is being spent talking about his substance abuse problems and wild boy behaviour. His supporters just point to that and say he's not perfect, and it endears him to them all the more. He's a regular guy! He's got his problems! He's struggling with the same things that the rest of us struggle with!
Trouble is, he doesn't remotely have the same struggles the rest of us do. He's the very picture of white male privilege. If it were a black man taking part in these antics, he'd have been arrested long ago. If he weren't wealthy, he'd have been arrested long ago. But that little fact won't reach the ears of his supporters, either.
More time and column inches need to be spent on the real problem with Rob Ford, which is his incredibly bad policies. The supporters I've spoken to all parrot back the same three things: Removal of the vehicle registration fee, privatizing garbage collection, and saving the city $1billion. All of these people are "I've got mine" types that couldn't care less about public housing or low-income housing.
How do we take this discourse back? As long as he says he's saving people money (again and again and again), and they believe it, he's still got a solid chance at being re-elected. Toronto will spend weeks on the comedy shows if that happens, before everyone forgets about us, and investment slowly trickles out of the city because businesses have no confidence in a city that would elect that oaf twice in a row.
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