Rob Ford plagued by drive-by smears again
It’s hard out here for a front-runner: Rob Ford, having swatted down anonymous Web ads two weeks ago that referred to him as “arrested and jailed,” now faces another anonymous attack, this time in the form of lawn signs planted on University Avenue a few blocks south of Queen’s Park. The Toronto Sun reports:
Around 10 signs that read, “Wife-beating, racist drunk for mayor!" were planted in the University Ave. flowerbeds near Dundas St. W. at some point overnight…. It isn’t clear who is responsible for the signs. Erika Mozes, George Smitherman’s campaign spokesman, was adamant that Ford’s main rival had nothing to do with them.
The signs were removed as quickly as the Web ads were—an offended early morning commuter took down the signs and put them into his van.
The incident is the flip side of what Ford once described as the great thing about city politics: the barriers to entry are so low anyone can get in the game. Well, it looks like making signs and sticking them somewhere prominent is cheap enough for Ford’s enemies to get some shots in. Frankly, with almost two weeks left in this race, we probably haven’t seen the last of this kind of trick.
• Election attack signs pop up [Toronto Sun] • Scandalous election signs placed along University Avenue [680 News] • Anonymous anti-Ford ads jump from online to the grounds of Queen’s Park [Toronto Star]
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