The math says Doug Ford might be Toronto's next mayor

From of all places, The Toronto Star:

A charm-school dropout he may be, but mayoral candidate Doug Ford has seized the helm of a mighty political ship — the cadre of disaffected, angry Torontonians who swept his brother to power. How and where he chooses to steer it over the next five weeks is anyone's guess but, aghast as the prospect may render left-wingers and centrists, there is a potential course leading straight to the mayor's office. Charting that course is a math exercise underpinned by deeply-held attitudes and beliefs among Toronto voters, now complicated after Rob Ford's cancer diagnosis by an upswell of pathos.

In the haze of hindsight, it's easy to attribute Rob's 2010 win solely to his larger-than-life persona. But the 383,501 Toronto voters who put their “x” by FORD had more in mind, something that burns hotter than whoever happens to be the current keeper of the flame: the Ford agenda of respect for taxpayers and stopping the gravy train. In 2014, it's alive and well. If Doug Ford can speak to that agenda, make it his own, and become the champion of the many who continue to take it to heart, the math suggests the mayoralty is his for the taking.

The 47.1 per cent who backed Rob Ford were not just angry old working-class white guys from the suburbs — though that cohort remains well-represented at the core of Ford Nation. The broader Ford constituency then and ostensibly now cross-cuts our population.