If it wasn’t for being sued, September would be the quietest month for Rob Ford.
The Etobicoke councillor was at the heart of every twist and turn in the civic election over the summer, storming to the lead in the race over heavily favoured opposition.
But since Labour Day, the point most pundits picked as the kickoff to serious campaigning, Ford has stepped back from the limelight.
He’s released little in the way of policy, fielded fewer calls from newspaper reporters and shied away from scrums, sticking instead to television interviews and debate appearances.
The one campaign plank he has put out — his transportation platform — was released via YouTube in the dead of night with no press conference and only limited availability afterward.
“It’s normal for frontrunners to keep their profile lower than it would be if they were running back of the pack,” U of T political science prof Nelson Wiseman said.
“That’s just standard fare. Over the summer (then race-leader George) Smitherman had a lower profile.
“During the presidential election in the U.S., Obama basically in the last couple of days really laid low because there’s a danger you’re going to get tripped. And there’s more and more focus, particularly critical focus, on a frontrunner.”
Ford might have kept out of the papers even more had he not been the target of a threatened lawsuit by Boardwalk Pub owner George Foulidis, whose demand for an apology from Ford for allegations of corruption in the awarding of a city contract has so far been denied.
Ford’s opponents meanwhile, are picking up the intensity of their campaigning — with the trio of Rocco Rossi, Sarah Thomson and George Smitherman in particular all making frequent policy announcements and holding events each week on everything from transit to construction to accountability to even a City Hall suggestion box.
Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone has been quieter on the policy front — not surprising since he’s proposing to change little from the outgoing administration of Mayor David Miller — but he’s still chasing headlines and courting the media at every turn.
Ford though has played coy.
Beat reporters at City Hall are finding him markedly less available and phone calls are increasingly not returned or answered by campaign staff instead.
And he has yet to schedule time for a feature-length interview with the Toronto Sun, something the other four candidates all checked off weeks ago.
It’s something his opponents have noticed as well, Smitherman has been deriding Ford as the “boy in the bubble” and is still waiting for his opponent to agree to a once-promised one-on-one debate.
“Maybe we’re not all awake at 2 o’clock in the morning when he (Ford) seems to be doing most of his work, by way of YouTube and such,” Smitherman said, referring to the transportation announcement.
“It’s the peekaboo candidacy. If you look at it he’s just trying to ride out a stream of anecdotes and rhetoric and hope that the bubble doesn’t burst on his credibility. I think as we get more into discussion of details, the whole campaign becomes much more challenging for him.”
Ford campaign spokesman Adrienne Batra denied the frontrunner has made a strategic decision to shift into neutral but confirmed Ford will not debate Smitherman.
“We’ve got policy that we were planning to release (last) week (but) unfortunately it didn’t fit in our schedule,” she said. “He’s certainly made himself available as much as possible. He has made a commitment to these kids to coach football and that takes up a few hours every day.”
Ford’s still attending as many debates as possible, she said, and will announce more features of his taxpayer protection plan on Monday before unveiling his fully costed fiscal platform at the end of the month or early October.
“It’s unfortunate that some of the other candidates feel the need to have Rob Ford as their punching bag,” Batra said.
“We’re getting three to four calls everyday. Maybe it’s not the mainstream but we’re still getting lots of calls, he’s still doing lots of interviews.”
Pantalone said in an interview he doubts Ford’s low profile is strategic.
“It’s simply he’s run out of steam,” Pantalone said.
“I don’t think he’s doing it on purpose, The growth in his support, I believe has not only stalled, but perhaps reversed. I say that because he’s come under close scrutiny.”
Slowing down on purpose when you’re winning a race is a strange decision, he said.
“Usually what you want to do is build a bigger margin between you and your opponent,” Pantalone said.
“Once you slow down, you may lose momentum.”
Bernie Morton, a spokesman for the Rossi campaign, says while Ford “has peaked and plateaued,” his candidate is picking up speed.
“It (the campaign) is really long and very tiring and you need to be in it for the long run. And you need to be able to pace yourself,” Morton said.
“Out of all the candidates, Rocco is by far the fittest.
“Whether or not Rob Ford is fit to finish, I don’t know. He’s looking extremely tired and they seem to have lost some of their steam.”
But Wiseman says the low profile frontrunner is a frequent pattern of political campaigns because it works.
“I’m sure the advice being given to him is you minimize contact. (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper does the same thing, if you’re in the lead,” Wiseman said.
“The polls decide whether you can or not. Smitherman all of a sudden became more aggressive. When the polls switch, then you switch.
“Can he play goal for two months? If he keeps a lead of 10-12%, why shouldn’t he?”