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News Roundup for July 30, 2024
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Next Mayor of Toronto?

MetroMan said:
Stop doding your original claim which I already debunked. He advised ahead of his arrival that he would be there for 15 minutes. He was, and that woman took up all his time. He didn't run away from anybody.

If we're going to talk about debates that candidates had to miss because of other commitments, Ford is as guilty. By election day, the candidates will have participated in over 100 debates. I don't think we can accuse any of them of not debating.

That said, Ford is clearly dodging the one on one debate that he promised to hold. That's the definition of "chicken". You challenge somebody and then when they accept, they get scared and run away from the challenge. That's being a chicken. Voters deserve to see the contrast between the 2 front runners.
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Indeed, I do see the contrast. Only one of them sent a chicken as a cheap play. How old was he? 12?

And I do think Ford is guilty of misplaced priority too. Never liked him missing council meetings because of personal business.
 
archanfel said:
Oh, really? Then I stand corrected. 680 news said it was about eHealth. Apparently, I wasn't there.
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You can watch it right here. eHealth doesn't even come up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPsAs3d3_wA

And how did he address it exactly? Did he acknowledge that he was utterly incompetent and should have resigned instead of letting a colleague taking the fall for him? I am sorry, making up excuses does not count as "address" to me.
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His explanation on eHealth is consistent: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X26CUTBV7mE&NR=1
 
archanfel said:
And how did he address it exactly? Did he acknowledge that he was utterly incompetent and should have resigned instead of letting a colleague taking the fall for him? I am sorry, making up excuses does not count as "address" to me.
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He has acknowledged the issue at several debates I've heard/watched. How many have you watched?
 
The Sun endorsement reads like it was written by Sue-Ann Levy, and not by the editorial board as a whole--which has, I think, generally treated Ford with considerable scepticism. It makes the guy sound like the Messiah--no mention whatsoever of the many lies, half-truths, and insane policy ideas that the Sun itself has often been the most aggressive of the papers in criticising. I guess with Rossi out of the picture they felt they had no choice but to fall into line behind then only right-winger left in the race. Still, it is dispiriting that they didn't have something like 'all that said, the guy is a buffoon with no track record of anything who will have to be watched like a hawk, even though we think he is the best choice on the menu.'

I thought the Star endorsement hit the right notes, especially by calling out Joe for the absurdity of sh*ting all over George. A vote for Joe is a vote for Ford, and that point can't be repeated enough.
 
GraphicMatt said:
You can watch it right here. eHealth doesn't even come up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPsAs3d3_wA



His explanation on eHealth is consistent: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X26CUTBV7mE&NR=1
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Ok, now I am not sure whether you were simply mocking me. You call this taking responsibility? Do you sense even a tiny trace of apology or regret?

Let me tell you a story.

A long time ago there was a guy called Varus. He led three Roman legions into the German forest with Arminius as his advisor, some even say friend. They were ambushed by the German tribes led by no other than Arminius and all three legions were utterly destroyed. Truth be told, Varus only had one sin, he was incompetent. He shouldn't have trusted Arminius and he shouldn't have underestimated the German tribes. I don't think he profited from it or anything. The Romans fought bravely under very tough conditions. Most commanders died or fell on their own swords.

What should have Varus done? Should he come back to his emperor and people and say "So what if I lost three legions, I was still a great administrator of Germania, the best out there. Sure Teutoburg Forest was not my best work, but we held the Rhine River and my work will pay off. Now I am more experienced, please make me the mayor of Rome"? I am sure he could have said those words and you would forgive him and even give Rome to him, but he didn't, he either died in combat or fell on his own sword.

Still, the great emperor Augustus never fully recovered by from the defeat. Some say he would wake up in the middle of the night and shout 'Quintilius Varus, give me back my legions!'. And that's what Ontarians should do, "George Smitherman, give me back my $1 billion!".
 
I agree. When I heard that the Sun's editors were thinking about endorsing Rossi, I gained a little respect for them. Endorsing a candidate that they have openly called unsuitable to be our Mayor... They've reverted back to the lack of credibility that they had before.

