Toronto Cannot Afford Rob Ford As Mayor

[EnderD_503]

Originally Posted by betenoire

I THINK what happened is that when Mammoliti dropped out of the race, because he decided to endorce Ford (which is SO fucked - since Ford called Mammoliti a "Gino" - who the fuck would endorse someone who called you a racist name?) people who were planning to vote for Mammoliti are now planning to vote for Ford?

I also think that what is going on is that the "asshole vote" is ALL going to Ford, and the "everybody else vote" is split between the other candidates. I mean, that's how the fucking Conservatives got into power in this country in the first place. All of the assholes voted Conservative, and the rest of us split our votes between the NDP, Liberals, Bloc, etc.

True, but part of what annoys me about the situation is that what saved Canada from a Conservative majority was the Toronto/southern Ontario vote, and now we're set to vote in Harper's twin. It doesn't make sense. Then again, they barely poll over 1000 people at once, so hopefully they've been doing their polling in places like Royal York, Rosedale and other wealthy areas of the city, and doesn't actually reflect what's going on in the rest of the city. One can only hope... I really hope the "every body else vote" comes to its senses and rallies behind Smitherman for all our sakes. We're pretty much fucked otherwise. If Ford gets in it'll be like Mike Harris all over again with the rest of Ontario exempt from the lunacy.

[betenoire]

Originally Posted by EnderD_503

Then again, they barely poll over 1000 people at once, so hopefully they've been doing their polling in places like Royal York, Rosedale and other wealthy areas of the city, and doesn't actually reflect what's going on in the rest of the city.

Ah, that hadn't occurred to me. They should be required to poll by neighborhood and post the polls in that manner. You know "Rosedale loves him, Parkdale thinks he's a shitstick."

<3 Parkdale <3

[EnderD_503]

A few days ago Sarah Thomson dropped out to back Smitherman. She asked all those who would have voted for her to back Smitherman, and that she believed not allowing Ford to win was important in order to safeguard the city's future.

Honestly, I wish such support were behind Pantalone or Thomson herself, but at this point it's still "anyone's better than Ford."

Toronto mayoral candidate Sarah Thomson was welcomed at George Smitherman's campaign headquarters Tuesday after she dropped her bid for the city's top job and endorsed her former rival.

Polls in recent months have suggested Thomson is lagging well behind front-runners Rob Ford and Smitherman. She said at a morning news conference she was ending her bid because she didn't want Ford to be elected.

Ford "is going to basically destroy transit. He doesn't care about the social issues that George Smitherman cares about," she told reporters at the former provincial cabinet minister's headquarters after her announcement.

"I got to say, you know, at the end of the day, we have to look at the future of Toronto. To me that's the most important thing and I would trust Toronto in George Smitherman's hands."

"To each his own," Ford said in response to Thomson's comments.

"I will guarantee I will be right in there to the very end and I’m looking forward to it. ... I can’t really explain why Sarah’s doing what she’s doing, but I wish her all the best."

Smitherman, who opinion polls suggest is running second in the race, has said he's the only candidate who can stop Ford.
Pantalone, Rossi continue campaigns

The two other leading candidates, Coun. Joe Pantalone and Rocco Rossi, said they have no plans to follow Thomson's lead and drop out of the race.

Rossi said he believes many of the people who were going to vote for Thomson will now support him.

"Now I'm the only true outside business leader running against a slate of political insiders that don't represent real change for the City of Toronto," he said.

Pantalone said the election is still a month away and a lot can change in that time. He said he's the only candidate not calling for significant budget cuts.

"I feel optimistic," he said. "Let the campaign continue. This is just another step in this journey."

Thomson joined the race In January to replace outgoing Mayor David Miller. She quit her job as publisher of Women's Post magazine to jump into the race.

Less than a week ago, Thomson's campaign team played down reports that she was considering ending her run for mayor. They said she wouldn't stop campaigning, despite published reports suggesting she was considering withdrawing to stop Ford from winning.

Thomson's name will remain on the ballot for the Oct. 25 vote.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/sto...son-mayor.html

[imperfect_cupcake]

I'm leaving a recently voted tory england that's mutilating it's public services. the last thing I want is to go home to a fuckwit canada.

[betenoire]

Jesus H Christ!

New rule: douchebags from the suburbs should no longer be allowed to vote in Toronto Elections.

I seriously cannot believe this guy won. Mortified.

[EnderD_503]

Indeed, I couldn't believe it when I saw the results last night. Congratulations my fellow Torontonians...we're royally fucked for the next two years. Hello privatization, goodbye public services. I couldn't believe some of the crap I was reading in the papers today about how the era of so-called "pampered unions" (what a joke) was over and so-called "respect for the taxpayer" had arrived. Let's see how people like a Toronto with privatized garbage pick-up. Talk about opportunism and the general/notorious two-facedness of the media. This is exactly why Pantalone's followers should have bit the bullet and voted for Smitherman. All of the candidates leave much to be desired, but at this stage of the game Ford is by the far the most dangerous candidate who will certainly fuck over the entire city (minus the wealthy), and his followers by no means make up the majority. I have a feeling though, that Smitherman's sexuality may have been a factor among the wealthier voters. I couldn't believe some of the comments I heard at work, people who would have otherwised voted for Smitherman, but claimed it would have been "weird" because he's married to a man. This whole election has really decreased my faith in this city and the progress it appeared to be making.

I still can't believe that clown is now our mayor. The only hope is that this could be the last straw for many who have suffered at the hands of idiotic mayors, and whom Ford has literally waged a war against (far more vehemently and clearly than most). One can only hope.

[betenoire]

It's my understanding that he's got a lot of enemies on city council, so we can only hope that he's hated enough that none of the stupid shit he wants to do (I LOVE THE STREETCARS! WHY is he being such a dick about them?) gets done.

I do think that his getting elected is, like, symptomatic of shockwaves of right-wing supercrazy coming on up from the US. That shit's contagious, kids.