Is Ford Nation's support among diverse demographics something rare in most cities/countries?

[wild goose chase]

It's been discussed that even though people compare him to other right-wingers or populists such as Trump, a key difference is that unlike many other right-wing politicians in Canada or the US, Ford won his support among visible minorities and included many areas of Toronto that were considered the most diverse. That is something that I think is rare.

Most right-wing populist parties, politicians or movements such as Trump's base, the Tea Party, UKIP and some examples of populist European parties along those lines alienate rather than attract the country's minorities.

Are there any other examples apart from "Ford Nation" (in Canada, the US or elsewhere in the world) where a politician that is considered right wing "populist" is strongly backed by a diverse coalition of racial/ethnic/cultural minorities, either locally, regionally or nationally, rather than just the ethnic majority?

 

[Videodrome]

To add to that, Ford might be a conservative, but his supporters will often vote Liberal or NDP.

 

[King of Kensington]

I can't think of any example. Multiculturalism is so ingrained in Canadian politics that even our right-wing populist backlash politicians have a multicultural base! But as Videodrome says above, the Ford phenomenon has no impact on provincial and federal politics.

In Ontario, the Reform vote in the 1990s kind of looked like our version of a UKIP-type party or the Trump campaign would look like.

 

[Videodrome]

I read about people who campaigned for Wynne in 2014 and when that was over, went right back to supporting Rob and Doug Ford. This despite the fact that they hate her!

 

[wild goose chase]

I can't think of any example. Multiculturalism is so ingrained in Canadian politics that even our right-wing populist backlash politicians have a multicultural base! But as Videodrome says above, the Ford phenomenon has no impact on provincial and federal politics.

In Ontario, the Reform vote in the 1990s kind of looked like our version of a UKIP-type party or the Trump campaign would look like.

What do you think is different about Canadian politics that prevents or thwarts something like the Reform party, or another UKIP or Trump-like movement from becoming too influential? Our Reform party never survived into the 2000s, yet those other examples of populism in the UK or US with the Tea Party, Trump etc. either just got going or continue on strong into the 21st century.

The Canadian embrace of multiculturalism happened at the same time as or a little bit after American civil rights movement, and both countries have a similar percentage of visible minorities, and thus likely as their voter base (and I think maybe the US even more so, since their diversity isn't concentrated in a few cities or states and has an important African-American electorate with high voter turnout compared to recent immigrants with low voter turnout) yet the fact that someone like Trump can get so far there, and not in Canada is a stark contrast.

 

[wild goose chase]

I read about people who campaigned for Wynne in 2014 and when that was over, went right back to supporting Rob and Doug Ford. This despite the fact that they hate her!

Maybe one difference between Ford Nation and the other examples that are national or regional is that municipal elections are probably seen as lower stakes, so someone voting for Ford on a single issue might have no problem voting differently federally or provincially.

Perhaps Ford supporters aren't as seriously invested in Ford as those other people in their populist movements (eg. someone might say "I'll just vote for Ford this one time just to spite the downtowners and their bike lanes" as compared to Trump supporters who have a lot of anger with the way they think their country is going and really think that he'll make America great again).

 

[King of Kensington]

Probably due to a myriad of factors including 1) less nationalism, 2) a higher % foreign born, 3) our immigrant population isn't dominated by a specific group that can be as easily scapegoated (Mexicans in the US, Muslims in Europe) or as much as heavily concentrated at the bottom of the economic structure as in other countries and thus not seen as much as a threat to jobs.

 

[wild goose chase]

Probably due to a myriad of factors including 1) less nationalism, 2) a higher % foreign born, 3) our immigrant population isn't dominated by a specific group that can be as easily scapegoated (Mexicans in the US, Muslims in Europe) or as much as heavily concentrated at the bottom of the economic structure as in other countries and thus not seen as much as a threat to jobs.

Factors 2 and 3 apply to Australia, but perhaps not 1? Perhaps a comparison could be made there -- I don't think there's any specifically populist movement in Australia, but I do get the impression there is much more unease about immigrants/refugees and Australia is known for having quite a harsher view/policy on them than us.

Also, on the topic on foreign born -- well, the US has less foreign born but higher numbers of minorities who are native born -- yet populist movements like Trump's antagonize minorities whether native born or not (look at the birther "controversy" Trump brought up out of nowhere just to rile people up). Many people who themselves aren't foreign born but know what it feels like to be singled out as an ethnic/racial minority would likely be somewhat put off -- I don't think Trump's popular with any racial minorities as a large percentage of the electorate, native-born or not.

 

[King of Kensington]

I'm sure a "Canadian Trump" would be racist against First Nations people as well as anti-immigrant.

 

[King of Kensington]

In US cities you almost never have Blacks and working class whites voting the same way in mayoral elections, so I don't know how they could have a Fordesque backlash candidate in NYC or Chicago, say.

 

[wild goose chase]

In US cities you almost never have Blacks and working class whites voting the same way in mayoral elections, so I don't know how they could have a Fordesque backlash candidate in NYC or Chicago, say.

There's been a long-standing idea that the history of race in the US has been so divisive, so that "race consciousness" was stronger than "class consciousness" (this is also thought to have possibly contributed to difficulty in implementing more socialized policies or an increased welfare state for all citizens, because race then became a wedge against the would-be solidarity among the working class).

So, if Ford Nation was able to buck this trend, uniting working class folks of all races, whether black, white, Asian, new immigrant or not, against the downtown "elite", then it is actually a remarkable counter-example, as well as a more true (in my view, even though I'm no supporter of Ford!) sense of populism (in that it actually reflects diversity in the "populace").

 

[Videodrome]

During the last election, Flagg was stumping for Harper and the CPC, but some of the most loyal Ford supporters said they were voting for someone else. He banned them from the group for having a different opinion.

 

[King of Kensington]

Paul Ferreira, who had a brief stint as the NDP MPP from York South-Weston, told me (in 2010) that only were a lot of his voters supporting Ford but even several of the people who worked on his campaign.

 

[Johnny Au]

I find it interesting that many Trump supporters would have Bernie as their second choice if every presidential candidate were non-partisan.

Flagg would feel at home in Trump-land.

Speaking of which, in an alternate reality, if Rob Ford were to be running for mayor in a major American city, how would it differ?

 

[King of Kensington]

In Chicago, a "Ford" would probably have to run in the Democratic primary. And somehow appeal to Blacks, Latinos and working class whites.

In NYC, it's pretty hard to imagine any scenario with Italians in Staten Island voting the same way as Blacks and Latinos in the Bronx.

Places like Boston, Seattle and San Francisco have too many affluent, educated liberals to vote for a right-wing populist under any scenario - as does the "old city" of Toronto.