Why is Toronto's crack-smoking Mayor Rob Ford so popular?
Despite a months-long drug scandal, Ford's poll numbers haven't gone up in smoke
After months of denials, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford finally came clean on Tuesday: He has smoked crack after all.
Ford admitted to hitting the rock, but blamed it on the fact that he was "probably in one of my drunken stupors."
Ok, everyone? Rob Ford has smoked crack, but only because he was so thoroughly loaded that crack sounded like a reasonable nightcap at the time.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A quick recap: In May, Gawker and the Toronto Star reported that Ford had been caught on video smoking crack with alleged drug dealers. Ford denied the allegations, and clung to power even as members of his staff resigned or were forced out.
With the scandal bubbling for so long, you would expect Ford's approval rating to be in hot water. Except the opposite is actually true: Ford's approval rating has gone up.
A Forum Research poll last week found Ford's approval rating had climbed five points, to 44 percent, after Toronto police announced they were in possession of the alleged tape. Another recent survey pegged his approval rating even higher, at 49 percent.
What gives? Are the good citizens of Toronto — pardon the expression — smoking crack?
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Probably not, or at least not all of them. But they may see enough of themselves in Ford and his bumbling, everyman shtick that they're willing to overlook a little illegal drug use.
Remember, this isn't the first time Ford has run afoul of the law or done something seemingly unbecoming of the leader of Canada's largest city. He has had numerous drunken escapades during his political career, and was once tossed from a Maple Leafs game for being that guy and screaming at fans. Yet voters still stuck by him, suggesting there may be a "groundswell of hardworking, beer-drinking people rallying around an ordinary guy," as Toronto Life's Marci McDonald put it to the BBC.
Ford's political capital comes from the steadfast support of a slice of Toronto suburbanites who are distrustful of government and who have embraced his push for fiscal austerity. These supporters, often dubbed "Ford Nation," view the city as "the enemy, always reaching deeper into their pockets, intruding into their lives," says the Toronto Star's Christopher Hume.
And indeed, polls have shown Ford Nation standing firmly behind their man during the scandal.
It's likely that Toronto's improving economy is also giving Ford a lift. The city's unemployment rate dropped almost three percentage points in the past year alone, to 7.1 percent in August.
"I was elected on a promise to create jobs, and that's exactly what I've done," Ford said at the time.
That's why Ford is considered to be in good shape to win re-election next year, regardless of his crack-smoking.
"The attitude of a lot of people is that, 'Look, I didn't elect this guy because he doesn't sleep around or he doesn't do crack cocaine,'" University of Toronto political science professor Nelson Wiseman told the CBC. "I elected him because I think there's a gravy train at City Hall, and that's what I care about."
So to Ford's critics: Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.
-
5 sleeper hit cartoons about Trump's struggles to stay awake in court
Cartoons Artists take on courtroom tranquility, war on wokeness, and more
By The Week US Published
-
The true story of Feud: Capote vs. The Swans
In depth The writer's fall from grace with his high-flying socialite friends in 1960s Manhattan is captured in a new Disney+ series
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
Scottie Scheffler: victory for the 'pre-eminent golfer of this era'
Why Everyone's Talking About Masters victory is Scheffler's second in three years
By The Week Staff Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published