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2014 Municipal Election: Toronto Mayoral Race

I don't like the "I won't vote for the candidate I like best, because he/she isn't likely to win" thing. That's how pollsters and media can swing votes. Probably some people voted for Ford because of that. I believe in voting for who you really want, otherwise it's like settling for second best just so you can be one of the crowd. After all, the polls can be wrong. Just ask Bob Rae.
This is why I prefer ranked ballots and why I want UTers to rank their preferred candidates.

By the way, I am revising my list:

1. Chow
2. Soknacki
3. Myself, TheTigerMaster, MetroMan, and/or other reasonable UT members
4. My Plush Kirby Toy
5. Stintz
6. Tory
7. [insert average Torontonian here]
8. A Losing Tim Hortons Cup
9. Soiled Toilet Paper
10. The Toronto Sun or 24 Hours
11. Homer Simpson or Peter Griffin
12. Jeremy Duncan from Zits (the newspaper comic strip)
13. Neil Flagg (or any other Ford enabling anti-progressive apologist)
14. Either Ford or Don Andrews
15. Either Ford or Don Andrews

My plush Kirby toy serves as a better mayor than Ford. Trust me.
 
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1. Olivia Chow
2. David Soknacki
(above rankings could reverse once Olivia's full platform is out)
3. John Tory
4. Morgan Baskin
5. Karen Stintz
6. Sandro Lisi
7. Rob Ford
 
I don't like the "I won't vote for the candidate I like best, because he/she isn't likely to win" thing. That's how pollsters and media can swing votes. Probably some people voted for Ford because of that. I believe in voting for who you really want, otherwise it's like settling for second best just so you can be one of the crowd. After all, the polls can be wrong. Just ask Bob Rae.
Until ranked ballots are introduced, I think a lot of people will be stuck with voting for the less of two evils.
 
1. Olivia Chow
2. David Soknacki
(above rankings could reverse once Olivia's full platform is out)
3. John Tory
4. Morgan Baskin
5. Karen Stintz
6. Sandro Lisi
7. Rob Ford
Hmmm, Sandro before Rob. Interesting.
 
Well, now that we've seen the true faces of most candidates it's obvious that Chow and Socknaki are the only 2 worth supporting in any way.

Tory is out of touch with reality as always, and Stintz is conducting a campaign based on the ridiculously flawed premise that Rob Ford's ideas are worth saving. While neither Stintz nor Tory would be as disastrous as Ford, they would just be a continuation of Lastman-like buffoon politics.

Soknacki's proposed policies are great, though limited in scope. The guy is quite clearly a good administrator.

Olivia Chow understands what makes great cities great, and that alone would make her a mayor of a different calibre than the likes of Tory or Stintz. She would probably do a lot to restore Toronto's reputation abroad (which is of massive importance to businesses of all kinds).
 
Interesting to see that "Children" top the list under the "issues" section of OliviaChow.ca (with Jobs and Transit coming 2nd and 3rd).

Children's issues have always been Chow's major policy interest, but they've been a huge blind spot in the last few municipal elections. However when you look at the responsibilities of City Hall, there's a lot that falls under the "Family and Children" heading: childcare/children's services, parks and rec/community centres, public health and safety, shelter services, public housing, etc. It's also an issue that doesn't divide the city along downtown/suburban lines - but it could strongly distinguish Chow from the conservatives. With all their talk about keeping taxes low AND funding huge transit projects, it's exactly these kinds of social services that would be ripe for cutbacks.
 
Pretty safe to assume 95% of this site will be voting Chow?

Anyone leaning Stinz or Tory?

Soknacki for now until I hear what Chow has to say. Stintz and her sunflowers/precious children annoys the hell out of me and Tory and his "women should learn to golf" as well as getting Kouvalis as his manager bugs me.

Have any of them attacked Ford yet?

Seems insane the other candidates have gone after each other and not him. I know it seems shooting fish in a bucket but he is still swimming!

Chow hasn't gone after anyone...yet!

I bet Kouvalis will have a massive attack on Ford. I am not sure how they all will handle him, though. If they attack him he'll say they just don't want to save money like he does. If they don't he'll say it's because they know he's so good at saving money and he's the best mayor the city has ever had. He'll also say anyone who attacks his drug and alcohol issues is making it personal. I really don't know what a good strategy is for someone who is so bizarre.
 