Here's the thing though. As long as no major publication endorses Joe, we could be ok. If the media continues to portray this as a 2 man race, even if simply be referring to the top 2 in endorsements, then the non committed Pants' supporters will go to George. Smitherman needs about 3% to 6% of Joe's points to go to him to beat Ford.
 
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MetroMan said:
I agree. When I heard that the Sun's editors were thinking about endorsing Rossi, I gained a little respect for them. Endorsing a candidate that they have openly called unsuitable to be our Mayor... They've reverted back to the lack of credibility that they had before.

Here's the thing though. As long as no major publication endorses Joe, we could be ok. If the media continues to portray this as a 2 man race, even if simply be referring to the top 2 in endorsements, then the non committed Pants' supporters will go to George. Smitherman needs about 3% to 6% of Joe's points to go to him to beat Ford.
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If going by the polls (which are bogus, no matter what they peddle, but since we have little else to judge by), there's a large contingent of undecideds - those people aren't undecided about Ford - they know he's a goof and know they wouldn't want him in office.. the majority of them will go to Smitherman, once they realize 100% Pants isn't going to happen. People who would vote for Ford are the kind who wake up in the morning and already know everything there is about the world and know that Ford is their man, and aren't wishy washy about anything.

The Sun is, and always has been, talking to themselves...
 
MetroMan said:
I agree. When I heard that the Sun's editors were thinking about endorsing Rossi, I gained a little respect for them. Endorsing a candidate that they have openly called unsuitable to be our Mayor... They've reverted back to the lack of credibility that they had before.
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But...given what the Sun is, what's the alternative? Rossi was the last best hope for a non-Ford Sun endorsement. Without him...the Sun supporting Smitherman, let alone Pantalone?

Here's the thing though. As long as no major publication endorses Joe, we could be ok. If the media continues to portray this as a 2 man race, even if simply be referring to the top 2 in endorsements, then the non committed Pants' supporters will go to George. Smitherman needs about 3% to 6% of Joe's points to go to him to beat Ford.
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Does Now count as a "major publication"? Otherwise, the Star would have been the last best hope for a Pants endorsement (ha!). Otherwise, given that the Globe's too hifalutin for either Ford or Pants, it's more a matter of whether the National Post falls for Ford or not...
 
Calrissian said:
If going by the polls (which are bogus, no matter what they peddle, but since we have little else to judge by), there's a large contingent of undecideds - those people aren't undecided about Ford - they know he's a goof and know they wouldn't want him in office.. the majority of them will go to Smitherman, once they realize 100% Pants isn't going to happen. People who would vote for Ford are the kind who wake up in the morning and already know everything there is about the world and know that Ford is their man, and aren't wishy washy about anything.
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I've kind of leaned on that notion myself, but in this election, Torontonians have surprised me with their support for Ford. It's not because they're all bigots and racists. It's because not everybody is in to politics and knows how the city is run and so they're easily convinced by this man's simplistic message.

To many many many people, politicians are inherently bad. All of them. Like lawyers, they're all corrupt bastards. When a man who's managed to fashion himself as the anti-politician is running for Mayor, who do you think they'll support?

Those undecideds are the people who've paid little attention to the election simply because they're not in to politics, but still want to exercise their voting rights. I'm convinced that their voting patterns will mimic those of the decideds. There may be a sector of the undecideds who are simply pondering between Joe and Smitherman, but I'm not sure it'll be enough to put George over the top.

It's going to come down to how loyal Joe Pantalone's supporters are. I know that a large swath of them already jumped over (like me and other ex-volunteers) but these voters are already represented in the latest polls that put Joe @ 16% That needs to drop to 10% if George is going to have any chance at winning.
 
allabootmatt said:
The Sun endorsement reads like it was written by Sue-Ann Levy, and not by the editorial board as a whole
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This suggests that the editorial is not being written by the usual people.

Which suggests that the endorsement is being dictated to them from outside the editorial board.

Remember that the Sun is owned by the Quebec-based company trying to set up Fox News North. These are not people who gives a rat's ass about Toronto.
 
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