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Next Mayor of Toronto?

Blovertis said:
Why take it so personally? This is how politics works.

I hate to imagine your reaction if (when?) Rossi drops out.
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I think I'm reacting quite rationally. I can't help it if I actually have standards.

If Rossi drops out, I'd obviously vote for a no-hoper.
 
GenerationW said:
Pardon my French, but what a complete fucking disgrace! There goes the candidate I was heavily leaning towards.

Not just your words, but your integrity, reputation, and self-respect!

I find it unconscionable that a candidate decided to drop out AFTER the cut-off date AND threw her support behind someone else. Ms. Thomson, show some character and honour your commitment to stay in it to the end. How fucking hard is that?

And Smitherman accepting this quitter's "support" automatically disqualifies him in my eyes. That just reveals him to be no better than her. This is a municipal election, not some de facto leadership convention. The level of political opportunism here is beyond disgusting.

Ford and Pants have always been out of the question for me, so that leaves Rossi and the no-hopers (are any of them not nuts???). At least with Thomson, there was the prospect of a decent showing and then a run in 2014. Now? Poof -- vanished into thin air! As the kids say....

EPIC FAIL!!!!!
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You should go out and advocate for voting reform. This wouldn't be necessary if we had preferential voting.

I also don't get the outrage. Thomson still thinks she'd be the best mayor, but also believes that Rob Ford would be the worst mayor. She knows she can't win with her current level of support, so why not compromise and work with another candidate to ensure the worst doesn't happen?
 
archanfel said:
So the province might need to bankroll Toronto in the order of $100 million a year? I thought Mr. No New Tax just said he didn't have the cash.
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He's advocating the return of the provincial operating subsidy that Harris cut. I wouldn't even consider voting for anyone who didn't push for that.
 
Maybe. But she didn't know the extent of Ford's support at that time, either. If current polls made it look like Smitherman was going to win, she'd probably stay in the race as a means of keeping the message focused on the things she's passionate about.

This is politics. There are no primaries or leadership races at the municipal level so these kinds of shift happen closer to election day.
 
It's ALL politics, but, to use an arbitrary example, if it's totally unacceptable for a Conservative to "drop out" of a federal or provincial race four weeks before election day and back a Liberal against a strong NDP candidate (and it is totally unacceptable), then this is really the same standard. She deserves to be called out on it.

It would be interesting to know what she was offered before the cut-off date, and what was added after to sweeten the pot (unless someone wants to argue she did this all out of the goodness of her heart!).
 
GenerationW said:
It's ALL politics, but, to use an arbitrary example, if it's totally unacceptable for a Conservative to "drop out" of a federal or provincial race four weeks before election day and back a Liberal against a strong NDP candidate (and it is totally unacceptable), then this is really the same standard. She deserves to be called out on it.

It would be interesting to know what she was offered before the cut-off date, and what was added after to sweeten the pot (unless someone wants to argue she did this all out of the goodness of her heart!).
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She would only be out $200.
 
GenerationW said:
It's ALL politics, but, to use an arbitrary example, if it's totally unacceptable for a Conservative to "drop out" of a federal or provincial race four weeks before election day and back a Liberal against a strong NDP candidate (and it is totally unacceptable), then this is really the same standard. She deserves to be called out on it.
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I don't think that's totally unacceptable at all. Why would it be?
 
Pardon my French, but what a complete fucking disgrace! There goes the candidate I was heavily leaning towards.
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GenerationW, I don't pardon your French but I share your opinions of those who have just outed themselves as common politicians with feet of clay.
The French thing doesn't enhance your argument when used twice in the same message, the impact morphs into an inability to express yourself better.
 
GenerationW said:
It would be interesting to know what she was offered before the cut-off date, and what was added after to sweeten the pot (unless someone wants to argue she did this all out of the goodness of her heart!).
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why does it have to be out of goodness? or profit? maybe she made a rational choice since she realized there's no point to continue in something that can't be won and maybe she prefers smitherman over the other candidates.
 
Problems in the Pants camp. They don't have money for the kind of ad buy that would give him a chance to compete. I feel sorry for him. He's earned the job with 30 years of dedication to this city and would make an excellent Mayor. Unfortunately for him, the perfect storm has come together to move the electorate to the right. Had Miller ran for a 3rd term as scheduled, I think that a lot of the ribbon cutting on waterfront projects, transit city, and a balanced budget would have paved the way for Pants to sail into the Mayor's chair as Miller's successor.

Maybe he can stand by for when the pendulum swings Left, but because he wasn't their first choice, the NDP ideologues will probably anoint a different candidate when given time to choose: Adam Vaughan or an Adam Giambrone comeback in 2014.
 
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I like Pantalone a fair bit, but he has too many hurdles to overcome. Being associated with Miller policies isn't really a bad thing - as much as some people will yell endlessly that it is - but seemingly trivial shit like the thick accent, his lack of presence in a room, his tendency to refer to himself in the third person, etc. add up. Like it or not, the Toronto Mayoral Race has become high stakes theatre and he just isn't that good on stage.

I think his being in the race has kept things from becoming too much a right-wing circle jerk, so he has done some good.
 
The Mayor Joe ad campaign that I've seen will help bolster his numbers if they manage to get it out. I think they're limiting it to subway stations because of lack of funds. I guess that's the best strategy since trying to win over car owners is probably a losing battle anyway.

I really really want to see this become a repeat of 2003 where Barbara Hall's support collapsed and it became Tory vs Miller. A Ford collapse that would open the way for Smitherman vs Pantalone would be my favourite scenario but this late in the game, I don't see this happening... and Pantalone ain't no Miller.
 
MetroMan said:
Problems in the Pants camp. They don't have money for the kind of ad buy that would give him a chance to compete. I feel sorry for him. He's earned the job with 30 years of dedication to this city and would make an excellent Mayor. Unfortunately for him, the perfect storm has come together to move the electorate to the right. Had Miller ran for a 3rd term as scheduled, I think that a lot of the ribbon cutting on waterfront projects, transit city, and a balanced budget would have paved the way for Pants to sail into the Mayor's chair as Miller's successor.

Maybe he can stand by for when the pendulum swings Left, but because he wasn't their first choice, the NDP ideologues will probably anoint a different candidate when given time to choose: Adam Vaughan or an Adam Giambrone comeback in 2014.
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Like others have said, I've come to like the guy, but it's definitely not his time to be mayor, and given the increasing problems in his campaign, he seriously needs to face reality and do the right thing and bow out of the race, sometime this week. He has zeero chance of winning at this point, and the undecideds and anti-Fords are desperately looking for the right guy to finally put the Ford threat to rest. That man has become George Smitherman. Encouraging new poll results, Thomson dropping out, Ford embarrassing himself publicly again, and Pantalone's campaign fizzling are all very encouraging signs for Smitherman. I was undecided until now, but as of today I'm about 98% sure I'll be voting for him, and I think many feel the same way.

If Pantalone truly loves and cares for Toronto as much as he claims he does, he will drop out very soon in order to prevent a Ford disaster, which he is well aware is a very real possibility if he continues his campaign, although less so every day because I get the sense that people are starting to abandon him. He doesn't even have to officially endorse Smitherman since virtually all his support will go there naturally anyway.
 
What still worries me is that I'm noticing many of my friends in the Millerite camp saying they'll vote for Pantalone, no matter what. It's a principled decision. They simply won't vote for somebody they don't believe in, even if that means Ford becomes Mayor. I think that Pantalone will end up in the 7-9% range. That may be just enough to keep Smitherman short of Ford if Rossi's less loyal supporters go to Ford. This is going to come down to the wire.
 
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