She’s got Conservative connections, a primo Liberal strategist putting together a campaign team and the political looks that kill.[rssbreak]
Can the political neophyte who did the improbable way back when, toppling Eglinton-Lawrence stalwart Anne Johnston, pull a repeat in the run for mayor?
Unlikely, but to Karen Stintz, anything’s possible.
Speculation that either Tory John Tory and/or Liberal MPP George Smitherman will make a run against Mayor David Miller in 2010 hasn’t dampened Stintz’s aspirations.
“Last I heard, neither has officially declared,” Stintz tells NOW. She’s got a point.
The more wide open the field, she says, the better.
Gone are the days when the backroom boys led by Paul Godfrey ordained the winners of mayoral elections, or so the conventional wisdom goes. Either way, Stintz says, she’s in, if – and it’s a big if – she can raise the money.
Outside her midtown political turf, Stintz isn’t exactly a household name, unless you happen to remember the publicity over her blowing $4,500 from her office budget for voice lessons. Too shrill, constituents said.
It’s all about “delivery of services” for Stintz. Can you say “privatization”?
She’ll have to hone those people skills.
Ask about that little fast one she tried to pull to win approval for a 60-space daycare for a friend – in Bill Saundercook’s High Park ward, no less – and the guard goes up.
Some called it meddling. Stintz says she was “standing up for daycare.”
It’s a little more complicated than that. Turns out the plan’s backer is a constituent of Stintz’s who runs two daycares in her ward.
Councillor Adam Vaughan didn’t exactly call it corruption. He called it “a corruption of planning principles. “I’ve never seen anything more unprincipled.”
Ouch.
But back to the election scuttlebutt. Stintz’s got an ace in the hole: Rob Silver, the Toronto-based energy lawyer, entrepreneur and consultant who served as Gerard Kennedy’s national policy director during the 2006 Liberal leadership race.
Silver’s also a co-owner of Torontoist, the site about all things T.O. that has a content-sharing agreement with the Globe. We can see the blogs now.
So what exactly is a Liberal doing backing Tory symp Stintz?
Says Silver, “City Hall is not an arena of party politics. It’s always been about finding the best person for the job of mayor. Karen has a good team coming together that cuts across party lines. Those who know her are inspired by her and easily persuaded that she can not only win but get the job done. Part of her appeal is her ability to attract support from both Liberals and Conservatives. Heck, if she runs, she’ll even find friends among some traditional leftists.”
Silver goes on: “Winnability is important, but it is also an artificial construct discussed 14 months before an election. If media handicapping had any predictive value, David Miller would never have run in 2003, never mind won.”
enzom@nowtoronto.com
