Listen to this, and then tell me why you think Ford is going to get re-elected
Breaking: Kormos (whom I like) gets accurate about what he was inaccurate about
Mr. Peter Kormos: On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, correcting the record of October 19, 2010, while I was speaking in the chamber: I was speaking about Warren Kinsella.
I said that I like Warren Kinsella; that was accurate.
I said he was an expert at mudslinging; that was accurate.
I said I only wished he was one of ours rather than the Liberals’; that was accurate.
But I then refer to him as the American king of mud-slinging. That was a gross misstatement on my part. Of course, Warren Kinsella is a Canadian.
I apologize to Mr. Kinsella, to Americans and to Canadians.
Tim Hudak, by the numbers
Here are the facts:
1. Ontario cabinet minister Glen Murray re-tweeted something he shouldn’t have.
2. Ontario Conservative boss Tim Hudak demanded Murray apologize.
3. Murray apologized.
4. Hudak is demanding another apology, because he’s mad that Murray asked that Hudak condemn the homophobia that is sometimes associated with his Conservatives.
5. Hudak says some of his best friends are gay, and that his party isn’t the least bit anti-gay, and that he won’t do what Murray asks, and that he still wants yet another apology.
6. Hudak’s Labour critic – a member of his shadow cabinet, in effect – is Randy Hillier.
7. Here are some of the things Hillier has said he’s against, quote unquote: “Using taxpayer’s dollars, our governments support and promote Quebec, Native, Arts, Homosexual, Urban and Multi-cultures.”
8. Tristan Emmanel is Hillier’s campaign manager and a very senior Ontario Conservative adviser, and he has said that gays are, quote unquote, “sexual deviants.”
9. Hudak hasn’t fired or in any way disciplined Messrs. Hillier and Emmanuel for their statements – he has, in fact, promoted them.
10. Tim Hudak is full of crap.
The Lesson from Barrie
From regular reader “The Other Jim:
I’m not convinced that Ford will be a failure, but the Ottawa template was also evident in Barrie’s 2006/2010 elections.
Dave Aspden defeated the incumbent mayor (Rob Hamilton) in 2006. As a councilor, Aspden had a Rob Ford type of image; the lone wolf banging away at the “Elite”. He captured just over 50% of the popular vote but was a disaster in office. He couldn’t work with council (and blamed council for that right to the bitter end), was repeatedly involved in self-inflicted scandals (generally caused by his tendency to do things beyond his authority as mayor) and basically just spun the city’s wheels for four years. Seriously, he was the beta Rob Ford.
He lost last night (no surprise, as Barrie has turfed the incumbent mayor in four straight elections), but the margin of his defeat was astounding. In 2006, 14616 people voted for him. In 2010, just 1249 did. That’s a 91% drop in popular vote. Staggering when you think of it!
I think that Ford’s team will shelter him from being an Aspden type of failure, but he will have a tough road ahead.
Smart commentary (I get a lot of that, from wk.com commenters). What’s your view? Can Ford get a second mandate?
Chretien wins again!
Power and Politics, Oct. 25: The municipal edition
Peggy and I react viscerally to the news of an imminent Rob Ford win.
Clippage here, at about the 1:44 mark.
The last majority
Election Toronto: My take in the Sun
Here’s what a Rob Ford victory is going to mean for different political players.
But what of others? Who benefits from a Ford win? Who doesn’t?
- Dalton McGuinty — winner: Yes, you read that right. Ontario’s Liberal Premier wins because Ford will provide a living, breathing example of what will happen if Conservative Leader Tim Hudak somehow ekes out victory in next October’s provincial contest. I anticipate Ford will be who he has always been: A politician whose mouth gets him into lots of trouble — and a politician who has a chronic inability to get along with others. “Gridlock” isn’t a word that was invented in Toronto, but gridlock is what all of us will shortly be experiencing with Ford at the helm: He simply doesn’t have enough votes at council to do even half of what he promised. So who will step in to end the inevitable labour strife, and the gridlock? Dalton McGuinty, that’s who.
- Tim Hudak — loser: Hudak is a lifetime politician — he’s been in politics since he was in his 20s, in fact — and he therefore can be expected to know a thing or two about The Game. Hudak knows, for example, that we have a national memory of about five minutes. He also knows fear-mongering about the Mike Harris era is pretty tough do, because a huge number of new voters were in nappies when Harris was in power. Hudak knows, therefore, that every mistake Rob Ford makes — and he’ll make plenty — will be laid at the Ontario Tory leader’s doorstep.
- Rob Ford — winner today, but not everyday: Here’s the paradox about the Etobicoke-based mayor-elect: The very thing that won him the mayor’s chair is the same thing that will sink him. For a decade, Ford’s brand has been that of the angry, fed-up City Council outsider — the guy who refuses to go along with the rest of council. That “outsider” reputation obviously didn’t hurt him on Election Day. But it will hinder him in the months ahead — too many councillors just don’t like him. And the mayor always needs council to implement his agenda.
Woooot!
I’m in the Green Room at CITY-TV – they won’t let me leave – but I am happy, happy, happy that my friends Mary-Margaret McMahon, Jim Watson, Maurizio Bevilaqua, Eddie Francis, Josh Matlow and Denzil Minnan-Wong all won! Yahoo!
On the CITY bullpen thing, Andrew Coyne asked me if Rob Ford’s landslide portends bad times are ahead for Libs. Not a chance, said I. Federal and provincial Liberals won (or are leading) in Ottawa, Vaughan, Sarnia and so on. We’ll do just fine, thanks very much.
Besides, if the new conservative mayor in Toronto means bad tidings for Liberals, does the new liberal mayor in Calgary mean that Stephen Harper is going to lose his seat?
Not quite.