News   Nov 07, 2024
Neighbouring Condos Rising on Parliament Beside Distillery District
 604     0 
News   Nov 07, 2024
Unlocking UTPro: The Ultimate Real Estate Data Tool for the Greater Golden Horseshoe
 278     0 
News   Nov 07, 2024
Data Centre, Hyatt Hotels Planned at SteelesTech Campus at Highway 404
 666     1 

Rob Ford's Toronto

Status
Not open for further replies.
http://metronews.ca/news/toronto/1150385/john-tory-widens-lead-on-olivia-chow-and-rob-ford-poll/

This is just fucking crazy to me. The truism is true: the so-called Right can generally depend on the so-called Left to tear itself apart and sap its own strength through internal wrangling about who is Virtuous and Pure enough to lead them. All right folks, Soknacki was fun and I admired a lot of things about him too. But this election was never going to be a Nenshi special, and now the door is firmly shut on the fantasy. I really hope Toronto's many progressive voters are going to wake up and realize they are rejecting someone right in front of them who's been fighting hard on their side her entire political career, BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T SUFFICIENTLY MESSIAH-ED OUT BY HER CAMPAIGN.

Chow is not a natural fit for this kind of trench-warfare campaignin, that much is clear, but her track record is so much more than that. Can these people not look beyond the campaign to see the real good Chow could do once in office---with her well-known and widely admired skills at achieving consensus and building support for good policy---and the real risks of electing John Tory?? The city is not going to be bronzed the moment Ford is turfed from office. All the babbling about "efficiencies" and the miracle of privatization, etc. etc. etc.---all this shit you hate is just going to continue, now simply delivered with professional polish rather than ham-handedness.

I don't work for Olivia Chow, I can't even vote in this election, but seriously my head is spinning at the numbers.
 
Last edited:
I agree, it's a shame to see Chow written off because she can't campaign as charismatically as we'd all like. Her track record is enough for me. I'd almost rather Ford than Tory. Ford will self-destruct, possibly end up in handcuffs and always be unable to ram his right wing agenda through. John Tory shares many of his same values (as he himself has touted) but without the scandals. Rob Ford's crack use is low on my list of reasons I don't want him as mayor. But he's turned the election into a referendum on drug abuse. I want him turfed because of his policies and I certainly don't want someone else who agrees with them to take his place. Toronto is a progressive city, but our votes swing a bit like a pendulum. If after Rob Ford we can't swing to the left, we're in trouble. To me, John Tory will always be the guy who green lit the Chretien attack ad that mocked his Bell's Palsy.
 
adma said:
Not sure--if anything, the opened-up Tory lead seems to have made this Forum poll less of a OMG-OMG-OMG talking point than the previous 34-31 poll.

More likely that "Chow moderates" will flock to Tory, and that'll be enough; the principled rest can stick to the Chow camp without fear. The only stigma being that a 40-30-20 Tory-Ford-Chow race doesn't feel as decisive-defeatty for Ford as a 60-30 Tory-Ford race...
Click to expand...

If we really really want Ford out, then we need Chow to stay on the ballot.

There is a very small chance Tory may not make it to October unscathed (think hit by bus scenarios). If Chow's name is off the ballot and Tory has a severe accident, who would we rally behind? Chow needs to stay on to mitigate that very small risk Tory will fall.
 
Last edited:
Cynthia Mulligan ‏@CityCynthia 49s
Soknacki says foi's detailing info on #robford will be avail in next couple days on website #topol

Nothing too shocking, I am assuming.

Also, endorsements are pouring in for Tory now that he is looking good in the polls.

Kevin Misener ‏@Misener680News 3m
David Soknacki not endorsing any other candidate for Mayor but says Tory and Chow are excellent candidates. #TOpoli
 
Last edited:
zang said:
As a heavier guy I'm in agreement, but this is more about defending him than insulting him. Poor clothing choices for his body are giving more ammunition for those who'd fat shame.
Click to expand...

Looks like he hasn't changed much in the last two years.

FWIW when Mikey was chucking robots in the water at Kandalore, Andray was teaching financial literacy classes at the TDSB.
7523991246_b87d7f486f_o.jpg
 

Attachments

  • 7523991246_b87d7f486f_o.jpg
    7523991246_b87d7f486f_o.jpg
    95.9 KB · Views: 859
Last edited:
Don Peat ‏@reporterdonpeat 42s
"If I had a cat it would be a better mayor than Rob Ford" David Soknacki #TOpoli

He speaks the truth!
 
