John Tory, I fear, is the only thing standing between T.O. and Rob Ford, whose competition for mayor right now is a bald guy nobody likes, and one nobody's heard of. Therefore we can only hope this story has some substance to it.
As for Mr. Ford, his weird non-charisma is attracting support from odd quarters. My wife's dad, for example, who normally hates anything right-wing.
And I can see the attraction. If you're the kind of guy that doesn't know how to tie a neck-tie, so ties them all once after purchase and then leaves them hanging from a door-knob so the knot gets skinnier and skinnier after each use...then your ties look exactly like the ones Rob Ford wears. Its a surprisingly powerful bond.
Anyone, including a mangy, half-crazed alley cat, would be better than Rob "Social Safety Net? We Don' Need No Steenkin' Social Safety Net!" Ford. My only reservation about Tory other than him being conservative is that he's apparently being urged to run by Mike "Fuck-The-Poor" Harris, which in my books makes him as about as palatable as a plutonium sundae.
ReplyDeleteI am still holding out on the fact that John Tory may still have a bit of that actual Progressive Conservatism of yesteryear. I am not holding my breath though. Neo-cons have become the jocks of that big frat party and the actual Tories are like the chess club now: Completely ostracized and marginalized in the Ontario Provincial caucus. The fact that Mike The Knife is backing him is worrisome, for if Tory becomes the Wunderkind of the Harrisites and carries their water to City Hall, we will have to break out the Wheel of Manufactured Populist Anger and find out which group will be targeted in Toronto.
ReplyDeleteIf Rob Ford gets in, the wheel will be replaced with a dart board, I am sure.
Toronto is so screwed this time around. It's a testament to how bad things are that Tory is even thinking of running, the current crop of candidates is so unpalatable that he actually stands a chance at winning. I can see the campaign slogan now: "You really can't do any worse".
ReplyDeleteOh, but please, for the love of whatever you believe in, not Rob Ford. I'll move to Timmins or some exotic place like that.
I tend to think we are going to hear John Tory is running stories right up until election day.
ReplyDeleteAnd the day after the election, the John Tory is running stories will start for 2014.
jkg, speaking as someone who is a Progressive Conservative, at least provincially (and yes we of the old school big blue machine are marginalized), Tory was being stabbing in the back by the Harrisites from day-1 as leader of the Ont PC's. Trust me, go look at old posts on the Blogging Tories and you'd think John Tory was a Grit or something the way some members wrote about him.
ReplyDeleteWith that in mind I find it ironic about Mike Harris' support of John Tory, should he choose to run. Not so much about Harris as he would just doing the right thing and supporting a fellow PC member; but rather what his rabid followers think of Tory.
And yes John Tory would be in public service and is a good man - definitely would do a better job than the guy who's had the position over these last few years. The only problem is he has the political skills of a sloth. If he did decide to run it wouldn't surprise me if he lost the election ...again.
OOPS ...that first sentence of the last paragraph should have been:
ReplyDeleteAnd yes John Tory would do well in public service...
Tory was being stabbing in the back by the Harrisites from day-1 as leader of the Ont PC's.
ReplyDeleteExactly, I remember that all too well. Rabid provincial neo-cons could barely hide their relief that following the election defeat, they would take control of the PC leadership. I had a similar experience in which a young neocon told me that they 'needed real conservatism' in the party and in Ontario (and here I was being charitable by saying how Tory was a great asset from a policy and experience perspective).
And I agree, Tory would probably do a better job because I think he would strike a balance with the various constituencies in Toronto (and Bay street will probably like him as well). I am just wary of the neocons' role in backing him at the municipal level. Are they going to simply put on a feigned show of support like they did last time? I am betting no because Tory is still in their party and having that connection to City Hall is to tantalizing for them to pass up. Still, if we assume his political skills bears any correlation to his governance skills, he might just be lesser of the evils that are in the candidate pool.
I suspect though there is a certain desire to move away from Miller's orange tint of governance. I could not find another reason why Giambrone (sp) was, for all intents and purposes, intentionally embarrassed his way out of the running. It could be his inexperience and youth to be sure, but given the other field of candidates, he struck as an echo of Miller's philosophy.
I don't want to sound alarmist, but if Ford gets in, Toronto will turn into a kind of Mad Max dystopia within hours.
ReplyDeleteCannibals will roam the streets, and the stench of death will choke the lungs of the roaming gangs of mutated semi-human zombies.
On the other hand, property tax increases will prove quite modest, and Ford could be looking at a second term.
It looks like Rob Ford may have just saved the city from himself:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/fords-endorsement-of-pastor-for-council-stokes-fear-among-gays/article1661703/
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ReplyDelete