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Appeal of their message to their base: Making America great again, Stopping the gravy train

Donald Trump: The new Rob Ford



Ever since Donald Trump began surging in polls in the race for the Republican nominee for president, the Toronto media has compared his rise to that of former Toronto mayor Rob Ford. The comparison is allowing the Ford haters, of which are many in the media, to say that Trump's appeal is the same as Ford's. While some of them "get it," many have no idea what attracts ordinary people to Ford and Trump and using Trump as an excuse to take another shot at Ford who is no longer mayor. For example, Boom 97.3 which is apparently a Toronto FM radio station, posted a picture saying, "Dear U.S.A., We feel your pain Sincerely, Toronto." as if they speak for the entire city that gave Ford an overwhelming victory in the 2010 mayor's race. Juvenile. They probably couldn't care less about Trump: just using him as an excuse to bash the former mayor once again.
And then there was an article that appeared in the National Post on July 22. The best thing about this column is it serves as an excellent illustration of how far the Post, founded by Conrad Black in 1998, has fallen. It is a Rob Ford hit piece worthy of the left wing Toronto Star or the Globe and Mail. Written by Ishamael N. Daro and entitled "Donald Trump and Rob Ford: Are these two loudmouth politicians cut from the same cloth?" the article is hardly a well thought out piece. The writer is a Ford hater and merely uses Trump to dump on the man the Toronto media still love to hate. For example, one of the similarities between the two men is "They both come from money." As if they are the only people in the history of politics to do so. What are the odds the writer or the National Post will ever do a hit piece about Justin Trudeau and the fact he comes from money. Another comparison between the two is that they are both tapping into the "anger" of the voters. There is no discussion of exactly why Trump supporters are angry other than to say they are angry with the establishment. As for Ford, who this piece is really about, the writer puts it down to voters in the suburbs of Toronto expressing "rage" at downtown politicians who they feel are neglecting them. Again, no specifics of the reasons why Ford supporters were angry. The entire article employs the liberal views of conservatives as being angry for no reason other than they are angry people. Both Trump and Ford supporters have good reasons to be angry but that is no concern in this hit piece.

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Esquire magazine published an article by Stephen Marche, a Toronto writer, entitled, "Why Donald Trump is the new Rob Ford." Marche is best known for writing an article prior to the 2010 Toronto election in which he used the word "fat" 17 times in describing Ford. Published by the Globe and Mail, the article was taken down from the paper's website apparently after an editor woke up. The column was penned shortly before the election that saw Ford win with over 47% of the vote. And this was written three years before the crack scandal emerged. As everyone knows, when something is taken down from a web site it never really disappears from cyberspace and can be seen here. Even though some in the Canadian media are simply using Trump as an excuse to make fun of Ford and his supporters again, there are real similarities between the former mayor and the Republican candidate. Both come from money as Daro wrote, that much is true. But the real significance of that is both are willing to use their own money in their campaigns. Trump, like Ford, is beholden to no one including the political establishment, corporations or special interest groups. He does and says what he believes without worrying how his actions and comments might affect large donors. A lot of people admire him including conservatives, although Trump is hardly a conservative. As a result of the above, both Ford and Trump do not come across as "professional politicians," a class of people that voters generally detest. This was true even of Ford who was a sitting Toronto Councillor for 10 years before running for mayor. But most importantly, both have a message that resonate with a lot of people. With Ford it was "stopping the gravy train," as he railed against wasteful spending of taxpayer money for such things as watering plants and providing coffee and snacks to Toronto councillors. The message that propelled Trump in the polls was illegal immigration as he criticized the open borders policies of the Obama administration that lets in and allows foreign criminals to remain in the United States. To those who bemoan the fall of the United States under Obama, Trump's message of "making America great again," is every bit as good as "stopping the gravy train." Anger is a motivating factor in the support of the two men but, to a lot of people, this anger is perfectly justified. People are angry and unbridled spending (Toronto) and the absence of any immigration enforcement (the USA). Ford has a reputation of making politically incorrect statements about pretty well every minority group; Chinese, blacks, Jews and gays. Trump also came under fire for saying some illegal immigrants are rapists. Both Trump and Ford had their words magnified and twisted by the left wing mainstream media. But no matter what Ford and Trump have said in the past, their politically incorrect comments did not detract from the appeal of their message to their base. They highlight problems that bother a lot of people but are ignored by the political establishment of all stripes. Six weeks before the 2014 Toronto election Ford was diagnosed with cancer and dropped out of the mayor's race. Had he continued, it is doubtful he would have won due mainly to the crack scandal that made him a household name throughout the world. What the Ford detractors and haters will not say is that the people who propelled him to office in 2010 still agreed with his message and policies. It is a long time until the Republican Convention, too many candidates to count and anything can happen. But if Trump remains in the race, stays healthy, remains on message and avoids a major scandal such as befell Ford he can conceivably win the nomination. The way ordinary Americans feel about Trump and his message cannot be ignored. Yes there are similarities between the two men. And they are not confined to the negatives the haters are highlighting.

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Arthur Weinreb -- Bio and Archives

Arthur Weinreb is an author, columnist and Associate Editor of Canada Free Press. Arthur’s latest book, Ford Nation: Why hundreds of thousands of Torontonians supported their conservative crack-smoking mayor is available at Amazon. Racism and the Death of Trayvon Martin is also available at Smashwords. His work has appeared on Newsmax.com,  Drudge Report, Foxnews.com.

Older articles (2007) by Arthur Weinreb


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