What’s more nuts than Rob Ford leading in the latest poll by 24 points?
That would be the media writing off all contenders with five weeks remaining in the mayoral race.
And we wonder what’s wrong with municipal politics.
If the city’s opinion makers are throwing in the towel, then what message is that sending the electorate other than, don’t bother showing up to vote because it’s over?
Madness.
Let’s look on the bright side: now maybe we can get down to the serious business of dissecting what Ford really stands for. And how exactly he’s going to pay for the cuts he’s promising. Details, details.
Maybe Ford’s whopping lead will spark an intelligent debate about leadership. Is Ford mayoral material. How many can honestly answer yes to that question without tossing their cookies?
Or perhaps the fear factor will set in, as in, the fear of Ford winning will motivate those who don’t usually vote in municipal elections to get off their asses. Is our city worth saving?
Cuz make no mistake. A Ford mayoralty will be nothing short of a three ring circus.
He’s made too many enemies on council, that’s the insurmountable fact. The power that come with the chain of command won’t change that.
It will be interesting to see over the next few days how many of those incumbents returning to council will come out for Ford.
Frontrunners are supposed to attract support. It’s called the bandwagon effect. But fewer than a handful of returning councillors were out for Ford when this race started. Not even Ford’s good buddy in Etobicoke, Doug Holyday, could see Ford as mayor.
The danger for Ford’s opponents: the economy, which continues to tank. Ford has that to thank for his popularity. Its been the sleeper issue in this election. His his tax, tax, tax and spend, spend, spend shtick has caught on because people are feeling the weight of the uncertainty around them, not because they’re necessarily pissed off at David Miller.
What’s Ford’s plan in that regard? We’re still waiting, although he has mentioned the word jobs in his plan to build a subway loop in Scarborough with money the city doesn’t have.
Ford’s opponents, save for Joe Pantalone, have themselves to blame for lighting a fire under his unlikely run by reinforcing the myth that the city’s broke and headed for disaster. It’s not, but say something often enough and it becomes the truth. It may be too late to alter that perception now. The anger we keep reading about is too deep-seated.
Or so we’re told. The latest poll putting Ford in front also says most Torontonians believe immigrants are a valuable asset to the city. Ford does not. What are we to make of such an obvious contradiction?
Municipal politics is not about vision, right? It’s, as Ford says, about people just wanting their garbage picked up. If that’s the current truth then it marks a huge step backwards for a city that in two previous elections voted for a guy who embodies the total antithesis of Ford.
Check the cranes in the sky. The transformation of priority neighbourhoods like Regent Park, the building boom on the waterfront. Those things weren’t achieved with the small-minded thinking Ford represents. Voters are smarter than that. Give them time, they’ll come around.
The word I’m hearing from the campaign trail is that support at the doors for Ford has been waning compared to earlier in the race. And that voters are looking to council candidates to decide how they’re voting for mayor, and most of them are advising against Ford.
The end is not nigh. This election will be won in the last two weeks of the campaign. And that’s more than three weeks away.
The number of undecided voters is still at 25 per cent. It’s doubtful that those NDPers and Liberals the poll says are gravitating to Ford will actually vote for him on election day. Or that Ford is as strong as the poll suggests in downtown Toronto.
There’s still more than a month left in this baby and Ford’s top three opponents all have big cash to spend. The all-important TV attack ads have yet to roll. And there are a few more television debates to get through unscathed.
Ford has been acting like a frontrunner of late, making himself scarce and trying to deflect attention from his campaign with suggestions like including fringe candidate Rocco Achampong in the remaining televised debates. He can run, but he can’t hide, George Smitherman, the early frontrunner, knows that all too well.
When push comes to shove, it’s hard to imagine any of the four dailies, expect the Sun, endorsing a Ford mayoralty. The cognoscenti are already stirring.
Up until now, Ford has been able to get away with saying just about anything. The target on his back just got bigger.
