThZ]

I find the issue of race in politics particularly disturbing. Lots of local MPs, MPPs and councillors useir ethnic communities to build political bases. I know because I'm South Asian and I know the kind of talk that goes on.

And it get's really specific too. Not just that so-and-so is South Asian. But if they're the "wrong" kind of South Asian, they're automatically ruled out. And that's just race. Religion is another layer. And all this is such a normal part of local politics in this city. This is why I don't get surprised by how high the Ford's are polling. A lot of that vote is ethnic voters who find their racist blather "real" or "straight" talk.

I find it almost comical that people get worked up over how potentially bigoted a white male can be when they have no clue how bigoted many immigrants really are. And most of them won't even think there's anything wrong with it. Indeed, there's a sense that racism or accusations of racism only apply to whites.

And just look at the series of debates. How many of them target specific ethnic or religious communities? Apparently a sign of diversity. I worry about ethnic pandering and balkanization of our great multi-cultural framework. Would be much happier if the politicians stuck to debates hosted by issue focused civic groups (transit users, taxpayers, community housing residents, etc.).

 

[kEiThZ]

I didn't say "infinitely more qualified". I said "infinitely more experienced and qualified"

Tory has only ever won a single by-election. And lost a general election. Chow won elections in 1985, 1988, 1991, 1994 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2008, and 2011. I think I made the criteria I was using clear before.

I'll concede that she's great at running for office. Career politician.

Qualified? Like I said...eye of the beholder.

 

[StatGeek]

I'm impressed how quickly we forget Rowlands and Hall but remember Lastman.

These single termers are easily forgettable. Hopefully that trends continue and the Ford name becomes as forgettable as Rowlands.

 

[syn]

I'd ideally vote for Chow, but I'll likely vote for Tory. We simply can't have a Ford in office again. I don't feel that Tory is too much of a compromise either, he certainly has his merits.

 

[the lemur]

I wasn't really old enough to be aware of it at the time (to put it mildly), but I do know about Rowlands and her opposition to a Barenaked Ladies concert on, shall we say, spurious grounds.

It does sound like an example of how out of touch Rowlands was, but she was actually out of town when it happened and the decision was made by one of her staffers.

 

[Riverdale Rink Rat]

Calling Lastman "non-white" is ludicrous.

WASPs, by definition, are Protestants of British descent, historically associated with the Family Compact and Orange Order Parades.

Whatever one might think of Tory, he is certainly the most "Family Compact"-esque would-be mayor since before Nathan Phillips.

In the context of 'white privilege', calling someone who is Jewish non-white is not at all ludicrous. But Miller is even worse from a WP context: a self-made Harvard man who leans left. Quite a tangled web.

 

[freshcutgrass]

And yet by far the most qualified and experienced candidate during this campaign is Asian and female.

Chow is a female ethnic immigrant with a speech impediment, who rides a bike to city hall with flowers on it.

Sadly, those facts alone would eliminate her from consideration for a not insignificant portion of the electorate.

 

[nfitz]

Chow is a female ethnic immigrant with a speech impediment, who rides a bike to city hall with flowers on it.

Sadly, those facts alone would eliminate her from consideration for a not insignificant portion of the electorate.

And it's very sad that anyone would really care about most of that stuff. I can understand the left-of-centre stuff ... but that didn't stop Miller or even McGuinty getting strong support in this city when they were up against the very same John Tory.

 

[kEiThZ]

Chow has a speech impediment? Never knew that.

 

[JGHali]

She had Ramsay-Hunt Syndrome/Bell's palsy and still has some facial weakness.

 

[typezed]

I can understand the left-of-centre stuff ... but that didn't stop Miller or even McGuinty getting strong support in this city when they were up against the very same John Tory.

Certainly McGuinty and probably Miller were much less left-of-centre than Chow. And with wider focus, not so concentrated on the social work files. If the left finds someone like Tory unacceptable, maybe they needed to put forward someone more moderate than Chow, someone with appeal to the center. Especially after Ford, who still gets a sympathetic reading for many of his policy claims, swinging from that extreme to firmly left-of-centre is just another push at the pendulum.

 

[King of Kensington]

Is there an ideological difference between Miller and Chow? Probably more in terms of perception than in terms of actual policies.

 

[nfitz]

Certainly McGuinty and probably Miller were much less left-of-centre than Chow.

McGuinty certainly. Miller? How certain?

And with wider focus, not so concentrated on the social work files.

Social work is left-of-centre?

If the left finds someone like Tory unacceptable, maybe they needed to put forward someone more moderate than Chow, someone with appeal to the center.

Or even the centre! I've expressed disappointment that there are no centrists here, with the mainstream candidates either bring core right-wingers or core left-wingers.

Especially after Ford, who still gets a sympathetic reading for many of his policy claims, swinging from that extreme to firmly left-of-centre is just another push at the pendulum.

And holding it far-right helps? There's very little centrism in John Tory's policies compared to Rob Ford. Even Doug Ford complained that Rob was too left for his comfort.

 

[typezed]

McGuinty certainly. Miller? How certain?

Not that certain. I'm most familiar with Miller in his second term, as that's when I came back to the city, and didn't pay as much attention to city politics then as I did once the Ford circus came to town. But my perception is that he wasn't firmly nestled into the NDP party structure in the way Chow is.

Social work is left-of-centre?

In that it involves targetting community resources towards the disavantaged, yes. I'd consider Chow's "think of the children" focus as firmly left-of-centre.

And holding it far-right helps? There's very little centrism in John Tory's policies compared to Rob Ford. Even Doug Ford complained that Rob was too left for his comfort.

Many have noted that Tory has a Red Tory heritage, and is probably as good an example of that as still exists today. If we were to place Tory and Chow as equally distant from the centre in their respective directions, Tory would be a definite moderation of Ford's more reactionary approach.

 

[Long Island Mike]

Everyone: This has become the big Toronto political dilemma for this Mayor election:
Voting for John Tory to keep DF from being elected Mayor in the event of a split vote...

I fully understand how to some the term "lesser of two evils" can describe Toronto's Mayor election
but I do agree that keeping DF from becoming Mayor is what needs to be done here...

We will all know what will happen as early as Tuesday morning 10/28...I feel that North America
will be watching this election closely...LI MIKE