[MetroMan]

Wynne just has to sit back and... win.

Watch Doug sling mud at his own party’s “elite” and cause a civil war within the party while they’re just weeks from the provincial election.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

I would not be so smug about the prospect of Doug sinking the PCs chance of election.

Doug won Scarborough and Etobicoke in the 2014 mayoral election. He can very likely do the same in the 2018 provincial elections. That’s something that no other PC leadership candidate could do as well.

Furthermore, he has appeal to the Ontarians in the hinterlands who hate Toronto and would want to stick it to the elites. He’d pick up their votes as well.

 

[syn]

I would not be so smug about the prospect of Doug sinking the PCs chance of election.

Doug won Scarborough and Etobicoke in the 2014 mayoral election. He can very likely do the same in the 2018 provincial elections. That’s something that no other PC leadership candidate could do as well.

Furthermore, he has appeal to the Ontarians in the hinterlands who hate Toronto and would want to stick it to the elites. He’d pick up their votes as well.

He might, but he has a lot of his own skeletons in the closet, ones that may be taken much more seriously than they were even just a few years ago.

I'd also say he won Scarborough and Etobicoke largely on the back of the 'Ford brand', which at the time was largely defined by his brother.

He'd probably have a good shot in Scarborough and Etobicoke, but other parts of the city would stay away in droves. How popular would he be in other larger centers like Ottawa? I'm not so sure.

In any case, I wouldn't put winning the leadership nor becoming Premier past him.

The biggest problem I see is him going all out to attack other members of his party and air more dirty laundry. The last thing the Conservatives need now is a dirty fight, but that's almost guaranteed to be the case with Ford in the running.

 

[WislaHD]

Furthermore, he has appeal to the Ontarians in the hinterlands who hate Toronto and would want to stick it to the elites. He’d pick up their votes as well.

The thing is, for those hinterland Ontarians, Doug Ford himself is one of those Toronto elitist that they want to stick it to.

 

[christiesplits]

If DoFo becomes leader, he'll have few ridings in Toronto to run. The only PC riding association in Ford Land to not nominate a PC candidate is Scarborough Southwest, where the Liberal incumbent and NDP have strong bases.

 

[OneCity]

He might, but he has a lot of his own skeletons in the closet, ones that may be taken much more seriously than they were even just a few years ago.

I'd also say he won Scarborough and Etobicoke largely on the back of the 'Ford brand', which at the time was largely defined by his brother.

He'd probably have a good shot in Scarborough and Etobicoke, but other parts of the city would stay away in droves. How popular would he be in other larger centers like Ottawa? I'm not so sure.

In any case, I wouldn't put winning the leadership nor becoming Premier past him.

The biggest problem I see is him going all out to attack other members of his party and air more dirty laundry. The last thing the Conservatives need now is a dirty fight, but that's almost guaranteed to be the case with Ford in the running.

It would be a big high risk-high reward gamble and its the last thing I would have expected any Party to do following such an event like Patrick Brown when much softer, less volatile options were available. As far as allegations against Doug the difference between him and some others is he would never step down amid any accusation. It will take video footage like his brother and even then? He's has a guaranteed 20% base of Toronto which is like closer to 40% in terms of actual voters and like @TheTigerMaster said his support will be quite large in the smaller towns and City outside the GTA.

Many Left media talking heads are already giving the "guaranteed loss" and dismissing him. Which is the usual course of action prior to a populist win. Id never bet against these Ontario Liberals, but I also wouldn't bet against a loud mouth populist attacking the Liberals in this climate either. This is quite the show and its just beginning

Paul Wells‏Verified account@InklessPW 4h4 hours ago

Just so we're clear here: there is no chance Doug Ford will lead the Ontario Conservatives. Suspense now is over whether he realizes this

The thing is, for those hinterland Ontarians, Doug Ford himself is one of those Toronto elitist that they want to stick it to.

I think he'll be seen as a rockstar in these areas attacking Wynne on Hydro. A lot of angry Conservative voters in these areas he will rile up like never before to hit the polls.

 

[Adjei]

What a farce. Last week he was running for Mayor of Toronto, this week he wants to be Premier. If he doesn't get the nomination I guess he will just waltz right back into the mayoral race.

 

[steveintoronto]

I would not be so smug about the prospect of Doug sinking the PCs chance of election.

Doug won Scarborough and Etobicoke in the 2014 mayoral election. He can very likely do the same in the 2018 provincial elections. That’s something that no other PC leadership candidate could do as well.

Furthermore, he has appeal to the Ontarians in the hinterlands who hate Toronto and would want to stick it to the elites. He’d pick up their votes as well.

All in all, as long as the moderate progressives run just two candidates, with one dropping out come the crunch (by pre-arrangement) , they will win, easily. Ford will only fragment the thug vote.

