yllus
Elite Member & Lifer
Back in 2010, the city of Toronto had its city council elections, including the election of a new mayor. We'd just come off of seven years of a very liberal mayor who amongst other things took it very easy on organized labour, which led to some brutal worker strikes and a summer-long garbage strikes that literally stunk up the town.
The main candidates for election were an extremely liberal (more than the outgoing mayor) city councillor, a liberal who was a cabinet minister in our terrible state-level government, and, perhaps you've guessed by now, the self-styled 'conservative' Rob Ford.
Rob Ford captured a remarkable amount of votes to become mayor in 2010. He did so by having incredible campaign discipline, sticking to a very simple message of "respect for taxpayers". He also pushed the de-unionization of a bunch of things that had led to those strikes, and a new subway line.
In 2010, I knew that Rob Ford was sort of a buffoon. I didn't know he was an alcoholic and crack-smoker; nobody did then. But I knew he was somewhat ignorant, disliked by most of his peers on city council, and that unlike myself he in no way held liberal ideals.
Here's something I think liberals who wonder why people are voting for Trump might be interested in knowing: I cast my vote for Ford partially because he was a bit of a buffoon, ignorant, and disliked. I've worked for large companies for a long time now, and I know that many people in power concede and make bad decisions because lots of people around them are pushing them to. I thought that Ford would be immune to this because he was already so disliked; so what's stopping him from making sure his agenda gets accomplished? It's not like he can lose the zero friends he has.
Here's something I think conservatives who might wonder how a vote for Trump may turn out: Like being mayor, ultimately there are limitations on the power of the presidency. You have to get along with people to make things happen. Ford quickly wore out his honeymoon period and after about a year was effectively shut out of the decision making process at city hall. I predict the exact same thing would happen with Trump.
Most of you know how Ford's reign ended: A drug dealer offered a journalist money for a tape of Ford snorting crack cocaine. It was denied and then finally admitted. It was a mess. But the world didn't end, and the city elected a very reasonable centrist afterwards who's quietly doing an slightly better than average job as we speak. Party politics weren't rocked, burned down and reconfigured. The system really just absorbed the blip and moved on. As it would if a Trump presidency occurred. Reasonable people populate all levels of government and will make sure nothing insane occurs.
A few parts of Rob Ford's campaign promises actually became reality. We'll never have another garbage strike because we now have a mix of public and private contractors doing garbage pickup. The subway kinda got moved forward (though not really). Some good did come of his mayoralty.
Unless he's literally Hitler. Then there's a problem. 😀
The main candidates for election were an extremely liberal (more than the outgoing mayor) city councillor, a liberal who was a cabinet minister in our terrible state-level government, and, perhaps you've guessed by now, the self-styled 'conservative' Rob Ford.
Rob Ford captured a remarkable amount of votes to become mayor in 2010. He did so by having incredible campaign discipline, sticking to a very simple message of "respect for taxpayers". He also pushed the de-unionization of a bunch of things that had led to those strikes, and a new subway line.
In 2010, I knew that Rob Ford was sort of a buffoon. I didn't know he was an alcoholic and crack-smoker; nobody did then. But I knew he was somewhat ignorant, disliked by most of his peers on city council, and that unlike myself he in no way held liberal ideals.
Here's something I think liberals who wonder why people are voting for Trump might be interested in knowing: I cast my vote for Ford partially because he was a bit of a buffoon, ignorant, and disliked. I've worked for large companies for a long time now, and I know that many people in power concede and make bad decisions because lots of people around them are pushing them to. I thought that Ford would be immune to this because he was already so disliked; so what's stopping him from making sure his agenda gets accomplished? It's not like he can lose the zero friends he has.
Here's something I think conservatives who might wonder how a vote for Trump may turn out: Like being mayor, ultimately there are limitations on the power of the presidency. You have to get along with people to make things happen. Ford quickly wore out his honeymoon period and after about a year was effectively shut out of the decision making process at city hall. I predict the exact same thing would happen with Trump.
Most of you know how Ford's reign ended: A drug dealer offered a journalist money for a tape of Ford snorting crack cocaine. It was denied and then finally admitted. It was a mess. But the world didn't end, and the city elected a very reasonable centrist afterwards who's quietly doing an slightly better than average job as we speak. Party politics weren't rocked, burned down and reconfigured. The system really just absorbed the blip and moved on. As it would if a Trump presidency occurred. Reasonable people populate all levels of government and will make sure nothing insane occurs.
A few parts of Rob Ford's campaign promises actually became reality. We'll never have another garbage strike because we now have a mix of public and private contractors doing garbage pickup. The subway kinda got moved forward (though not really). Some good did come of his mayoralty.
Unless he's literally Hitler. Then there's a problem. 😀
Last edited:
