Being ex-Air Force, ‘Mayday’ has always been a signal of distress for me. It seems that the real distress at this time is the Toronto mayoralty shenanigans. If I was still a Toronto ratepayer, I would sue John Tory for the millions this by-election is costing. Being a human male and preferring female companionship is hardly an excuse for him to quit and inflict this expense on the city.
There are some 50 people running around Toronto today who think they have a chance at being mayor of the city. At least one of them will but I am waiting for May 5 to announce the odds on possible winners. These public opinion polls that are periodically announced are not helping. They seem to keep the media happy as they can blame the polls for their choices of campaigns on which they can lavish their attention.
The only reason Olivia Chow is leading the parade of losers, according to the pollsters, is because she has the name recognition. It does not necessarily become votes on election day. What votes she does have are the diehard NDP votes in the downtown area. She has never endeared herself to the suburban voters and they can outvote the NDP if they are not spread across too many opposing candidates.
Another loser with name recognition is the former policeman. Saunders should have recognized his dismissal as a candidate for elected office when he ran as a conservative for Mr. Ford in the recent provincial election. I think Ford already regrets that endorsement.
It looks like Matlow made a mistake in not running as a conservative. He could have parlayed his experience at city hall into a better base vote playing to the Poilievre faction of the federal conservatives.
It looks like those votes will go to Bradford. It would certainly hurt Toronto’s chances getting better funding from the Ford Tories and the Ottawa liberals if an extreme right-wing candidate like Bradford won the mayoralty.
I am still trying to dope out Ana Bailão’s constituency. Without a base vote she has a tough challenge to pass better known candidates.
In the same way, I am waiting for Mitzie Hunter to demonstrate her organizational strength. I would also like to hear from some random voters who feel motivated. More to come..
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