Joe Pantalone should bow out of the mayoral race<\/a>, in light of a Nanos Research poll that has Rob Ford in a bracing lead over his opponents.<\/p>\nI disagree. The city is in an ugly mood, and it is most certainly not the time for anyone to be conceding to Ford, least of all Pantalone, the only other candidate who has exhibited any upward momentum.<\/p>\n
To beat Rob Ford \u2013 and of course it\u2019s possible in five weeks, longer than a provincial election campaign \u2013 another candidate must communicate the blunt choice facing Toronto now. The widespread agreement that Rob Ford is a polarizing figure has so far failed to produce an inspiring candidacy on the opposite pole in the public consciousness.<\/p>\n
The credible alternative to Rob Ford is not a candidate that panders to the same parts of the city\u2019s lizard brain. Any campaign that successfully counters Ford\u2019s rage, in both its incoherent and specific forms, needs to reach the progressive, compassionate heart of Toronto \u2013 the Toronto that rejected Mike Harris and still rejects Stephen Harper.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Is that George Smitherman? Not looking likely. In his craven bid to appeal to the same destructive anger as Ford, he threw away the opportunity to be that alternative. Smitherman has embraced spending freezes, privatization, and tax cutting. What\u2019s the message here? Look at me! I\u2019m just like Rob Ford! But I live downtown, so I\u2019m somehow less scary? It hasn\u2019t worked.<\/p>\n
Lorinc makes the comparison between the candidacies of one-time frontrunner Smitherman and Barbara Hall, who in 2003 also started way at the head of the pack. When Hall started to tumble in the polls, her downward slide was steady and inevitable. Why should this be different for Smitherman, given how he has hobbled himself?<\/p>\n
If possible, Smitherman has run an even worse campaign than Hall. Whereas in 2003 she said little and created no persona for herself other than entitled, Smitherman has crafted a shrill, bizarre image he is probably now stuck with.<\/p>\n
Is Joe Pantalone the guy to offer the counter to Ford? He could be, should he find a way to energize an increasingly demoralized city. As an immigrant, he would represent at least a nod in the direction of the real face of Toronto. As a Council veteran, his record suggests the ability to run a pragmatic and functional team. As an environmentalist, he has a vision of a Toronto not defined solely by resentment over a vehicle registration tax. And he\u2019s not a screamer, something I appreciate every time I see footage of Ford and Smitherman.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a tough road for any candidate opposing Ford right now. But here\u2019s another reminder from 2003: David Miller did not rise out of the teens in the polls until Thanksgiving. Right up until that point, the Hall campaign exerted constant pressure for him to fold, claiming that he was stealing \u201cBarbara\u2019s votes\u201d and risking a John Tory mayoralty. We know how that turned out: Miller and Tory ignored her, waged high-energy campaigns with exciting debates, and they left her in the dust on election day.<\/p>\n
Maybe we should put the 2003 comparisons to bed. This campaign is its own thing \u2013 and so far its tenor has been really corrosive. This is not the moment for anyone to drop out and concede defeat to a candidate whose sole message is \u201ctear it down.\u201d With five weeks to go, a frontrunner can fall a long way. Someone needs to take Rob Ford head on and clarify the choice Toronto must make. Get moving, people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Spacing invited Andrea Addario, David Miller\u2019s communications director in the 2003 mayoral campaign, to address whether Joe Pantalone should consider dropping out of the mayoral race. On Monday in this space, John Lorinc argued that Joe Pantalone should bow out of the mayoral race, in light of a Nanos Research poll that has Rob FordContinue reading “SPACING VOTES: Making the case for Pantalone”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4010,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[94,16019,2268,14137,425,16022,16021,6245,983,16020,1103,1030,1529,227,2092,863,19,16023],"class_list":["post-14254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-2010-election","tag-andrea-addario","tag-barbara-hall","tag-communications-director","tag-david-miller","tag-david-millers-communications-director","tag-director-in-the-2003-mayoral-campaign","tag-george-smitherman","tag-head","tag-high-energy-campaigns","tag-joe-pantalone","tag-john-lorinc","tag-mike-harris","tag-rob-ford","tag-stephen-harper","tag-thanksgiving","tag-toronto","tag-when-hall"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSPACING VOTES: Making the case for Pantalone - Spacing Toronto<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2010\/09\/22\/spacing-votes-making-the-case-for-pantalone\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SPACING VOTES: Making the case for Pantalone - Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Spacing invited Andrea Addario, David Miller\u2019s communications director in the 2003 mayoral campaign, to address whether Joe Pantalone should consider dropping out of the mayoral race. 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