Underwhelmed

So the Toronto Mayors contest has become a political hacks dream. I am an undecided voter, and I am underwhelmed by all the candidates. Whether its Rob Fords idea to make council half the size, or Rocco Rossi wanting to sell off physical assets of the city, or George Smitherman focusing on issues that are Federal in nature and so 2003 (someone's opinion on gay marriage). To compound the silliness of this, going into someones past record would definitely drag some skeletons out of Smitherman's past. So its like taking a punch to someone, and that opens you up for a roundhouse kick in the face.

This is what happens when the political hacks get the controls of a campaign. They use their extensive knowledge of politics in the past, and see the digging up and research of someones past as important. In the case of the Smitherman camp, I'd say a lot of downtown Liberals are going out on a limb to push Ford's former views on gay marriage, which have absolutely ZERO RELEVANCE in a Municipal election campaign.

They forget that the people who vote in municipal elections are usually rich, and old, and that the suburbs have a huge role to play. Yes, Unless you get the retirees and the people in Scarborough and Etobicoke, you will not win the election. The only person who is really harnessing the suburban vote right now is Rob Ford. The angry homeowner is plentiful all over these areas, and Ford seems to have the momentum there from what i have read in both the local papers out east and in the citywide rags.

My social media experience is this, fellow federal and provincial partisans taking shots at each other from their respective Rocco and George camps. Seriously guys, if you are volunteering you abilities, I suggest you use for a greater purpose than an online pissing contest. It makes both Liberal sides look like idiots and doesn't help an undecided voter like myself want to vote for either side.

That is what I am getting at, I watch the facebook and twitter fights and I think damn, I don't want to vote for any of these candidates if their staffers and volunteers are going to just bait each other and smack talk. It has been a revelation to me, as an undecided voter, the level of toxicity that the partisans can get, and I have come to understand voter alienation only this summer, after voting in every election since I was 18 years old.

The gist of my argument is this, if these people have this group of political hacks at the controls, what does it say about their ability to be mayor of the city? The guy in the chicken suit is hilarious if you are a political hack, but it smacks of amateurism for the average person who is more concerned about market value assessment and taxpayer value, than Rob Ford's opinion on aids 5 years ago. So this is basically a message to the Grits in the race, a wake up call so to speak. You guys need to get your houses in order, clean up your messaging, target undecided voters. The municipal vote base is so small compared to the equivalent Federal and Provincial that this race is wide open.

Being the undecided voter, I wish all of you well in your campaigns, and I hope that one of the candidates can actually give me a reason to vote for them. That is all I am asking for, a reason.... Until then, I think I am going to sit this one out.