My first mayoral debate and the winner is...

No one.

I was invited by a friend to attend the York Memorial's mayoral candidate debate tonight and I was glad to finally get a take on our mayoral candidates in the flesh.  My first impressions were of the purely superficial nature: George Smitherman is as 'real' as Jiffy spread and seemed to have only gay male volunteers with him, Sarah Thomson is adorable and the best dressed of the set, Rossi is a lot taller than I imagined and Pantalone is pure cute.  I was loving his green tie.  I didn't see Achampong until he was on stage.  And Ford, well let's just say he seemed like he had trouble standing up.  He looked uncomfortable and annoyed.

Now on to the debate.  From neighbourhood revival to transit, none of the candidates seemed to break new ground or offered any new proposals on the table.  In fact, aside from Pantalone and Achampong it got difficult at some times to differentiate the other candidates' policies.  Smitherman tried to score points with the locals by repeatedly bringing up local bones of contention like the Eglinton rapid transit and Eastman-Kodak site re-development.  Ford, Rossi and Thomson worked their business credentials.  Pantalone stood up for public service (rightly so!).  Achampong actually told it straight in the style of a candidate who doesn't stand a chance.  It was refreshing.  He is young and bright, but just doesn't seem to have a clear vision to run in this election.

Granted the clearest vision out of the MSM candidates we've been offered comes from Rob Ford: "Stop the gravy train."  I have to say that he is sounding like a broken record, although one at a party where the people are too drunk to notice.  He's got nothing to offer to us aside from cutting, cutting, cutting and subways for Scarborough.  He seems more fit for the mold of a small town mayor than a big city one.  Maybe that's why so many people like him, they forget that Toronto is not only the largest city in Canada but one of the largest in North America.

Suffice it to say that I will be voting for neither Ford nor Pantalone.  The latter was part of an administration spending like a drunken sailor and Ford is, well, a drunken sailor (sorry I had to go there!).  Both seem to be genuinely good guys.  I just don't trust them with the keys to the city and to be the head of a dysfunctional body like City Council.

So that leaves Rossi and Thomson.  I think Rossi is the most stately and probably most intelligent of the bunch.  I just feel his campaign is delving into "schtick" politics of populism.  Thomson has a lot to learn which unfortunately will go against her.  I do however think she has a lot of good ideas ( many of which she hinted had been taken by other candidates over the course of the race).  I'm not sure she could put Council in its place, but could certainly work with it to deliver results.  Either way, I'm even less excited about our candidate slate than I was prior to the debate.

The sad thing is if you don't believe in Ford then there's no one to believe in.  The Etobicoke councillor seems to be the Model T-party, mass-produced conservative (some) Torontonians have been waiting for.  Would change by any other name sound so sweet?  My answer is an unequivocal YES!