For George Smitherman, heir apparent turned error apparent, Monday’s resounding electoral defeat, the first in a charmed political career, was instant karma.
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All that to-ing and fro-ing right and left in a catch-as-catch-can bid for votes had the electorate confused. In the end, Smitherman didn’t really know what he stood for, and neither did the voters.
In the harsh light of the television cameras at the Guvernment minutes before Rob Ford was declared victor, Smitherman spokesperson Erika Mozes put on a brave face. The Smitherman team had run a campaign they could be proud of, Mozes said.
That sentiment wasn’t wholly shared by the man himself, who took responsibility in his concession speech for losing a campaign that clearly was his to lose.
And so it was.
His uncharacteristic show of tears and mea culpa moved even his staunchest political enemies, but Smitherman knows he has no one to blame but himself. That “furious” label and rep for playing politics to win at all costs left a bad whiff in the air.
Those immigrant votes Smitherman was banking on in the burbs never did materialize. Sadly, the gay thing had a little something to do with that. Those paid ads that appeared on a Tamil radio station pointing out that Smitherman’s gay and encouraging listeners to vote for Ford certainly didn’t come out of nowhere. Posters appeared in the Beaches, too, posing the question: “Should Muslim (sic) vote for him who married a man?”
But that’s only the half of it.
The Smitherman campaign was in disarray behind the scenes. Not even the Star’s endorsement, which used to count for something, was enough. Talk about a rude awakening for the Libs and their friends at One Yonge Street.
Historically, mayors have been ordained in this town, the money following the choice of the establishment power brokers. It’s a well-worn path, a script that’s been followed in municipal politics, with a few rare exceptions.
And the Star has always had a hand in the decision-making, including when David Miller came seemingly out of nowhere with his broom to win in 2003. It was the Star’s backing that put him over the top in the burbs.
Early on, it certainly looked like Smitherman would play the starring role, after moneybags Ralph Lean and his Bay Street buddies lined up behind the Curious One and not John Tory (remember him?) back in January.
But something happened on the way to the coronation. The largest-circulation daily in the city by miles, the voice of middle-of-the-road Toronto, could not deliver the knockout punch for their man.
Ford’s many well-publicized crimes and misdemeanours made him an easy target. But try as the proud paper of record might to discredit Ford in the post-Labour Day stretch run, none of it stuck.
Perhaps Ford’s win illustrates that the public has soured on scandal. Maybe voters just don’t care about politicians lying about DUI charges any more.
Maybe.
The mainstream pundits picking through the post-election entrails splattered like a dog’s breakfast on the pavement say Ford’s win is a repudiation of the Miller years. Not so simple. A teetering economy had a little more to do with it, I think.
What’s clearer from the results is that the anti-Harris sentiment in post-amalgamation T.O. seems to have dissipated. Hell, they’re naming libraries after him in North Bay.
Besides, it’s been 15 years since the Common Sense Revolution. There’s a whole new generation of voters among immigrant communities out there who don’t know who Harris is or remember (or care about) the effects of his government’s downloading on municipalities.
Can Tim Hudak’s hordes be far behind at Queen’s Park?
The real irony in Smitherman’s Star-crossed death spiral? It’s the Star, arguably, that had the biggest hand in feeding the taxpayer fury that fuelled Ford.
When the paper of Atkinson social principles turned intemperate and started to sound like the Sun on Miller, the seeds were sown for a Ford revolution. Ford’s the Star’s baby.
enzom@nowtoronto.com
