[Riverdale Rink Rat]

You've got something there Unique. What *would* it take to drag the other candidates down to Ford’s level?

The quantitative numbers we’ve got stink. Until there’s something more conclusive to work with, imma gonna hold my nose. Besides, qualitative voter analysis is more interesting in my line of Armchair Psychology.

Let’s consider the Keyes Constant. 27% of the population is batshit crazy or wants to vandalize CH with more Ford. Note that RoFo has exactly 27% in the Forum poll reported in the star. Selah.

Now, has the Ford campaign absorbed all the crazy in Toronto? If so, there’s no getting more of the Keyes Constant folks out of the other campaigns to come over to Ford. They’re already there.

So how to drain the other candidates support down to less than batshit crazy 27%?

How about the “thinking man/woman� How many of that group (sorry, elite) now support Chow or Tory? How many might be enticed over to the real mayor for the thinking man/woman: Dave Soks? Many, perhaps, but some thinkers are thinking about voting strategically, dontcha think?

Similarly, how many Tory or Chow voters could be brought over to Stintz? If Karen Stintz is as dumb as she sounds, I’m not sure what she’s got to offer. Right-wing women voters who ride the TTC a lot? I’m lost there.

Conversely, if Stintz quit and supported Ford, how many of her supporters would follow? Even if she threw in a free Metropass, I can’t see women who support Stintz going over to Ford. YMMV.

Still, I think this "drain-not-boost" strategy may have legs. Anybody else got 2 cents?

I know she's insanely ambitious and has a very high self-image, but if Stintz could try to throw her support to Ford, she must be off the charts insane. And her husband should be packng his bags and sending the kids to the parents.

 

[EagleEye]

I am so glad that more Torontonians are standing up to these buffoons. I am sure the other candidates would have complained about Ford Fest in a park, but I think the pressure put on them by everyday folky taxpayers pressured them to deal with the situation.

 

[VTB]

RoFo is MINO until the election, so isn't that about the same thing?

No! Big difference! If he was booted out, he wouldn't be able to still hog the spotlight re pink umbrellas, public washrooms, traffic control centre etc. He wouldn't be able to summon Byford to explain to him a report on drilling equipment that he didnt bother to read. If he was covered at all it will be as disgraced ex-mayor. Big difference.

 

[TOBorn]

i know there were posts about doug comparing rob to obama, but were these posted?


Opinions on Rob Ford divide Toronto’s black community
Is he a "Robin Hood of the ’hood," or a privileged politician whose actions belie his words? One council candidate has penned an open letter questioning African Canadians’ support for the mayor.

http://www.thestar.com/news/city_ha...isive_figure_in_torontos_black_community.html


Why Are Black People So Committed to Supporting Rob Ford?

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/anthony-morgan/rob-ford_b_5610527.html


Why I Lodged a Formal Complaint Against Rob Ford's Racist Comments

http://theagenda.tvo.org/blog/agend...l-complaint-against-rob-fords-racist-comments

I'm black. Caribbean descent. I do not approve of Rob Ford. His minions are black AND white. Please do not turn this into a discussion on race. There are ignorant 'folks' on both sides of the colour spectrum. It is lack of civic engagement that is more to blame for the continued support of this pathetic cretin.

 

[EagleEye]

I'm black. Caribbean descent. I do not approve of Rob Ford. His minions are black AND white. Please do not turn this into a discussion on race. There are ignorant 'folks' on both sides of the colour spectrum. It is lack of civic engagement that is more to blame for the continued support of this pathetic cretin.

A friend of mine in the US sent me an article about how black people were divided about Ford. I told him exactly the same thing, that his minions are black and white and they just won't question anything he does. It is not about race, really the only reason race has entered into this is the slurs he's used against black (and other) people.

 

[adma]

*Word* to both parts of this. I think the writer of the article is reeaally reaching, and sounding rather 'pseudo' and pretentious with it. As in...dude, it's a discussion forum; that's what it's for. *snort* When don't Canadians like to follow and discuss politics? On or off-line.

Though to be honest: *I* don't feel too defensively put off by the article. Whatever his spin, at least the author acknowledged the undenyingly compelling centrality of UT and of this thread within the Ford melodrama. And on that count, it fulfilled the promise of the title, i.e. for UT and this thread just as much as for Ford, no publicity is bad publicity.

We were noticed, folks.

 

[inyyz]

I'm black. Caribbean descent. I do not approve of Rob Ford. His minions are black AND white. Please do not turn this into a discussion on race. There are ignorant 'folks' on both sides of the colour spectrum. It is lack of civic engagement that is more to blame for the continued support of this pathetic cretin.

