Ford Nation: A Guide for the Perplexed Ford connects with the marginalized and disaffected better than anyone on the left. They see him as a straight-talker. His willingness to return their calls or knock on their doors means a lot to them—he offers the type of direct, immediate response they so rarely get from government services. Ford’s supporters also distrust journalists, who, in their view, show up solely for the purpose of running their communities down. No wonder Ford keeps insisting the press is out to get him. It establishes a shared bond. ... A former Ford strategist once told me that Occupy Toronto and Ford Nation were essentially two sides of the same coin—that both movements were borne of the same frustrations, stemming from the city’s growing socioeconomic disparity. Ford has earned every ounce of scorn and derision he’s getting as a result of this scandal, but Ford Nation has not. Its members deserved better from their candidate, and they deserve better from their city. torontolife/informer/columns/2013/07/18/philip-preville-champion-of-the-working-class/ Denis Pilon saying much the same thing in the WaPo: The profile of Ford Nation is a good indication of our political times. There are these alienated populist voters who are often just lashing out. Theyre typically not well-integrated into political system, not well integrated into their communities. They tend to not have as much money as median voter and arent always as informed on the details of politics. So one of the things they do is that they end up identifying with politicians personally. So part of Rob Ford’s appeal is that he does make a lot of mistakes, he does speak improperly. And when his critics attack him, that just reinforces the support among alienated populists who also feel that they dont always speak properly, that they make mistakes. washingtonpost/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/11/06/what-torontos-crack-smoking-mayor-can-teach-us-about-political-science/
Posted on: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 00:38:50 +0000
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