Videodrome said:
Don Peat ‏@reporterdonpeat 42s
"If I had a cat it would be a better mayor than Rob Ford" David Soknacki #TOpoli

He speaks the truth!
Click to expand...

I always had a sense that Soknacki genuinely disliked Rob Ford in a way that Tory and Chow didn't. I think his biggest mistake was not channelling that distaste more pointedly and deliberately.
 
Chow is a weak candidate. Many hard-core NDP will support the person carrying their brand no matter how weak (see Joe Pants), and do so vigorously enough that if your media hangouts run towards the slightly more thoughtful you'd think them the overwhelming choice, but in most places the NDP runs third party. Her consideration of transit questions seems to begin and end at that mother trying to get her stroller on to a rush hour bus. For her the most pressing concern for municipal affairs seems to be about expanding after-school and breakfast programs. She doesn't seem to offer much more than Janet Davis, Paula Fletcher and Pam McConnell, although that might be a bit unfair to McConnell, whose conception of the city might run somewhat broader than the others. There's certainly a place for the initiatives they advocate, but there is question for how much of that should be on the municipal tax base and to what degree such social reform should consume the work of city government. There are a lot of big challenges facing the city, and Chow just seems limited in how much of it might capture her attention.

I've been griping all along about how disappointing it has been that the best Toronto could do to combat Ford was dredge up a couple known but lacklustre names like Tory and Chow. Somehow I thought the shock of Ford would have inspired a more dynamic response.
 
Well, Soknacki dropped out and Andray Domise is trailing Mikey Ford. I can understand why some more dynamic people might feel discouraged from participating in this shit show.
 
rbt said:
If we really really want Ford out, then we need Chow to stay on the ballot.

There is a very small chance Tory may not make it to October unscathed (think hit by bus scenarios). If Chow's name is off the ballot and Tory has a severe accident, who would we rally behind? Chow needs to stay on to mitigate that very small risk Tory will fall.
Click to expand...

Just in case something were to,er, *cough* "happen" to John Tory,*cough* as in a bolt of lightning or the FoFam bus hit and run. Just speculating is all.
 
James_D said:
I always had a sense that Soknacki genuinely disliked Rob Ford in a way that Tory and Chow didn't. I think his biggest mistake was not channelling that distaste more pointedly and deliberately.
Click to expand...
Yes, I know that I so much want to see someone go Billy Jack on the Fords after all their accumulated abuses. Someone needed to call them on it, make it evident to all the people who pay less attention to municipal affairs how unfit for office this administration has been. Someone could look like a leader if they stepped up to take on the bullies. Soknacki might have captured the attention he needed if he had taken on the challenge. But maybe he was never the right guy for that task.
 
typezed said:
Chow is a weak candidate. Many hard-core NDP will support the person carrying their brand no matter how weak (see Joe Pants), and do so vigorously enough that if your media hangouts run towards the slightly more thoughtful you'd think them the overwhelming choice, but in most places the NDP runs third party. Her consideration of transit questions seems to begin and end at that mother trying to get her stroller on to a rush hour bus. For her the most pressing concern for municipal affairs seems to be about expanding after-school and breakfast programs. She doesn't seem to offer much more than Janet Davis, Paula Fletcher and Pam McConnell, although that might be a bit unfair to McConnell, whose conception of the city might run somewhat broader than the others. There's certainly a place for the initiatives they advocate, but there is question for how much of that should be on the municipal tax base and to what degree such social reform should consume the work of city government. There are a lot of big challenges facing the city, and Chow just seems limited in how much of it might capture her attention.

I've been griping all along about how disappointing it has been that the best Toronto could do to combat Ford was dredge up a couple known but lacklustre names like Tory and Chow. Somehow I thought the shock of Ford would have inspired a more dynamic response.
Click to expand...

All I could say to this is that I think you're mistaking a wrongheaded attempt to weave homespun populism into her early campaign message---she's been trying to course-correct from this huge misstep---for the scope of what she's actually capable of handling.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Back
Top