Rob Ford's Toronto

[pattycakes]

Uh, well, presumably they welcomed Renata, who qualifies only for the W part of 'WASP', being Polish and a Catholic ...

I still believe it was an "arranged" marriage, beggars can't be choosers.

ETA - Remember Doug referred to Renata as a Pollock and that was on the radio, imagine what is said in private

 

[TJ O'Pootertoot]

What do you bet she converted or was married to Doug in a Christian ceremony? I just don't see the Fords welcoming someone other than a WASP into the family.

Even if she did, you can't renounce Judaism. Technically, to a rabbi, Karla would be Jewish even if she's never practiced and even if she underwent a conversion ceremony. That's probably too much Jewish Detail for everyone but it's amusing Doug has pulled that one out.

 

[the lemur]

I still believe it was an "arranged" marriage, beggars can't be choosers.

Arranged by the Fords because they had to find a wife for Rob to facilitate a political career as a family man?

 

[the lemur]

I still believe it was an "arranged" marriage, beggars can't be choosers.

ETA - Remember Doug referred to Renata as a Pollock and that was on the radio, imagine what is said in private

Polack (pollock is a type of fish, which is probably too arcane for Doug). The Fords seem like the types to have a different derogatory term for everyone who isn't a white anglo Christian like them.

 

[pud99]

Arranged by the Fords because they had to find a wife for Rob to facilitate a political career as a family man?

Yep.

 

[PinkLucy]

That sounded so familiar


“You’re a f---ing idiot,” Renata says."
http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2014/05/09/rob_ford_one_wild_night_in_march.html

That article is a good reminder of just who and what Rob Ford is.

 

[pattycakes]

Arranged by the Fords because they had to find a wife for Rob to facilitate a political career as a family man?

Bingo.
I have seen some odd matches in my life, but that one is just beyond weird. IIRC she was married before and the marriage fell apart due to her drinking. She was just as messed up as him, but she would at least make him look like a family man. Kids are a bonus too. Maybe Rob gave her $5000. per kid.

"Charges were dropped, but Ford left an impression, standing with his 3-year-old daughter in his arms, teaching her to say, “No comment.”

http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2010/04/23/rob_fords_complicated_life.html

 

[pud99]

Even if she did, you can't renounce Judaism. Technically, to a rabbi, Karla would be Jewish even if she's never practiced and even if she underwent a conversion ceremony. That's probably too much Jewish Detail for everyone but it's amusing Doug has pulled that one out.

Either (1) his dentist, doctor, lawyer and accountant are more important to him than his wife or (2) Doug completely forgot that his wife is Jewish (according to tradition at least) until he was reminded when he got home last night.

ETA: Karla is offended by Doug getting called out for stereotyping Jews but not by the stereotyping?

 

[Videodrome]

Tim Parent ‏@timparent 5m5 minutes ago
Sun News Network is not part of the sale to Postmedia. It will have one year to rebrand & replace content from Sun chain/reporters

Any comments from Wormington yet?

...Nope. He is silent on the issue.

 

[pattycakes]

Polack (pollock is a type of fish, which is probably too arcane for Doug). The Fords seem like the types to have a different derogatory term for everyone who isn't a white anglo Christian like them.

Glad I can't spell some of these slurs. Getting close to lunch time, umm fish.

 

[JGHali]

Having spent waaay too many evenings behind the glass at focus groups, I'd make this observation/caveat: People in them tend to say what they think you want to hear, or just want to be all 'Alpha Dog' and be contrarian. Either way, marketers use the results for all-purpose ass-kevlar, so they can say"Science says!" As an example of how they get it wrong, the Absolut Vodka campaign (Absolut _______) died an eviscerating death in research. But the client said, 'screw it, let's do it'. It ran for almost two decades. So much for focus groups there.

Political focus grouping is largely about determining message track. Generally, it would happen prior to the writ being dropped. It's really, really hard to focus group a change in message in the middle of a campaign (That said, Kinsella's forte has largely been rapid-response as conditions change). Hence, Olivia sticking to this seemingly non-sequitur nonsense about strollers and buses and whatnot. They appear to have no Plan B and are sticking to the focus-grouped nicey-nice they gathered months ago. People would have legitimately expressed approval of high-ground, positive messaging back then. So the campaign goes with it. Meanwhile 3-4 weeks before the election, the dynamic changes, the unexpected happens, and reality roils all around them. Any responsive messaging would likely be un-tested and they may be hesitant to take a flyer.

At least, that's what personal experience suggests. YMMV.

This is very insightful, and probably displays why campaigns go so wrong when they become ultra-stage-managed. Tory is coasting at present from being reasonably well spoken (if smarmy) and having a veneer of being centrist. I do think Chow's team likely has been over-professionalized, and that - more than anything else - is what accounts for her safe campaign narratives.

I don't really buy that politics pertains much to focus groups and market research. Success is more about having good intuition and an ability to tap into emotions and present a message that people identify with. While I don't think Rob Ford has any such intuition, his angry narrative is something readily identified with and that was key to his success in 2010. This time around things are reversed, and there is a simmering anger within a substantial part of the city. Many others are just exhausted from the whole Ford mess and want them gone. I don't think this is some sort of isolated internet or #TOpoli phenomenon. People are mad that their city has been consumed by the circus of the Ford family. The TV media doesn't really seem to get this, but we've seen it in print. Even in the Sun! If the Sun is putting Doug Ford in a chicken costume, it's fair to say that he's done, Wormtongue and SAL notwithstanding.

The odd thing is that Chow started the campaign with a fair degree of anti-Ford rhetoric and a theme of change. Somewhere those fell out of much of the narrative and she ceded ground to Tory, whose debate performances are smarmy at best, and whose platform is nothing more than poorly-thought-out ideas representing developer interests. The only way she gets back into this is to be *THE* anti-Ford candidate. As it stands, SmartTrack has already been debunked (derailed?) and it's time to change "track".

Re: Renata - how old is she anyway? She looks like a future (present?) COPD patient.

 

[Yaitsme]

View attachment 35084

If this is true I hope more people will come out of the woodwork. I imagine any threatening that the Fords may have been able to pull off easily may have been tempered by the last few days....in terms of what people will take from them. Ari did us a service by starting the respectful and well worded push back. Maybe it might be a snowball of sorts.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Any comments from Wormington yet?

He might be rather occupied at the moment, brushing up his CV. I think the Fords might have a position opening soon.

AoD

 

[pud99]

Either (1) his dentist, doctor, lawyer and accountant are more important to him than his wife or (2) Doug completely forgot that his wife is Jewish (according to tradition at least) until he was reminded when he got home last night.

 

[pud99]