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Rob Ford - Why the Supervillian?

W. K. Lis said:
People seem to forget that we are in a recession. Especially the unions. When the unions went on strike in the middle of a recession, where others were losing their jobs, it gets everyone's blood boiling (except the unions). That is one reason for the Ford vote. Of course, the union leaders would not apologize, they want to keep their own jobs. I would thank the unions for getting Ford in.
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The Unions delivered Ontario to Mike Harris and now they could deliver Toronto to Rob Ford. I wish union leadership was able to recognize a good situation when they have it.
 
I have to agree with Thomas Walkom's piece here:

Rob Ford is not the Anti-Christ. He’s just a right-winger from Etobicoke who wants to be Toronto mayor. His critics should get a grip.

The demonization of Ford is over the top. He’s mocked as a buffoon and a slob. He’s treated as a candidate driven solely by anger with nothing serious to say.

On the basis of absolutely no evidence, his supporters have been compared to the ultra-right, anti-immigrant, anti-government Tea Party movement in the United States and to racists in Europe.

The higher he climbs in the polls, the more his critics wring their hands. They ask who in their right minds could possibly vote for Rob Ford. They wonder whether his fans – variously described as anti-downtown suburbanites or old white males – are evil or merely delusional.

All of this might be explicable if Ford were a true outlier, if all other serious mayoralty candidates were promising something different. But except for leftish councilor Joe Pantalone, all are on the same wavelength, calling for deep spending cuts and privatization.

George Smitherman, who according to the polls is in the number two spot, says he’s the only one who can stop Ford. But even if he does, what difference would that make? On important issues, the platforms of the two men (yes, Ford does have a platform) are eerily similar.

Both would attempt to cut spending in ways that aren’t fully defined; both would contemplate contracting out garbage collection; both would hire more cops.

Both would slash the vehicle registration tax and curb the growth of bike lanes on major streets. Both would scrap current TTC expansion plans and instead concentrate on more subways.

In fact, Smitherman’s platform is more extreme. He would freeze property taxes which, when done in the past, has sent the city spiralling into debt.

So far, Ford promises only to curb the rate of growth in property taxes – a promise that, oddly enough, makes him the more fiscally responsible of the two.
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http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/tor...the-anti-christ-his-critics-should-get-a-grip
 
King of Kensington said:
I have to agree with Thomas Walkom's piece here:



http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/tor...the-anti-christ-his-critics-should-get-a-grip
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It's quite obvious that a lot of people are against Ford for who he is, not what his policies are. Ironically, it can also be argued that a lot of people who are for Ford are also for who he is, not what his policies are. Because let's face it, Ford doesn't have much a platform. I still think the eye weekly summed Ford up the most accurately.

"Rob Ford only has two priorities: saving money and serving constituents. Crazy as he appears, those happen to be popular priorities. Besides, he doesn't need to think; he's out impressing the voters every day with his actions.

The people who want to beat him might want to start thinking about that."

(Before nfitz points out Ford is a bigot, we are talking about priorities here. Ford might be against refugees and have prejudice against gays, but those are not his priorities).

Now, the author of the article think Ford being mayor would be disaster and I also think he made one good point: He does not believe our city is in decline.

Is our city in decline? That really depends on your point of view. The better question is whether socialism is in decline.

To capitalists, the entire western world is in decline. With very good intentions, our governments create one moral hazards on top of another. People have less motivation to work, society indulges itself in excessive. We are losing jobs and skills. Our economy is stagnating. Our taxes are sky rocketing, which punishes hard working people and investors.

However, to socialists, our society is advancing. We have built an entire social safety net so that the less fortunate would not be left behind. We are building parks, beautiful cities. We are diversified, we have culture festivals and we are eliminating prejudice. We are protecting the environment. We are reducing inequality.

The vast majority of our politicians are somewhere in between. Rob Ford is probably closer to the capitalists whereas David Miller is closer to the socialists.

As for Smitherman, (there's no secret I hold a grudge against him so I am biased), a big problem is I don't know where he is. While Both Rob Ford and David Miller genuinely believe what they believe. I don't think George Smitherman believe in anything other than his own political career. His position is always shifting and his numbers add up no better than Ford's.
 
Ford is such a jackass. I saw him to do taking part in the CIBC Run for the Cure race festivities this morning with a small team of campaigners. This is the same guy who said last week that we should get marathons off the street cause they tie up our roads! HYPOCRITE! Truly an ass.
 
bigtony22127 said:
Ford is such a jackass. I saw him to do taking part in the CIBC Run for the Cure race festivities this morning with a small team of campaigners. This is the same guy who said last week that we should get marathons off the street cause they tie up our roads! HYPOCRITE! Truly an ass.
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For Rob Ford, a 5 km run is a marathon. Or did he do the 1 km run?
 
Or did he just stand around and look pretty? Um, scratch that. Did he just stand around?
 
"If there had been a TV in every living room sixty years ago, this country does not elect a man in a wheelchair. "
-- American President
 
ITcomputer said:
^ That is not what the polls are showing, perhaps you should read something else other than the Tor Star?
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That's exactly what the most recent poll indicated. Of those who were actually going to vote, Smitherman did better. Add in the higher voting turnout in the older areas, the shock factor of Ford bringing out the anti-Ford vote, and Ford's decline in the polls since the election got serious in September, as people realised what he was ....

... and I don't even think it will be close.
 
I'm not sure who was at the CBC debate yesterday evening, but Ford made an absolute fool of himself.

It was not only what he said, but how he said it.

The campaign is having a clear impact on Ford. He has gained weight, his nails are chewed down to the skin, and his responses seem even less coherent than before.
 
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