It is certainly among the most unique and nastiest campaign tricks ever seen in Toronto politics. Doug Ford has unveiled an attack on rival John Tory as a man who is unfit to be mayor because he was born with a silver spoon his mouth. Yes, Tory is running for mayor without having served on council, but that will not be the bone that plugs the stomach of Ford Nation. No. Rather it is the view of Tory as a spoiled rich kid who has never had to work for anything in his life. Someone who has been parachuted into job after job in a way that none of them could ever experience. It is a picture that has been colour-adjusted and enlarged to excite envy and resentment. It’s a terribly twisted picture too but there can be no denying Mr. Tory’s privileged background nor the opportunities he has had in life. Today Mr. Ford planted that class warfare seed and then gave voters a thin excuse to believe that Tory doesn’t know how the City works. John Tory seems to be playing it cool but his reaction to this afternoon’s onslaught has been well sprinkled with the word bully.
