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And I resent the implication a vote for anyone other than Smitherman is a shameful one; what a crummy candidate you must have if you have to resort to emotional blackmail as your primary strategy. I refuse to vote based on threats. What about Himy Syed? He has no chance of winning, duh, but he’s easily the best of the lesser-known candidates, possessing spectacular knowledge and understanding of this city and the diverse communities within it. He could have held his own in debates against the front-runners. He’s a bit nuts, to be sure, but so is everyone else in the race. I want to be able to vote for someone I like.

Goldsbie

When other people neglect the specifics of a matter in favour of broader principles that don’t necessarily apply, you criticize them for being excessively ideological. Pursuing your ideals is laudable, but to do so at the expense of the city at large is oblivious at best and psychopathic at worst. Why should your desire to feel good about yourself take precedence over our common interest in having a mayor who’s never told a total stranger to go over to Iran and get raped and shot? Over our common interest in having a mayor who supports gay marriage? Over our common interest in having a mayor who understands more than two or three issues and grasps the complexity of the city government?

Goldsbie

But I’m not convinced that Smitherman DOES grasp the complexity of the city government! He talks about it in Ford’s language, that the city is a gluttonous beast that could be tamed with simple slogans and symbolic gestures, if only an angry enough man were in charge. At least Pantalone has an idea of what he’d be walking into.