1/ I am not going to be voting for Doug Ford, but here are a few reasons I think the lather the centre-left is working itself into re: a Tory win is nonsense.
2/ Patrick Brown, whatever else he did, recruited a lot of good candidates. If the Tories win, they will have a lot of smart and reasonably moderate cabinet ministers who are in no way Ford-ist.
3/ The policy differences between Tories and others are exaggerated. There is zero evidence the Tories are taking aim at the Liberals' targeted free tuition program. A $14 minwage v. a $15 minwage is not, at the end of the day, an enormous difference.
4/ Though Ford is glib and irritating about "finding efficiencies", public support for taxation depends on public believing taxes aren't being spent frivolously. Periodic pruning is no bad thing; no other party will focus on this.
5/ The bulk of fear re: Tories is Ford's personal style: he's a bully and a liar. Good reasons not to vote for him: no one should encourage those qualities in public life. But as a Premier with far from unanimous caucus/ cabinet support, he will be fettered to some extent.
6/ So, you know, chill everyone. As I saw someone say yesterday, the situation is hopeless but not serious.
