What Happened to the Toronto Star? They've acknowledged their efforts to sink Rob Ford have been a complete failure

“They all underestimated the capacity of the Ford family team,” Doug Ford told the Star.

“We’re running circles around the Warren Kinsellas and John Laschingers,” he says, referring to political players: Kinsella, who recently volunteered for Rossi, and Laschinger, Joe Pantalone’s campaign manager.

“We’re laughing,” said Ford. “We figure there’s another one on board (Kinsella) and we’ve got to knock him off, too. It’s like knocking flies off . . . well, you know what.”

George Smitherman's campaign seem to be the only ones left in denial of the obvious.

"Davis maintains Smitherman will beat Ford. “I’m convinced people are tolerating Rob Ford — his antics, his misbehaviour, his hurtfulness — because they’re desperate to clean up the finances at city hall. But Rob Ford won’t be able to do that.”

And yet, while insisting the Smitherman camp “gets” the public’s anger about perceived waste and mismanagement at city hall — the crux of the Ford message — Davis said his candidate won’t roll out his fiscal plan until later this month.

Perhaps there’s a problem right there. Ford’s opponents still operate under old campaign rules — i.e., big announcements after Labour Day — while the whole universe is changing around them. It’s like the axiom, life is what happens to you while you’re busy making plans."

The unexpected column in The Star can be read in its entirety here.