Non-existent poll gives Rob Ford fictional lead over Smitherman
Last week, city hall was positively atwitter about a yet-to-be-released poll that would declare not George Smitherman but Rob Ford to be in the top spot. The most prominent rumour-mongering happened during the council’s debate over reprimanding Ford for his breach of council ethics. Adam Vaughan lamented, “There’s a poll coming out that says he’s in first place (in the race),” before comparing Ford to Sarah Palin and voting to reprimand him. Gossipers were saying that the poll was due out that weekend, according to the Star. And then speculation shifted to Wednesday.
The weekend has come and gone. Wednesday has come and gone. And we’re sitting here like Caesar after the Ides has passed, wondering when the knives come out.
The Star claims it had no poll on the mayor’s race. According to its The Goods blog (no relation), the poll was supposed to be released by CTV and show Ford to be a few points ahead of his opponents. What’s the deal? Surely the entire city’s political system wasn’t thrown for a loop by a single false rumour, right? That would be like journalists running to a press briefing only because they thought the outgoing mayor was announcing a run for re-election. Or something.
• New poll (maybe) to show Ford is (maybe) on top! [Toronto Star] • Why the Ford reprimand matters [Globe and Mail]
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