1) I actually was saying the opposite: Ford won because of the divisiveness in this city. His win was largely seen as a revolt by the suburbs, who felt their needs were being neglected by the downtown elites. I'm not interested in debating whether this is true, but political divisiveness in Toronto predated Ford.
2) That being said, Ford isn't nearly as divisive as people seem to imply. He actually had strong levels of support downtown. In Trinity Spadina, he pulled about 25% of the vote. He had more support than Pantalone in all but a few ridings. And besides some comments made by Don Cherry, I don't believe he has been divisive in the least. The divisiveness all stems from the anti-Ford faction IMO, who have been trying to get Ford booted for any reason, attacked the man's image and character endlessly, opposed anything he supports on the basis of him supporting it and taken criticism beyond the limits of reasonableness.
I actually live downtown (or close enough at least). I cannot think of one thing Ford has done which has made me feel neglected or alienated.
Non-partisanship is important, but it is only an approach. It doesn't tell you anything about what Chow's stance on any issue. Its essentially We're going to work together fairly and compromise. That doesn't tell you anything about where Chow stands on any given issue. All that tells me is that Chow is going to be a little nicer dealing with other councilors - where does she stand on taxes? where does she stand on transit? where does she stand on anything?
I have no problem with this theme, but I simply don't think it will resonate with voters. "Cut the gravy" resonated because the average voter was fed up with what they saw as wasteful government spending. "Cut the gravy" = "save money with efficiencies as opposed to raising tax or cutting services". That slogan tells you what you need to know about Ford, what his priorities are and what he's going to do in office.
