As reported on Sunday, in the Toronto Star, Mayor Rob Ford will be a formidable candidate for re-election in the 2014 Toronto Mayoral election.
It is interesting to note that the original headline of this online article which appeared on Saturday was, "Rob Ford video scandal: Don't count the Mayor out yet. Political Strategists say"
The Star headline that appeared in print in the Sunday print edition of this very same article, was amended to read " Mayor expected to be "very strong" in election. "
How very curious.
Clearly, even the Toronto Star is having second thoughts on the imminent demise of the mayoralty of Mayor Rob Ford.
To the extent, the Toronto Star completely amended the focus of the headline.
This Toronto Star article also stated that according to a recent Ipsos Reid survey released this past Saturday, "34% of Torontonians said they'd vote to re-elect Ford if an election were held tomorrow.
This is an amazing result.
Recall at the peak of Ford's popularity, and before he was supposedly rocked by various scandals, these last two years, 43% of Torontonians said that they had voted for him in the last election.
Now, notwithstanding the Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail and other media, reporting for two weeks, almost 24/7 on Mayor Ford's alleged participation in an alleged video, and other unsubstantiated revelations about the Ford family members, Mayor Ford is still viewed as the candidate to beat in the next mayoral election.
In this same article, it is also interesting to note that Bruce Davis, the former campaign manager of George Smitherman's failed mayoral campaign against Rob Ford, stated that,
"People who think that Rob Ford's political career will take a hit following allegations of crack cocaine use are delusional. His support is rock solid. He'll be very strong going into the next election... The people who hated him before still hate him. I haven't met a single person who has changed their mind (because of the latest controversy). "
Davis went on to explain the reasons for the rock solid support for Ford. Apparently, notwithstanding Ford's many controversies and political gaffes, when given the choice, many voters would choose a person who allegedly breaks the law, over a person who wastes taxpayers' money.
Nick Kouvalis, Ford's former campaign manager in 2010, also implied that that the potential mayoral candidacy of MP Olivia Chow in 2014, will be no walk in High Park for Ms. Chow.
Kouvalis stated that, "Olivia Chow is an MP -- and bless her heart -- but she has never gone through a tough campaign before and she has a lot of skeletons in her closet that she will have to face. "
What Kouvalis is suggesting is that the upcoming mayoral campaign will be really a down and dirty campaign where the dirty linen of all serious candidates and their families will be exposed.
Mayor Ford is very tough and he is now very angry. He strongly believes that he has been unfairly treated by the liberal press of Toronto and his many critics in Toronto.
To date he has apparently survived the intense scrutiny leveled upon him and his family.
Many Ford supporters in Toronto and in the social media, are extremely upset at the way the media have gone after Rob Ford and his family.
I expect that any serious challenger to Rob Ford should expect the same scrutiny and investigations into his/her private life and the lives of his/her family members by Ford supporters and by Ford supporters in the media.
Accordingly, I predict that neither Olivia Chow or Karen Stintz, will challenge Mayor Rob Ford in the next 2014 mayoral election.