Ford tapping into voter anger

Re Ford voters don’t care about his past, Hepburn, April 26

Columnist Bob Hepburn, Premier Kathleen Wynne and many others are puzzled about the loyalty PC Leader Doug Ford seems to get, even though his ideas defy logic. Perhaps Sigmund Freud could help. He taught that humans are like icebergs — one-tenth guided by reason, nine-tenths by the subconscious.

Right now people are angry. In the new business mode, too many are stuck in part-time, minimum-pay jobs with no benefits — no sick days, no pensions. They know the inequality in our society is getting worse.

Ford and U.S. President Donald Trump, both multi-millionaires, simply keep repeating simple slogans like “I’m for the people.” Perhaps Wynne and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath need to tag him with a simple phrase: “Slash and burn Ford.”

If Ford wins, we all know who will be hurt the most — the little people, not the wealthy. But Ford and Trump have tapped into that deep anger and no amount of logic will succeed against it. Ask Freud. Carolyn Fredenburg, Etobicoke Many voters do indeed see Doug Ford as flawed with a checkered past, but he is running against someone in Kathleen Wynne who is widely perceived as being profoundly incompetent and deeply unprincipled. With most voters unwilling to jump from the Liberals’ frying pan into the NDP’s fire, Doug Ford may well end up winning by virtue of being the best bad option. Jonathan Household, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.