Kelly McParland: Rob Ford’s enemies prove to be his greatest strength

Anyone wondering how Rob Ford manages to retain a solid core of supporters despite his sea of troubles need only look at the nature of his challengers. With enemies like this, who needs friends?

...The more the privileged core of “activists”, “progressives” and downtown-dwellers vent about Rob Ford, the more determined his fan base becomes to keep him in office.  The Toronto Star, chief cheerleader for the anti-Ford forces, keeps searching for polls that suggest the mayor is toast, but instead finds voters think he’s the target of a jihad. An Ipsos Reid poll conducted weeks after Ford was alleged to have used crack cocaine found that half the people polled thought the claims were proof of a media (read: Toronto Star) agenda against Ford. The core of his support, not surprisingly, was in the same suburbs that made him mayor and resents the downtowners’ unending crusade to negate the election. When the Star sent a reporter out to mock Ford supporters — standing on a roadside with a sign seeking interviews — it discovered they don’t care about imagery and are happy that he’s controlled taxes. “They believe there is a vendetta against the Fords and that we journalists are making money along the way,” sighed the reporter.

Read all of Kelly McParland's column at THE NATIONAL POST 

h/t Marvin W.