Break the unions’ grip |
The best is yet to come, Jane Pitfield tells us about her run for Toronto mayor. Well, I should hope so. Her campaign hasn’t exactly caught fire. And I say that as someone who buys into her pledge to trim “fat city” and will vote for her rather than the billion-dollar mistake, David Miller.
What an attractive platform Pitfield has in her quest for a leaner operation at City Hall. What an attractive candidate she is! Now if only the best arrives soon, not after election day.
Pitfield doesn’t have the luxury of the six-week campaign that old pros contemplate for their greased slide back to a councillor’s seat (incumbents have an incredible edge). She has to sell herself now to the media, and through them to the voters.
The problem with the media searching for the royal jelly that they say major candidates must possess is that they are the self-appointed judges of that elusive chemistry. If they don’t get turned on, few campaigns can creak into bandwagons.
When it comes to elections, often the good old days weren’t. Few voters could watch their council in inaction, which is routine today, and the Star and the Tely loved flaunting their chosen slate of candidates.
The typical all-candidates’ meeting was 40 people in a gym in a confused operation. On a good night, three bored reporters would watch in the often vain hope something new would be said. Ironically, the scandals of old were small potatoes compared to the grimy shenanigans of our “big city” council.
http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Downing_John/2006/09/18/1856898.html
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