Toronto Star really, really, really wants you to know Thomson has left the mayoral race

Toronto Star really, really, really wants you to know Thomson has left the mayoral race

That’s a picture of the Google News results for the Star’s reporting on Sarah Thomson in the past 24 hours or so. Notice something there?  Six separate stories and updates about how Thomson’s exit from the race changes things.  And yes, it probably does—a little. (Most of those links now redirect straight to the Star’s latest story.) Meanwhile, the Globe and the Post have each taken a more modest approach to the news—two stories in the Globe and one in the Post—over the past day.

Events like this are newsworthy, and expanded coverage is totally worth it; both the Star and the Globe have some good reporting on the how, when and why of Thomson’s decision. But, with respect to Thomson, this isn’t a Unity, New Hampshire, moment signalling the end of a drawn-out, bitter battle between two political giants. Her campaign was struggling to climb out of single digits with any frequency. The last poll conducted before she left the race had her at seven per cent, and nobody thinks that George Smitherman will collect all of that. In short, this still probably leaves Smitherman and Rob Ford just about tied in the race to be the next mayor, with Pantalone and Rossi trailing quite a bit behind them.

It’s probably too late to stop people from thinking this proves whatever they think the Star’s motives are when it comes to the mayoral race. Let’s just say that nobody cared this much when Giorgio Mammoliti left the race, and he wasn’t doing that much worse than Thomson.

• How Sarah embraced George [Toronto Star]
• Contest grows tighter as Thomson drops out, endorses Smitherman [Globe and Mail]