I’m not sure if this is a problem of social myopia (birds of a feather flocking together) but it seems I both keep hearing & reading that people want to vote for Joe Pantalone but feel that’s it’s a wasted vote. (I myself expressed as much in my last blog posting a week ago). Thus, everyone who’d like to vote for him is now of the mind to vote strategically. I write this because I’m now under the impression that maybe there’s a silent majority of people out there who favor him but who are being frightened into voting for his rivals.

It doesn’t help that the Globe and Mail “guardedly” endorses Smitherman while only mentioning Pantalone once in it’s 800word endorsement. The context is notable:

Mr. Fords […] is an instinctual person, lacking in analysis, and his plans have gaps and inconsistencies. His propensity to impetuous words and deeds could be embarrassing and possibly harmful to Toronto. Nonetheless, the surge in support for a man with these characteristics, in a sophisticated, cosmopolitan city, amounts to an extraordinary indictment of the status quo. It is a phenomenon that all Toronto’s politicians must take seriously; Mr. Smitherman has already repositioned himself, shifting on the ideological spectrum from where he probably would like to be. Where Mr. Ford is unrealistic, Mr. Smitherman is vague. The risk in supporting Mr. Ford is what he might do as mayor, the risk in supporting Mr. Smitherman is what he might not do. The latter of the two has failed to articulate a vision or a strategy of his own, and he could easily end up as a second David Miller – what Joe Pantalone, the third candidate, openly promises to be.

I resent the idea that I need to fear either rival, and that I should vote for Smitherman for any reason not of my choosing. I resent the media casting this (and thus skewing the pole results) as a two-person race. I resent the blackmail that a vote for Pantalone is an indirect vote for someone who is “potentially embarrassing and harmful”.

I’m going to vote for Pantalone. If Ford wins, at least we’ll have a shake-up of the status quo. If Smitherman wins, well, at least he’s not Ford. If Pantalone wins, well, at least we might finally get bike lanes and continued marginal improvements in TTC outpaced by increased fares.