Toronto mayoral candidate Joe Pantalone has made his love of Toronto the central theme of his campaign. With only 10 days to go until election day, his dream of moving up from deputy mayor to the chief magistrate's office is only a fantasy. He is now running at the bottom of the pack of serious contenders with only 11% support compared to 30% and 31% for the leaders.
"So, the real race is between Mr. Smitherman at 38% (up nine points from the late September poll, among those likely to vote) and Mr. Ford at 32% (up two points)."
"Among undecided voters, 12% said they were “leaning towards” Mr. Ford and 11% towards Mr. Smitherman, but just 5% toward Mr. Pantalone. Mr. Pantalone still faces a tough decision: His support might put Mr. Smitherman comfortably over the top. All due respect to his protestations to the contrary, but it’s rather obvious which of the two he would prefer to be mayor."
link: Chris Selley: Smitherman and Ford, mano a mano | Posted Toronto | National Post
A serious decision indeed. Will he continue the NDP tradition (while city politics is supposedly non-partisan, Pantalone doesn't hide his party association which accounts for most of his support and is consistent with his 11% support) and toss victory to Robert Ford by splitting the progressive vote? Or will he serve his city by announcing that he is following Rocco Rossi offstage? I am not optimistic that Pantalone will do the right thing, that he loves his city more than he loves his fantasy of winning.
A warning to NDP voters in Toronto: If Rob Ford wins on October 25 it will be because you put partisanship ahead of the interests of your city. You will be blamed by the majority of progressive voters for Four Ford Years. This is not a primary or semi-final election; you only get one chance to do the right thing.
