Doug Ford spent another day on the sidelines of the Toronto run for mayor.
His director of communications, Jeff Silverstein, would only say he “has meetings and will spend time with his brother” in the hospital. Followers of John Nunziata’s Twitter feed know that Doug Ford stopped by a fundraiser in York last night. Nunziata, a friend of the Ford family and now a candidate for councillor in Ward 12, told me Ford spent some time shaking hands and talking to voters in the restaurant and he tweeted that Ford got an “amazing reception.” Nunziata also told me that Doug Ford has confirmed that he will be at a debate on Tuesday evening at York Memorial High School in York. No formal word yet from the Ford campaign on the Tuesday night debate and Thursday night’s fundraiser appearance was kept from the media. Friday afternoon the Doug Ford campaign opened for business when the candidate told reporters he’ll be door knocking over the weekend. Ford will start off on Saturday in friendly territory - his own Ward 2 where Rob Ford is a now a candidate. Those photo-ops will give the campaign entry level coverage in the media all weekend.
In the meantime Olivia Chow and John Tory crisscrossed the city trying to find new ways to say the same thing and show up at other debates to answer questions they’ve both fielded again and again. Chow’s communications director, Jamey Heath, told Stephen LeDrew today that the debates have been substantive discussions of the issues but there is far less media coverage. That will change on Tuesday.
The Doug Ford campaign does have a number of challenges as it prepares to get into the action. What will be the narrative of the Ford campaign? On Thursday Doug Ford told reporters outside the hospital that “it’s all about saving the taxpayers money.” Right, but what else will frame the Ford race for mayor? Mounting a campaign for mayor of the country’s biggest city takes time. If Doug Ford’s team gets the campaign message right, and if it resonates with voters, it could shape the last five weeks of this campaign. On Friday, Ford said he had a hand in putting together Rob Ford’s platform and his will be pretty much the same.
No doubt in the back rooms of both campaigns there is much strategizing on how to prepare for Doug Ford’s real time entry in the race. Last Friday John Tory let loose with a barrage of tough comments about Doug Ford calling him “insensitive” to the needs of some Torontonians. But since then Tory has played it safer and focused on taking on Olivia Chow. All week Chow took a much softer line about the coming Ford campaign.
Karl Baldauf, a consultant at National Public Relations, says the Chow and Tory campaigns have to wait to hear what Doug Ford puts forward as his vision for Toronto. Baldauf says that whatever the Ford narrative is will be the focus for “what the other two attack.” Baldauf says both campaigns will be careful to keep the gloves off Rob Ford. Remember that as a councillor, Doug Ford’s voting record on the issues matches his brother’s. Instead Baldauf predicts Tory and Chow will focus on character issues around Doug Ford and things like why councillor Ford missed almost 50 per cent of votes at City Hall in 2014. In the last federal election campaign, the NDP’s Jack Layton scored a direct debate hit on Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff when he asked, “Why do you have the worst attendance record in the House of Commons?” Without a good answer that question might well work again in this race. Doug Ford’s voting record over the past four years is third worst at City Hall, behind councillors Georgio Mammoliti and Ron Moeser. Ford said today he’s had four years of debate preparation at City Hall.
