The Toronto Mayoral Media Wars

With the election only one week away, the Sun and the Star bring out the big guns, and the Globe prints and retracts an analysis of Rob Ford's fat.

Over the course of Toronto’s mayoral election race, a distinct pattern has emerged in the media. The Toronto Sun supports Rob Ford, the Toronto Star supports anybody but Ford, and the National Post pokes fun at everyone.

Today the city’s two main papers have finally come out and unveiled their naked support for their chosen candidate in a pair of editorials. The Sun, which expressed some reservations about Ford for about four hours in August, shows no uncertainty now. “The current political regime in charge of City Hall needs to be dragged kicking and screaming into a new era where taxpayers come first,” says today’s editorial, and “there is only one candidate running for mayor who is both promising that kind of profound change and who has a credible record indicating he’ll deliver it … Stopping the gravy train and cutting waste are in Ford’s political DNA.”

The Star, where hatred of Ford apparently runs as far down as the paper’s graphic department, which has been unable to find a remotely flattering photo of the candidate in recent weeks, is backing George Smitherman, “a progressive thinker who is respectful of the diversity of the city.” The editors cite his record as provincial minister as proof that he can effectively manage a big budget. Ford, meanwhile, is “a one-trick pony with a line he repeats at every opportunity: ‘It’s time to stop the gravy train.’ That may sound good, but Ford is consumed by the picayune, not the big picture.”

So no surprises from the Sun and the Star, but the Globe and Mail did do something unexpected on Saturday by publishing an article that purported Ford is popular because of “the mounds of fat that encircle his body like great deflated tires of defeat.” The article, by Stephen Marche, made the argument that the portly candidate’s “angry fat … is the physical manifestation of postindustrial life” and voters see themselves in him. Readers found it so offensive it was unceremoniously pulled from the site, but if an historical analysis of lard is your bag you can still find it here.