[christiesplits]

Wow. If these numbers are true...

And ... this looks like the beginning of the end for Sarah, Rocco and Joe (up to his dyed-in-the-wool NDP base, at least). Their fundraising will really start petering out -- soon.

Pantalone's campaign has been having a very, very difficult time fundraising and from what I've gathered from a friend who works on the campaign the morale is low. I agree the Global poll will not help. That doesn't necessarily mean that card carrying dippers will open their wallets for Smitherman, but they will certainly be less inclined to do so for Pantalone.

 

[MetroMan]

^ True. I worked on his campaign for a total of one day. Morale is low, as is money. I left that first day impressed with Smitherman and Rossi, wondering why I was working for Pants. The fact that Rossi is still polling in single digits made my decision to back Smitherman that much easier.

Mayor George!

 

[GraphicMatt]

Comedy Rob Ford financial plan that is not a financial plan but actually a video of a man trying very hard to read cue cards that must have been written in a tiny font maybe:

[video=youtube;ry1-xZIx_Zw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry1-xZIx_Zw[/video]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry1-xZIx_Zw

 

[ladyscraper]

Well that poll seals my Smitherman vote.

 

[MetroMan]

Wow! Can somebody please put these two men against each other in a one on one debate?

[video=youtube;R-8f4dvaXPc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-8f4dvaXPc[/video]

Smitherman would destroy Ford in a debate.

So far, I've only seen debates where candidates answer questions from a moderator. I want to see a free for all like this one on TV, live.

 

[ssiguy2]

Although Smitherman is defineatly a better choice for mayor he will be no panacea. If he gets Pantelone's support you can be damn sure it will come with strings attached. That mean a continuing of the Miller pro-union policies which greatly inflate infrastructure costs.
Smitherman would probably be competent but no game changer. He has too little conviction and balls to boldly take Toronto into the future with vision and daring. Yes, transit may improve but that is strictly due to McGuinty. He may improve some things here and there but under his tenure it will be another 4 years of cruise control for Toronto.

 

[jn_12]

Although Smitherman is defineatly a better choice for mayor he will be no panacea. If he gets Pantelone's support you can be damn sure it will come with strings attached. That mean a continuing of the Miller pro-union policies which greatly inflate infrastructure costs.
Smitherman would probably be competent but no game changer. He has too little conviction and balls to boldly take Toronto into the future with vision and daring. Yes, transit may improve but that is strictly due to McGuinty. He may improve some things here and there but under his tenure it will be another 4 years of cruise control for Toronto.

i'm really enjoying how Toronto is cruising, so great!

Also, i'm not sure how you connect the dots but your scenario of Smitherman being held hostage by unions to get Pants' support doesn't make much sense considering once the election is over Pants would have no power over Smitherman whatsoever.

 

[nfitz]

^ True. I worked on his campaign for a total of one day. Morale is low, as is money. I left that first day impressed with Smitherman and Rossi, wondering why I was working for Pants. The fact that Rossi is still polling in single digits made my decision to back Smitherman that much easier.

I think Pantalone might well do the best job. But it's clear that the City is moving a bit to the right. The Ford vote clearly demonstrates this. It does seem that a move toward the centre would reflect the electorate. It seems that it is Smitherman.

 

[archanfel]

Well, looks like this is turning into a horse race, which is always more interesting than a single candidate landslide.

I guess right wingers are happy either way. Both candidate promised to axe the vehicle tax and Smitherman actually went a step further to freeze property tax (Ford wants to base the increase on inflation). Both of them are going to cut wastes. Both of them want subway. The big difference is that Smitherman is going to develop waterfront. If he can get the money without increasing taxes, sure, why not. Of course, the chance of Smitherman keeping his promises is almost zero. Prepare for the infrastructure premium.

Another interesting thing is if Smitherman screwed up again, it would reflect badly on the provincial liberal government. I guess that's why the Tories are supporting Smitherman behind the scene. Crafty.

The pressure is certainly increasing for the other candidates to quite. A shame about Pantalone really. It's sad how the left dumped him so readily. Hopefully it would also mean they will dump the NDP in the next federal election.

 

[duper]

Comedy Rob Ford financial plan that is not a financial plan but actually a video of a man trying very hard to read cue cards that must have been written in a tiny font maybe:

[video=youtube;ry1-xZIx_Zw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry1-xZIx_Zw[/video]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry1-xZIx_Zw

I got to 1:13 before I burst out laughing.

It wasn't because of his terrible delivery, but because of his lack of a clue.

The first of his four-point plan to tackle Toronto's finances is the reduction in the number of councillors from 44 to 22, for a whopping savings of .3% of the city's budget.

The guy has no clue.

 

[MisterF]

Ford: "There might not even be any fees at all"
*Audience laughs*

Comic gold!

That mean a continuing of the Miller pro-union policies which greatly inflate infrastructure costs.

Please expand on what this means. Do mayors have the power to tell private contractors how much to pay their employees? Do Council and the TTC award jobs to higher bids because the lower bidding contractors don't have unions? Do the province and the feds just play along? How exactly do "pro-union policies" greatly inflate infrastructure costs?

 

[Glen]

Building on the point that Smitherman will be like a province insider working for Toronto, his financial plan released today, puts a focus on the province uploading a fair share of the TTC operating costs. If Smitherman accomplishes that one goal in 4 years, the city's financial difficulties will have been significantly resolved.

You obviously have no understanding of the city budget and what drives expenses if you think that this will resolve the city's financial difficulties.

 

[js97]

I think the recent poll is just another tool to sway voters into Smitherman's camp.

Man, Torontonians are a bunch of sheep being herded by a 400 count poll!

Instead of pre-determining who would be the best candidate to beat ford,

Ipsos reed pre-determined it would be a Ford /Smitherman race.

Curious is Ipsos reed donated to the provincial campaign of the Liberals?

Either way, if Smitherman can squander a Billion Dollars over 'ten years and 4 ministers'... Wonder what kind of damage he will do with almost TEN billion dollars annually.... over 4 years!

 

[Filip]

That would be McGuinty's platform. People want subways, and the only entity that can get it done is the Province. If McGuinty starts off with a campaign promise to get an Eglinton subway to the Airport, he'll have won over many Torontonians who have clearly shown an appetite for subways in the municipal election.

If Smitherman even utters replacing the Eglinton LRT with a subway I'll fully support the rest of TC and vote for him.

That's the game changer for me folks.

 

[GraphicMatt]

Thomson's out. Throwing her support behind Smitherman.

George is going to win.