[King of Kensington]

Right now Tory is seen as the least offensive, everything for everybody candidate which I think explains why he has the highest approval rating - but can it last?

 

[WislaHD]

Tory has foot-in-mouth syndrome. I'm not confident of it lasting.

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

Who say John Tory does not like bikes

John ToryVerified account ‏@johntoryTO

Great bike ride and conversation with @JaredKolb this morning @cycletoronto #TOpoli #Toronto pic.twitter.com/EEHjgMZecn

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4:39 PM - 24 Jul 2014

(you were right Silence&Motion Tory does have the most likeability I fully admit I was wrong

 

[GenerationW]

Over 800,000 people didn't vote last time.

Toronto turnout is usually lowest in municipal elections. The more relevant numbers are 53% voter turnout in 2010 compared to only 39% in 2006.

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

Toronto turnout is usually lowest in municipal elections. The more relevant numbers are 53% voter turnout in 2010 compared to only 39% in 2006.

39 percent in 2006? Any reason for that? That's ugly.

 

[King of Kensington]

Miller had token opposition in Jane Pitfield.

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

Miller had token opposition in Jane Pitfield.

Sacrificial Lamb then. Not surprising.

 

[Silence&Motion]

Right now Tory is seen as the least offensive, everything for everybody candidate which I think explains why he has the highest approval rating - but can it last?

I think that one of the reasons Tory has maintained high approval ratings is that he's never been in the lead. Chow had just as high approval ratings before her campaign started, but it's come down slightly since people started attacking her as the front runner.

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

I think that one of the reasons Tory has maintained high approval ratings is that he's never been in the lead. Chow had just as high approval ratings before her campaign started, but it's come down slightly since people started attacking her as the front runner.

First off, mea culpa, I was wrong about Tory (so far)

Second, Chow has had a couple of bad weeks Can she still pull it out? She had a 6 or more point lead just a month ago

 

[evvabeing]

Tired of all the real mayoral candidates? How about a squirrel?

http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/tired-of-all-the-real-mayoral-candidates-how-about-a-squirrel-1.1931214

 

[evvabeing]

Chow's campaign also reminds me a bit of Horwath's too. It's sort of an NDP devoid of dreaming anymore, while also of lower expectations about what government can do. She'll still probably get my vote, but 'uninspiring' about says it.

this makes me think of a bbc documentary called the power of nightmares subtitled the rise of the politics of fear, (even though it's about the war on terror). specifically...

In the past, politicians promised to create a better world. They had different ways of achieving this, but their power and authority came from the optimistic visions they offered their people. Those dreams failed and today people have lost faith in ideologies. Increasingly, politicians are seen simply as managers of public life, but now they have discovered a new role that restores their power and authority. Instead of delivering dreams, politicians now promise to protect us: from nightmares. They say that they will rescue us from dreadful dangers that we cannot see and do not understand.

[...]

much of this threat is a fantasy, which has been exaggerated and distorted by politicians.

[...]

a fantasy that politicians then found restored their power and authority in a disillusioned age. And those with the darkest fears became the most powerful.

 

[jml]

I should be the core Chow voter. Young-ish, live and work downtown, I have a professional, unionised job. I bike, walk and take transit. I'm a progressive who usually votes NDP or occasionally Liberal.

But I am left uninspired by the Chow campaign.

I think Chow's campaign has been precisely calibrated to take your vote for granted. She figures people like you (and me) will vote for her no matter what to stop Ford. I don't think she counted on Soknacki luring so many of these voters away. I think she'd have a lot more momentum if he wasn't in the race showing what her campaign COULD look like.

Chow's campaign is strongly geared toward working moms. Some of this is a nice corrective after years of this demographic being neglected by Ford. I think Tory is dead wrong when he says that a municipal government can't do more to help with early childhood development and after school programs, and that's part of what is keeping me in the Chow camp despite my reservations.

 

[Silence&Motion]

Chow's campaign is strongly geared toward working moms. Some of this is a nice corrective after years of this demographic being neglected by Ford. I think Tory is dead wrong when he says that a municipal government can't do more to help with early childhood development and after school programs, and that's part of what is keeping me in the Chow camp despite my reservations.

This is the key. I don't think it's fair to say that Chow's pulling a Horwath. Childcare has always been Chow's #1 issue. She's more old-school urban leftist about helping middle- and lower-class families, working moms, children and immigrants. These are exactly the demographics she's targeting with the talk about getting strollers onto the bus, cutting property taxes for small businesses, and expanding after-school programs.

Those of you looking for the kind of "creative class" candidate obsessed with urban design and who gives Ted Talks about public transit (e.g. Nenshi) are barking up the wrong tree. For all practical purposes, she'll probably support all the same urban design initiatives, but this is not where her passion lies. She's not super-interested in architecture like Adam Vaughan, or with experimenting with new forms of public transit like Adam Giambrone. She's probably not the type of person who would have Richard Florida on speed dial.

So, in reality, I don't think young, educated, urban, white males are actually her target demographic (who probably give very little thought to issues like childcare or taking the bus), although they are probably still going to vote for her even if they're not quite inspired by her.

 

[TonyV]

I should be the core Chow voter. Young-ish, live and work downtown, I have a professional, unionised job. I bike, walk and take transit. I'm a progressive who usually votes NDP or occasionally Liberal.

But I am left uninspired by the Chow campaign. I prefer Soknacki and flirted with Ari Goldkind (before he turned out to be a bit of a kook) because they are both saying things that I agree with and needs to be done.

This is totally Adrian Dix all over again.

I can not stomach John Tory, that Mitt Romney, anti cyclist, anti-DRL, pro car candidate who looks to me as regressive as Ford, just not embarrasing. He's got the worst transporation plan of all of the major non-Ford candidates.

Distasteful as it all is, I have decided to vote for the non-Ford who is polling strongest come a week or so from election time. I don't see where I have a choice in the very-much-not-Ford scenario we find ourselves in. But here's the thing -- I'd normally vote for Chow, too, and to your point, she is disappointing me; imho her body language is suggesting that she's not so sure she wants the job.

… so where did you get your strong anti-Tory stance? From what I have been able to discern, he is a very decent human being who happens to be a bit on the right. A very decent person who has made some mistakes. I don't see Romney there at all. Just sayin'. But I need to know.

Emphasis on I've not decided yet ...

 

[BurlOak]

I think Chow's campaign has been precisely calibrated to take your vote for granted. She figures people like you (and me) will vote for her no matter what to stop Ford. I don't think she counted on Soknacki luring so many of these voters away. I think she'd have a lot more momentum if he wasn't in the race showing what her campaign COULD look like.

Chow's campaign is strongly geared toward working moms. Some of this is a nice corrective after years of this demographic being neglected by Ford. I think Tory is dead wrong when he says that a municipal government can't do more to help with early childhood development and after school programs, and that's part of what is keeping me in the Chow camp despite my reservations.

Soknacki has 5% of the vote - that is not "many" votes. Can you also say that Tory would be running away with it if Stintiz is not siphoning off so many voters.