Oh noooo: John Tory is thinking abour running for mayor

Just when you thought the Rob Ford scandal could not get worse, it does: former mayoral candidate and former Ontario Progressive Conservative Party leader John Tory is mulling another run for Toronto’s mayor.

In many ways, John Tory is the mirror image of Rob Ford. Tory is sober, industrious, and conscientious, with a presidential bearing who is completely incompetent. Until Tory arrived on the scene, I had always believed Joe Clarke to be the most useless politician to ever exist – of any party, any level of government or even any country. But John Tory’s bungling reign as leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative party dethroned Clarke as the most useless political leader ever.  As I argued yesterday, while Rob Ford’s personal life is a train wreck, his track record as Mayor of Toronto has been solid.

Both Ford and Tory are perfect examples of how personal and public virtue need not go together. 

If you don’t believe me, answer this question: what election has Tory ever won? Aside from his PC Ontario leadership bid, his only electoral success among the general public was a by-election win in the safest conservative seat in the province when he was the new leader of the PC’s. That’s it. In the general provincial election, he repeated Ernie Eves’ shameful shellacking, except that he added to Eves’ failure by losing his own seat as well. When he tried to get back into the Provincial Parliament, he lost the second safest conservative seat in the province. As a political strategist, he managed Kim Campbell’s 1993 election campaign (!), the greatest single loss of any party in Canadian history (losing 154 seats, from an original 156 seats). You would think that would be enough for anybody to reconsider a career in politics. 

In his private life, Tory has had a lot of big jobs, but – at least as far as I can tell - all (or almost all) of them were due to either to his father, or his father’s friend, Ted Rogers.

The prospect of John Tory becoming the standard-bearer of conservatism in Toronto scares me a hell out of a lot more than the next salacious revelation about Rob Ford’s personal life.

Comments

[Copinacus]

Miller, Smitherman, Tory.......would there be any difference?

[John T]

The best thing you can say about John Tory is that he would be better than Olivia Chow. Unfortunately Tory is so politically inept that in a head-to-head election against Chow, Tory would probably lose. The prospect of Chow as mayor gives me nightmares.

[Cincinnatus]

I agree John T.

If Tory were Chow's principal opposition, I would hold my nose and vote for him.

But I wouldn't be laying any bets on him.