{"id":9894,"date":"2010-03-15T11:57:21","date_gmt":"2010-03-15T16:57:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingtoronto.ca\/?p=9894"},"modified":"2013-01-21T13:11:56","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T18:11:56","slug":"john-lorinc-the-other-election-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2010\/03\/15\/john-lorinc-the-other-election-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"JOHN LORINC: The other election campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"

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On the morning of the now-infamous $100 million press conference, a Metro Morning producer called me at 6:30 am and asked if I wanted to speculate on air about rumours that David Miller was either going to resign or jump in the race.<\/p>\n

When Matt Galloway posed the question, I braved all and opined that the mayor was going to run, citing, as evidence, his recent screed<\/a> in NOW Magazine.<\/p>\n

Almost a week on, I am happy to report that I was largely correct.<\/p>\n

No, he hasn’t registered, and no, he won’t be on the ballot. But Miller last week unambiguously inserted himself into the 2010 mayoral campaign (not to mention the work of the next council), thereby creating a strange and unseemly dynamic in a race that’s already looking fairly ugly. And he did so by choosing to position this piece of budget-related news in such a conspicuously political way.<\/p>\n

Miller, of course, is looking to burnish up his record as the term winds down. And there’s little doubt that by trumpeting this in-year surplus as evidence of sound fiscal management, the mayor was taking yet another crack at pressuring Queen’s Park into a deal to cover half the TTC’s annual operating shortfall, which he’s taken to describing as “the provincial share.”<\/p>\n

Yet by laying out part of a spending plan for the next term of council (including the false promise of a TTC fare freeze), Miller was directly challenging George Smitherman and Rocco Rossi, who’ve been outspoken in their critiques of the city’s financial problems and had no choice but to turn up at City Hall on Tuesday to respond with their own spin (“emotional turmoil,” “lamest of lame ducks,” etc.).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Smitherman hedged when I asked him if he felt he’s essentially running against the mayor. Rossi was more direct, noting that while Miller has the right to make budget announcements, he also appears to be trying “to re-define the narrative of the election campaign.”<\/p>\n

Is that fair? Just consider some of Miller’s statements last week (from his press conference and then in an interview on Metro Morning on Friday):<\/p>\n

“If people want to slash and privatize, it’s for their own ideological reasons. There’s no financial reason to do so. The debate should be about the future of the city we want, not the management of the city government, although that matters…”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And:<\/p>\n

“If people want to spread the lie that are our taxes are high, when they’re the lowest in the GTA, that’s a lie, or that spending is out of control…then I think I should speak up. It was important for me to put that lie to rest so the candidates have to debate the future of the city, not this false financial issue…”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And:<\/p>\n

“You can’t have a great city for free…” (Has anyone suggested we can?)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

These are the words of someone whose head is still very much in the game, and it will be intriguing to see if Miller and his staff pursue this rhetorical strategy in the coming months as the race to succeed him heats up.<\/p>\n

For Joe Pantalone, Miller’s move to campaign-esque footing is surely a curse. The deputy mayor’s problem so far is that he has done nothing whatsoever to distinguish himself from the outgoing regime. His default platform is Miller’s record.
\nYet with the mayor outspokenly taking on Rossi and Smitherman, Pantalone now has nothing really to add, does he? Miller just sucks up all the oxygen.<\/p>\n

Further, and more problematically, Pantalone increasingly comes across as a candidate who depends on a powerful patron or a wing man, which is a dreadful message to send to voters who are contemplating the choice of a leader.
\nThen there’s this business of “putting that lie to rest.” A line like that is nothing if not excellent fodder for a Rossi or Smitherman advertising campaign.<\/p>\n

And it’s not even true, because Miller did not put to rest the question of the structural shortfall. The reality is that the 2011 budget still has a gaping hole in it, unless Queen’s Park hands him a permanent deal to pick up half the TTC’s operating deficit deal, which seems extremely doubtful at this point.<\/p>\n

What’s more, he’s just informed the thousands of Torontonians who disagree with his policies, plus many undecided voters, that they’re dupes. Nice work.<\/p>\n

So did we have a galvanizing moment last week? Absolutely.<\/p>\n

In fact, I can remember another one, circa 2002, when Mel Lastman railed at then councilor Miller: “You say dumb and stupid things, and you’ll never be mayor.”<\/p>\n

During the hard-fought 2003 race, Miller squeezed loads of political momentum – and no small amount of campaign donations — out of that putdown.<\/p>\n

I have no doubt that whomever emerges as the right-of-centre front-runner will also figure out how to leverage some valuable bounce out of Miller’s uncharacteristically partisan rhetoric.<\/p>\n

As this election-year backlash gains traction, the ironies abound.<\/p>\n

photo by Matthew Blackett<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the morning of the now-infamous $100 million press conference, a Metro Morning producer called me at 6:30 am and asked if I wanted to speculate on air about rumours that David Miller was either going to resign or jump in the race. 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