Good for Tory for running. It's not an easy thing to do, throwing your hat into the ring - especially when you've done so a couple of times in the past and had that hat stepped on.
I've had a couple chats with JT since his last loss, and the thing that impressed me the most was his frustration with politics-as-usual; the partisan positioning that focuses on individual wins rather than shared solutions. He said he's tired of the backroom fights, the wasted opportunities, the cynicism of it all.
Here's where his challenge lies.
Win or lose, Tory's last kick at the can should be an opportunity to campaign with integrity, creativity and to catalyze more User Generator Content, building positive momentum through being a conduit, not messenger-in-chief. Done with Sun-Tzu like strategic acumen, it's possible to win and win big by delivering wins for others and building on commonalities instead of dividing the field and expecting some troops to deliver for you.
With folk like Tom Allison on his team, it's possible he'll make moves onto this common ground.
But at the same time, come on - this is politics. Everyone plays dirty, everyone is in it to win and whatever people can get away with, they'll do. There are big machines out to get Tory, specifically.
Tory also has Nick Kouvalis on his team - the guy who took pride in faking calls to John Tory, passing misinformation around about Irwin Cotler. Kouvalis believes ending careers is a noble profession - his profession. He's all about the win and his brand as a winner, so I wouldn't count on him pulling out any stops.
At the end of the day, these are the sorts of people that get in to politics and with the right guidance and leadership, there's no reason the negative edges of some can't be tapered and the collaborative instincts of others can't be honed.
It's what Tory has said he wants to see.
The question remains - is he up to the task himself?
We want to care, John - it's up to you to show us why we should.
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