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Ari Goldkind was sitting on a window ledge of a Ryerson University gymnasium, watching from the sidelines as two mayoral frontrunners talked about disability issues.

He had already been on the debate stage and he would be on more, but on this Monday in late September he was shut out, relegated to typing critiques about the “pandering” and “pat answers” emanating from his political rivals.

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“Um,” he wrote on Twitter, “I’ve heard all these (#accessibility) promises before. 4, 8, 12 years ago. Time for better.”

This debate carried personal significance for Mr. Goldkind, who lost an eye in a childhood pellet gun accident and has always found himself going towards those who had unlucky breaks in life. He vowed to make it off “the bench” in the mayoral race soon.

Fast forward to Tuesday, sitting at the downtown Bannock and the game has clearly shifted for this criminal defence attorney.

Maybe it was his anti-Ford zingers at a debate at Oakwood Collegiate last week. Maybe it was his lambasting of the mayor’s anti-Semitic slurs at another debate on Sunday.