Get Out And Vote

This is going to develope into an anyone but Miller campaign. And this is true of many of the riding campaigns as well but unforetuneately most of the left wingers on council, like Miller, have not really accomplished much. Take polls for what they are.......

New poll shows Miller is beatable

David Miller's collar is tighter, Jane Pitfield has the wind at her back -- with one caveat -- and media pundits (although not our own Sue-Ann Levy) are wiping the egg off their faces.

Let's be fair....Royson James, The Star, has also been on Miller's case.....

All three things happened at once yesterday with the release of a shocking (to some) Ipsos-Reid poll showing that the fight for the Toronto mayor's job is now a real horserace.

Miller leads Pitfield 55%-40% among decided voters polled and by a much tighter 51%-46% if you include only those who say they are certain to vote Nov. 13. (This is significant because voter turnout in municipal elections is notoriously low.)

In addition, a huge number of voters, 43%, are undecided.

Make no mistake. The news here is that the mayor's job is up for grabs. Pitfield, given up for dead by the city's elites, has just roared back to life. Miller, who thought he was going to have a cakewalk to victory, now has a fight on his hands.

That said, there's a caveat. Former federal Liberal party president Stephen LeDrew threw a wildcard into the race yesterday by announcing at the last moment that he's running for mayor. Conventional wisdom says LeDrew's entry hurts Pitfield and helps Miller because it will split the anti-Miller vote.

But conventional wisdom a day ago said the mayor's race was already over so who knows? Miller's still out front, but his road to victory is now much tougher. Media coverage of the race, given yesterday's poll results and the entry of the witty and media-savvy LeDrew, will now be far more intense.

That's bad for Miller because at the moment, he's losing momentum. Last fall, 69% of those polled thought he deserved a second term. That's now down to 57% and among those who say they are sure to vote, only 51% think he deserves re-election.

Out-of-touch media pundits have spent months prematurely declaring Pitfield's campaign dead. They missed the real story this poll suggests -- that after three years in power, Miller hasn't inspired people. Voters aren't angry at him, which is why he still leads, but there's no great enthusiasm for him, either.

Why?Ask yourself two questions: Other than stopping the Island Airport bridge, as he promised in 2003, what's he done? Does the city look better or operate more efficiently than it did back then, considering that spending has gone up by $1.3 billion and property taxes have steadily risen by 3% a year?

Hang on, folks. The mayor's race just got a lot more interesting