Shovelling up some folksy PR
Doug Ford’s dogged shovelling in the face of a historic snowstorm has already become part of the Ford canon, alongside other iconic moments like baking that cherry cheesecake and that time he said that anti-maskers were “a few fries short of a Happy Meal.”
In many ways, “Doug Ford vs. the weather” was red meat for the base: a headline-grabbing stunt that reminded voters why they have liked him and his brother Rob for decades.
Ford is folksy. Ontarians know this. His affable charm is not up for debate. He is approachable and relatable. Everyone has an uncle that he reminds them of, and it is easy to imagine shooting the breeze with him in a Tim Hortons’ parking lot. The premier’s affinity for retail politics is unarguably one of his biggest strengths.
Is it a coincidence that the perceived need to shore up his base happened on the day of a snowstorm? Maybe. However, it more likely corresponds with the release of unfavourable polling numbers and what was surely an unpleasant Monday morning coffee for the premier as he read his daily briefing binder.
Was this a good strategy, in the wake of those bad numbers? It may turn out to have been quite clever, in two ways.
There are memes and jokes being shared throughout social media and WhatsApp groups, mocking the size of the premier’s shovel and ridiculing the value he added by pulling neighbours out of ditches and shovelling walkways.
The people making and laughing at those jokes were not Ford’s target audience. Those people were not voting for Ford before he got to work with a small plastic shovel and now, afterwards, they still aren’t voting for him. (If you doubt that there was strategy at play here, note that the premier’s lead communicator was connecting with media outlets throughout the day.)
This was a stunt that appealed to his voting base: a can’t miss reminder that he’s still the charming everyman they elected nearly four years ago. This resonates because of the importance of authenticity in politics: a fair observer can conclude that Ford genuinely does care about people and genuinely does want to help them. He really did want to spend the day rolling around in his giant vehicle, talking to real people and making their days better in small ways. For his core supporters, discussion about how a premier should spend his time are far less important than this demonstration of Ford Family Values.
It also changed the channel. The media cycle on Monday would have been dominated by the return of students to school and punctuated by valid criticism regarding the steps government has taken to keep students safe in school.
Instead, Twitter was aflame with impassioned arguments: thoughtful admonishments about the role of the executive in a parliamentary system and thoughtless insults. All major media outlets covered his efforts and some broadcast media even carried him live. His polarizing efforts to be a good neighbour have dominated the public conversation and that meant that we were not talking about pandemic-related public policy failures.
The premier could not have hoped to lead during a global crisis that will be forever marked in human history, but it has provided him with avenues to demonstrate his strengths. His weaknesses are well documented, but this handson storm response is an example of successfully executed pre-election strategy.