Like all political pros, they knew the neighbourhoods.


They knew the streets. They pulled out old tricks that had worked with the media before -- and surprise -- now worked again. They shortened rooms, got the best cam- era angles, became creative with campaign messaging and issues, organized the punchiest sign blitz and filled debate halls strategically and vocally. Thanks to these warriors, we continually overachieved against other camps with deeper pockets and more volunteers.


Near the end, we were still behind, but morale never


flagged. I began to realize that this really wasn’t about winning or losing. Winning would be nice, but many of them had not been on a winning Toronto riding campaign in some time. No, this was about their right to participate in the democratic process by running hard, making our case and accepting the verdict.


It’s the same age-old hu-


man impulse to participate and be heard that’s found on the streets of the Arab world today.


It’s easy to mock some of the juvenile and


sophomoric things that take place in partisan politics. If you’re just an observer, that’s all you see.


Back at headquarters, as conservatives and liberals


mixed it up, the office took on a rollicking air, with roll- ing verbal clashes salted with party slogans…“You people don’t believe in public housing,” I would say to provoke the conservatives…”You people don’t believe in letting people stand on their own two feet.,” they would fire back in return and on it would go into the night. And, just as Winston Churchill once saluted Rommel


across the “havoc of war” so too would the Rossi Con- servatives graciously tip their hats to Liberal strategists they admired and had been bested by over the years -- all within reason of course.


The Rossi campaign did run hard, but we fell short.


Later, looking back on how much I had come to admire our Conservative warriors I wondered if we wouldn’t all be better off by dropping partisan labels entirely. After all, if people of radically different beliefs and phil- osophies can work effectively in common cause for several months, couldn’t more of our problems be solved by park- ing party affiliation at the door? It’s an attractive notion. It’s easy to mock some of the


juvenile and sophomoric things that take place in partisan politics, and the Toronto mayoral certainly had more than its share of stunts and comical moments. If you’re just an observer, that’s all you see. But go deeper and you’ll realize that political parties


serve our system very well. Those weren’t just Toronto- nians working for Rossi and for the other mayoral camps. They were active Liberals and Conservatives and New Democrats -- some with deep political resumes and some still wet behind the ears. That we are all secure enough in our beliefs to join hands with our natural adversaries every four years is actually a remarkable comment on the matur- ity of your average political partisan. Oh, by the way, have I told you about the time we plot- ted to intercept fellow candidate Rob Ford on live tele- vision...


Larry Archer is a public relations consultant in Toronto who served as communications director to Rocco Rossi. He can be reached at ljarcher@sympatico.ca (Rocco Rossi’s positive experience as a Toronto mayoral candidate contributed to his de- cision to remain in public life as a politician. This time however in provincial politics. In February he announced his candidacy for the Toronto riding of Eglinton-Lawrence…as a Progressive Conservative running for Leader Tim Hudak)


April 2011 | Campaigns & Elections 47


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