 

[steveintoronto]

I think he'll be seen as a rockstar in these areas attacking Wynne on Hydro.

No...you give him far too much credit. You confuse stupid with simple.

Other PC candidates are vastly more eloquent in articulating the concerns of the 'outside GTA' segment. Most will see him as a dangerous dufus from Toronto. And "don't let him anywhere near my kids".

 

[Admiral Beez]

It all depends on if the PC's screw up at the last moment.

You said it best.

Absolutely Wynne has the win here.

 

[PinkLucy]

So,are we totally discounting Horvath?

 

[OneCity]

So,are we totally discounting Horvath?

She really needs to be over the top vocal in the weeks before the Conservative re-election as the media coverage will be all over the Liberal and possible Ford circus afterward. If the NDP cant come out like roses after this mess they are completely irrelevant and will be searching for a new game plan and new leader.

 

[OneCity]

No...you give him far too much credit. You confuse stupid with simple.

Other PC candidates are vastly more eloquent in articulating the concerns of the 'outside GTA' segment. Most will see him as a dangerous dufus from Toronto. And "don't let him anywhere near my kids".

Don't underestimate the power of loud mouth populism to fire up people that feel unrepresented by the average speaking Politician. Its been happening for decades globally and from what i hear these residents care more that the Liberals go down. The more simple he keep it to attack the Liberals the more some will love him and get some excited to vote again.

I wont underestimate the Liberals here, but weve just witnessed so many similar populist scenarios occur globally now from the UK to the US, and as Torontonians we should know better than anyone not to shrug it off.

 

[SunriseChampion]

So,are we totally discounting Horvath?

Since before the last election.

Especially if Ford somehow wins the PC leadership. It'll be more of what I heard last time around asking for support for the Greens from past supporters in our riding: "Sorry, I'm shit-scared of Hudak. Voting Liberal".

It will be the same thing all over again cubed, at least.

In fact, as much as I'm married to my political ideals and have a political home, even I might vote Liberal if Ford becomes PC leader....and I despise the Liberal party. But, yo, any day of the year: Liberals > Fords....by an astronomical margin.

 

[steveintoronto]

So,are we totally discounting Horvath?

It's a good question. I haven't seen any polls from the last few weeks, but Horwath stands to lose as much ground as gain. For all the parties, it's an era of 'meh' leadership. This is why I see Mulroney as having a huge advantage, it's an old tree taking root again, with fresh sprouts. The integrity is there (political biases aside), and she'll have the moderate and moderate right press backing her, most of them are from the Bassett dynasty anyway, but all Caroline has to do is avoid the muck (and she's wisely doing that, no comment for the last many days), espouse a higher road, and show effective leadership getting there, and it's hers! The Blue Machine kicks back into gear. It's going to take a very heavy hand to keep the tiller from jerking to the right though. It's going to take a lot more than just Caroline, or this won't hold the course.

The more simple he keep it to attack the Liberals the more some will love him and get some excited to vote again.

I digress on that and the following from the Rebel:

[...]
It was Brown's lack of support from the party base that stuck a nail in his political coffin. Conservative politicians like Donald Trump and Rob Ford were able to survive similar damaging allegations because their voters believed in their policy plan. Torontonians wanted to see an end to the "gravy train" at city hall, and blue-collar Americans wanted to see their jobs return from overseas. Those policies were enough to help Trump and Ford through their difficulties.

In contrast, Brown was counting on Ontarians being so fed up with the corrupt and dishonest Liberals that voters would just sweep him into office, regardless of his policies.

Now the Ontario PC Party is tainted. The only way to stop the bleeding is to motivate the base. [...]

https://www.therebel.media/the_ontario_pc_party_needs_to_be_conservative_to_survive

Every time I see Ford's front-grille face, I'm reminded of 'Senior' in American Chopper, except 'Senior' has a moustache worth its integrity to catch the spit when he rants. And he has an excellent sense of mechanics for all his foibles. Doug couldn't even run a photocopier without Daddy's help. He'd run for a rubber to erase a hard-drive...

https://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://cbsdetroit.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/teutulsr.jpg&imgrefurl=http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2011/02/24/gator-thinks-bo-ryan-looks-like-paul-teutul-sr/&docid=6KitjVupcaRuKM&tbnid=BTbtf-oxQQFCeM:&vet=10ahUKEwjBrO66qf7YAhXk3YMKHUHjCIEQMwg9KAAwAA..i&w=2129&h=3000&client=ubuntu&bih=850&biw=1280&q=Paul Teutul Sr.&ved=0ahUKEwjBrO66qf7YAhXk3YMKHUHjCIEQMwg9KAAwAA&iact=mrc&uact=8