I still think it'll come down to whether Pantalone, or enough of his lieutenants, throw in the towel. A majority of Torontonians do not want Ford, but with Pantalone splitting the vote that's just what they might get stuck with.
Not according to this latest poll ... the majority of Torontonians do not want lying slimy scumbag incompentent homsexual criminal drug addict Simitherman even if Pantalone drop out!
The poll also asked if Pantalone were to withdraw from the race, who voters would vote for.
Ford’s support went up to 49% but Smitherman gained dramatically, rising to48% support — putting the two in a statistical dead heat among decided voters.
http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontovotes2010/2010/10/15/15709101.html
George Smitherman has a way to go to beat Rob Ford even with Rocco Rossi out of the picture, the latest poll in the Toronto mayor’s race reveals.
Forum Research Inc. released a poll Friday showing Smitherman is closing the gap on the penny-pinching frontrunner but he’s still at least 6% behind.
Thursday’s telephone poll of 700 Toronto residents is the first conducted after Rossi dropped out of the race Wednesday.
Forum president Lorne Bozinoff said the firm conducted the poll independently and the 700 people surveyed identified themselves as voters who plan on voting in the Oct. 25 election.
Ford has 44% support among decided or leaning voters while Smitherman has 38%, up from 22% during Forum’s last poll in September.
Joe Pantalone remains in third with 16% among decided voters and 2% said they were voting for someone else.
Around 16% of those surveyed remain undecided.
That undecided vote was not included when calculating candidates’ poll percentages.
The poll also asked if Pantalone were to withdraw from the race, who voters would vote for.
Ford’s support went up to 49% but Smitherman gained dramatically, rising to 48% support — putting the two in a statistical dead heat among decided voters.
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4% and is considered accurate 19 times out of 20.
The fact both Ford and Smitherman would be tied is “unbelievable” considering they have been campaigning for almost year, he said.
Bozinoff said it is clear Pantalone is not going to be mayor but he could still make a difference in the city.
“He’s the kingmaker,” he said.
Ford campaign spokesman Adrienne Batra said polls go up and polls go down.
“The only poll that matters is the one on election day,” she said.
Smitherman was similarly unfazed.
“I think we’re going to continue to see some polls over the next few days,” he said. “All of them are going to confirm two things, that this is a head to head race between me and Rob Ford and that is a race with clear distinctions about values and vision for the future of our city.”
Smitherman said it wasn’t his place to tell candidates what to do but he reaffirmed that voters do have a choice.
“The message is clearer and clearer by the day that a vote for Councillor Pantalone is...a vote for Rob Ford at this point,” he said.
Pantalone campaign chairman John Laschinger said it’s not worth commenting on the actual results of the poll because he has too many questions about how it was generated.
He dismissed suggestions that Pantalone would drop out of the race and anoint one of the remaining candidates.
“Joe intends to be king,” Laschinger said.