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Every time she posts something, she gets absolutely savaged in the comments. It's amazing.
 
Well, now that we've seen the true faces of most candidates it's obvious that Chow and Socknaki are the only 2 worth supporting in any way.

Tory is out of touch with reality as always, and Stintz is conducting a campaign based on the ridiculously flawed premise that Rob Ford's ideas are worth saving. While neither Stintz nor Tory would be as disastrous as Ford, they would just be a continuation of Lastman-like buffoon politics.

Soknacki's proposed policies are great, though limited in scope. The guy is quite clearly a good administrator.

Olivia Chow understands what makes great cities great, and that alone would make her a mayor of a different calibre than the likes of Tory or Stintz. She would probably do a lot to restore Toronto's reputation abroad (which is of massive importance to businesses of all kinds).

Unfortunately I have to agree with you. Tory's campaign is wholly unambitious. And as you said he's out of touch with reality. I was hoping that he'd be one of my top contenders, but right now he has dropped out of consideration for me. I guess we'll see in the coming months if something better materialized from his campaign.

Soknacki is #2 on my list. He's down to earth, a true fiscal conservative and a rational thinker. All are great qualities to have in a leader and in my estimation would make Soknacki a great manager of the city. Unfortunately I have yet to see much of a vision from Soknacki's campaign. At the moment Toronto is going through a radical transition and we need a visionary to oversee it. If Toronto weren't going through this transition I would very likely vote for a "manager" like Soknacki.

Chow appears to be the only candidate with a radical vision for the city. It has been described as much by people who've seen her campaign. This is exactly what our city needs at the moment. And I've been impressed with what I've seen on her campaign website regarding transit (I suspect innsertnamehere will be too). It appears as if she'll be going beyond drawing lines on the map by initially focusing on service enhancements, greater transit operation subsidies etc... It's encouraging to see a candidate who recognizes that improving transit goes beyond "subways, subways, subway" and drawing lines on maps. The thing about asking experts about how to go about building transit is also a nice touch. I'm getting sick of uninformed politicians spewing nonsense like Finch must have a subway.

Of course Stintz and Ford are out of consideration for obvious reasons.
 
The gray hairs on this board remember discussions (at least) about McCarthyism, and the legacies of propaganda.

Yes we do. But what's different now is that the threat is not communism, it's people who live in the same household. Anyone who thinks left of, or disagrees in any way, with the speaker. It has the potential to be more frightening than McCarthyism.
 
Unfortunately I have to agree with you. Tory's campaign is wholly unambitious. And as you said he's out of touch with reality. I was hoping that he'd be one of my top contenders, but right now he has dropped out of consideration for me. I guess we'll see in the coming months if something better materialized from his campaign.

Soknacki is #2 on my list. He's down to earth, a true fiscal conservative and a rational thinker. All are great qualities to have in a leader and in my estimation would make Soknacki a great manager of the city. Unfortunately I have yet to see much of a vision from Soknacki's campaign. At the moment Toronto is going through a radical transition and we need a visionary to oversee it. If Toronto weren't going through this transition I would very likely vote for a "manager" like Soknacki.

Chow appears to be the only candidate with a radical vision for the city. It has been described as much by people who've seen her campaign. This is exactly what our city needs at the moment. And I've been impressed with what I've seen on her campaign website regarding transit (I suspect innsertnamehere will be too). It appears as if she'll be going beyond drawing lines on the map by initially focusing on service enhancements, greater transit operation subsidies etc... It's encouraging to see a candidate who recognizes that improving transit goes beyond "subways, subways, subway" and drawing lines on maps. The thing about asking experts about how to go about building transit is also a nice touch. I'm getting sick of uninformed politicians spewing nonsense like Finch must have a subway.

Of course Stintz and Ford are out of consideration for obvious reasons.
You nailed it, TTM!

Chow focusing on child services is a great asset. Sometimes, even the most little things can create a great impact. A great city is one that one wants to live in for many reasons. A Ford-like city is one that resembles Detroit, not exactly the best place to live in.
 
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