In his latest “Rick’s Rant”, comedic new commenter Rick Mercer makes an important point about Toronto’s Peter Griffin-esque mayor, Rob Ford:
“Is he bad for Toronto’s reputation on the world stage? Not really, he makes us more interesting, and let’s face it, Toronto could use the help.”
“Rob Ford’s popularity has nothing to do with the man himself. He is a circus act, but his politics are very real, and they should not be written off just because he is about to be.”
Rick’s right. Rob Ford’s supporters, collectively called “Ford Nation”, don’t care so much about the crack-smoking, his consorting with shiftless criminals, drinking and driving, or his lapses into bigotry or bad taste. They want lower taxes, privatized garbage collection, the neutering of the unions that paralyzed the city during the strikes of the previous mayor’s era. Simply put, they want to pay less for living in Toronto, and they’ve been told that what’s holding them back and preventing them from being rich are all the freeloaders, windowlickers, and do-nothings who are stealing from them through tax-funded services. The purpose of the mayor, they believe, is to make things cheap. Or, as Mercer put it:
“We will vote for a gerbil if we get a dollar back.”
It’s something that candidates in the next mayoral election — which might be sooner than you think — will have to keep in mind.
2 replies on “Rick Mercer: Rob Ford’s supporters would vote for a gerbil if they got a dollar back”
With all due respect – this shot at “stupid ignorant herd” is pretty shallow (and cheap, oh yeas!).
Why people still backing this ridiculous joke of a politician and not oh-so righteous liberals? Isn’t it because they think of them exactly what they are – lying, thieving, ignorant and unscrupulous to extend far beyond surpassing this horrible Ford guy?
These should be sad days for liberal supporters – the best of their leaders are perceived below the worst of the opposite camp. I am really supporter of neither but Ford’s most vicious accusers seem to be much worse.
[…] The bad news is that it’ll work, for the same reasons as those observed by Rick Mercer about Rob Ford’s fan base: […]