With Rob Ford stealing the lead from George Smitherman in the latest Toronto Mayoral Race Poll (see Latest Poll: Rob Ford Takes The Lead In Toronto Mayoral Race), the Smitherman camp is in a panic, pointing fingers at each other in blame for his downfall. Campaign leaders are blaming the Smitherman base (his people-facing volunteers and staffers) for having a lack of motivation; while the Smitherman base are blaming replacement campaign chair Bruce Davis for the slide (as things have only gone south for Smitherman since Davis signed up).
Overall, things aren't looking good for Frivolous George, and he's probably sweating more now than he did when the eHealth scandal was exposed... I had to!! ;)
Anyway, as surprised as the Smitherman camp is in Rob Ford's surge in popularity, they still don't expect that Ford will be a serious contender come October. And they're planning a series of attack ads for Ford in September to ensure that they shake his credibility in time for the election.
Here's the story from Now Magazine Toronto:
Smitherman slip-sliding - Front-runner no more, the heir apparent has turned the public off by just coasting
You’d think that mayoral-frontrunner-no-more George Smitherman would be a little unnerved by the June 14 Globe and Mail/CTV/CP24/Nanos poll showing what’s-his-name in first place.
Smitherman spokesperson Stefan Baranski called it a “wake-up call.” But not necessarily for Smitherman, although he could probably use one, too. It’s Smitherman’s base, the volunteers and people pounding the pavement for the heir apparent, that needs motivating, at least that’s the spin coming from the campaign.
No one on Team Smitherman believes what’s-his-name (okay, Rob Ford – there, I said it) can sustain his momentum. Especially when the inevitable attack ads about Ford’s drunken adventures at the ACC or past domestic problems start running in September – that is, if he’s still a contender then.
It’s been downhill ever since new campaign chair Bruce Davis came on board promising to “unleash” Furious George.
Perhaps its that air of entitlement he’s been walking around with since this race began that’s rubbing the masses the wrong way. He’s been sleepwalking through huge portions of this race.
His only major campaign platform announcement to date, his transit plan, has gone over like a lead balloon.
Now that Rob Ford is the front-runner in the Mayoral Race, everything from his past, as well as everything in his current daily activities will be brought up and twisted into a scandal. Especially from Political Operative Extraordinaire George Smitherman and his media pit-bull the Toronto Star (for the latest example of this, see Rob Ford's Message to Supporters in Response to 'Set Up' Attempt...).
Given this, Voters should try their best to stick to the facts, and clear away all of the conjecture and hearsay that will soon run rampant in the media. One good way to do that, is to review information that actually has a factual basis, like Toronto City Councillors' Voting Track Record -something that can be done for 3 of the big 6 candidates, namely Giorgio Mammoliti, Joe Pantalone and Rob Ford. Here's an article that compares important votes from the 3 candidates that have taken place from 2007 to 2010: Ford vs Pantalone vs Mammoliti - Council Vote Comparison. I mean, what better proof do you need of a candidate's policy-making track record, than how they voted while on Council?
--jackandcokewithalime
(Image:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shaunpierre/4661578547/sizes/l/ by Shaun Merritt on flickr (Smitherman)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shaunpierre/4662198802/sizes/l/ by Shaun Merritt on flickr (Ford)
)
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