I think the posts that offend you, offend us all. I am SICK of RF and his camping manager constantly bringing up "the black vote". It is part of their narrow minded, vote-hungry, brain washing. They spew such drivel in the hope that someone will think "See? He loves *insert anyone, the poor, the black, the everyman, anyone who ever paid taxes, anyone who ever had garbage picked up....etc*, how can we NOT love him? Sigh...

 

[evvabeing]

I'm black. Caribbean descent. I do not approve of Rob Ford. His minions are black AND white. Please do not turn this into a discussion on race. There are ignorant 'folks' on both sides of the colour spectrum. It is lack of civic engagement that is more to blame for the continued support of this pathetic cretin.

just to be clear, i am not the one making this a racial thing... the media (and doug) is discussing this angle, and i simply shared that.

 

[adma]

He may be a Ford but that's as far as it goes and frankly, it ain't nothing to brag about. That said, it's miles better than being a Stirpe I suppose.

Though as far as political experience goes, I do wonder (and not out of prurience; merely out of C.V. curiosity) if he helped his uncle/relative(?) in Ward 17 in 2010.

 

[adma]

'This is my ward, and I am ward leader pretend ...'

Grimy Miserable People. (Frances Nunziata can be Kate Pierson)

 

[TOBorn]

A friend of mine in the US sent me an article about how black people were divided about Ford. I told him exactly the same thing, that his minions are black and white and they just won't question anything he does. It is not about race, really the only reason race has entered into this is the slurs he's used against black (and other) people.

Sad, isn't it? I was born and raised in Toronto (Rexdale, actually - when it was a sleepy suburb - our backyard abutted Martin Grove Road when it still had a gravel surface) and there was only one instance of racial prejudice I ever experienced. I was a child and there was a bully in the school that just needed to pick on someone. He chose me, but I was taught to always consider the source and did not take it to heart. The best defence against ignorance is education. My parents appreciated the opportunities Canada offered. They passed this respect on to all of us and we have all succeeded in embracing a strong sense of civic responsibility and national pride. Rob Ford is an anomaly that will, eventually, disappear into the whispering dust of time. The rest of us will continue to live our lives with honour and grace.

<stepping off soapbox now>. Thanks for humouring me.

 

[TOBorn]

just to be clear, i am not the one making this a racial thing... the media (and doug) is discussing this angle, and i simply shared that.

No worries. I wasn't directing this at anyone, specifically. Just hoped to enlighten the discussion.

 

[cgwalnut]

In which the Mayor plays 311 staff and yells at a pile of garbage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmRa-fBYkM4

Instead of systematically improving the effectiveness of 311, which would be appropriately mayoral, this is what our "mayor" does in exchange for the enormous salary we pay for.

Just infuriating.
Why can't the other mayoral candidates simply say what you have just written in one sentence - either through the media or during a debate. Fords nonsense is so easily refuted yet all of the candidates are astonishingly ineffective at pointing out his absolute inability to do his job as an executive.

That, and his closed/fluttering eye thing really freaks me out. Who could trust that?!

 

[TOBorn]

Just infuriating.
Why can't the other mayoral candidates simply say what you have just written in one sentence - either through the media or during a debate. Fords nonsense is so easily refuted yet all of the candidates are astonishingly ineffective at pointing out his absolute inability to do his job as an executive.

That, and his closed/fluttering eye thing really freaks me out. Who could trust that?!

You're absolutely right. Rob Ford lies. It is irrefutable. Why won't the media scream this above the fold? They can't possibly be worried about libel.

 

[adma]

Sad, isn't it? I was born and raised in Toronto (Rexdale, actually - when it was a sleepy suburb - our backyard abutted Martin Grove Road when it still had a gravel surface) and there was only one instance of racial prejudice I ever experienced. I was a child and there was a bully in the school that just needed to pick on someone. He chose me, but I was taught to always consider the source and did not take it to heart. The best defence against ignorance is education. My parents appreciated the opportunities Canada offered. They passed this respect on to all of us and we have all succeeded in embracing a strong sense of civic responsibility and national pride. Rob Ford is an anomaly that will, eventually, disappear into the whispering dust of time. The rest of us will continue to live our lives with honour and grace.

<stepping off soapbox now>. Thanks for humouring me.

Let's keep in mind some past representation of that stretch of Etobicoke: Liberal Len Braithwaite, the first black person elected to the Ontario Legislature.