It is nice when Nenshi loses that thin veneer of humility and exposes himself for the arrogant man that he is. He views himself as the most popular politician in all of Canada and openly says so. He basically called anybody who would run against him fools as he is just so darned popular that it would be futile.
The video with Rick Bell and Joan Crockatt covers it all quite well here.
Bell’s column expands on those fine Nenshi quotes too.
Nenshi’s self-love explains why he goes off the handle so quickly in the face of any criticism. He really does think he is above all question. Many people had to meet Nenshi before to feel that deep aura of arrogance radiating from him. Now Nenshi is reaching out and ensuring that everybody gets to see and enjoy that arrogant and pompous man who is our mayor. Keep up the good work Nenshi. You are laying the groundwork for your replacement.
You may have to make that jump to the federal Liberals sooner than anticipated.
No, no, no. He’ll lead the Alberta Party coronation in 2016, remember? He’s too liberal for the Liberal Party.
Just after he won the mayor’s seat he’d be asked the stock question “How did you do it?” He ALWAYS answered with a “Oh you mean besides my good looks!?” After hearing it two or three times – sometimes in the same interview! – I thought that’s enough, the joke’s getting stale. But he used it on his ‘look at me’ tour across Canada over and over again. That’s when I knew we had our own Obama.
I think Bell nailed it rather well. Nenshi’s popularity is centered in the GTA media and the lib-left nattering class in the eastern urban bastions of Multicult identity politics. He seems to play to this demographic even though they can’t vote for him. There is a bit of a gibe going around in eastern media circles about this odd phenomena – ” Naheed Nenshi is the mayor Toronto never had”. And that gag line contains the whacky truth of the whole matter. Vindictive left wing media types in GTA are livid over the election of Rob Ford (a true conservative) and they daydream out loud in the local media how they wish they had Nenshi.
All these accolades from the GTA nattering class have given Nenshi a swollen ego and a misplaced constituent loyalty. I figure he’s a one term wonder.