POLITICS AS USUAL: GTA Races

October 1, 2014 · 0 Comments

By Alison Collins-Mrakas

I’m sure there are some mayoral candidates in the GTA who are asking themselves just what does it take to win an election?
Signs? Websites? Flyers? Crazy gimmicks?
We’ve seen one candidate for mayor in Toronto announce her candidacy while riding a white horse, Lady Godiva style (okay, a fully dressed Lady Godiva style). We’ve seen others in smaller municipalities haul trailers about their communities with loudspeakers affixed to the top, bellowing out, “vote for…”. Still others who paint their cars, or wrap them in stickers. Whatever they can do to get noticed. And it’s true. Gimmicks get noticed but, as Ms. Thompson found out, they don’t always get you votes.
Regardless of the approach taken, the common element of all winning campaigns? Hard work. As Doug Ford is finding out, you have to actually engage in the process. That means participate in debates. Attend candidate meet and greets. You have to engage with the public directly, if you want to connect with them. How else do you expect them to vote for you?
There really isn’t any short cut. You can have all the facebook friends in the world and can twitter like mad until the cows come home, but that isn’t enough to resonate with voters, much less translate into actually mobilizing votes.
From Ford to Tory, to Crombie to Mahoney, mayoral candidates around the GTA are doing what candidates have done for decades – door knocking. It’s hard slogging, but it seems to be what voters want.
But even then, with literally weeks of door knocking under their belts, some candidates are having trouble getting traction with voters. Consider the poor Peel mayoral hopefuls, who are finding that residents think the candidates for mayor are Tory, Ford and Chow.
Or consider Mississauga, where the two hopefuls – Crombie and Mahoney – are finding that they are running against a ghost. Mayor McCallion is not seeking re-election for the first time 36 years. And this is news to many, many residents, who just assume it will be her name on the ballot. It must feel like an exercise in futility for the candidates to have to compete against a person that’s not even running…
The varying campaign styles are fascinating to watch. Bluster versus balance. Nasty versus nuance. It shall be interesting to see which strategy prevails.
By the time this column is printed, the election will be a scant 25 days away. And yet, to the best of my knowledge, Doug Ford, a presumed “serious” candidate for mayor, has yet to release a campaign platform of his own. You know, the reason why he is running for mayor or what he would do if elected (aside from stating that he is “Carrying on the work of his brother.” That’s not a platform folks.).
Yes, he jumped into the race at the last minute, but it has been weeks now. He should have some kind of coherent plan that is his own, not cribbed from his brother. Frankly, it’s hard to take a candidate for mayor seriously when he hasn’t released his platform with mere weeks to go before Election Day.
I think even the folks of Ford Nation must be scratching their heads about that one.
In Mississauga, I think the winner of the race will be the one who manages to mobilize the least confused voters. In Toronto? Who knows. Polls are currently predicting Tory in a landslide. But the recent provincial election has caused many to question the veracity or even predictive ability of election polls. Regardless, the results are sure to be a shocker.
Until next week, stay informed, stay involved because this is – after all – Our Town.