The ‘Hey Rube’ at Toronto city hall is over, for now. Candidates for the 25 wards are busy candidating. The next big event will be municipal election day on October 22. Similar to Halloween, it will be a scary time. And they have the nerve to call it democracy.
It will be the same old, same old. Other than a few scores settled in this ward or that one, look for the return of familiar faces. The only good news is there are fewer wards and fewer old faces. Nobody will be particularly surprised when John Tory continues to occupy the mayor’s chair.
Democracy is supposed to be government ‘by the people.’ In truth, it is government ‘for the people’ and we sometimes wonder what they did to deserve it?
The people who get elected in municipal politics are the ones who can convince the most voters what they can do for them. They are often helped in this by having a reasonably recognizable name and some decent promotion by the news media. Also having an Italian name with a voting population heavily weighted by people from that part of the world can work wonders.
It also helps to make friends with developers who have pushy projects to propose and need friends on council. You need their money to buy signs that show you are a serious candidate. One or two decent brochures would also be most helpful.
It also helps if you have a couple hundred pleasant looking volunteers who are going to help you knock on every door to identify your vote. The candidate that gets his or her voters to the polls is the one who will win the election. You should never underestimate the value of another 50 or 100 votes.
You should also set a target of morning coffee parties. They have a multiplier effect and even five housewives at one of these events can add up to 15 votes.
Hard work, smart material, and lots of volunteers can be a winning formula. It will be after you win that you will wonder if it is all worth it?
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Copyright 2018 © Peter Lowry
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