OPINION: Tory will be mayor of Toronto (this is a prediction, not an endorsement)

I didn’t have to plan too much of a formal introduction to Doug Ford this morning as he arrived in the 680news studio for our final on-air session because as a veteran interviewer I know that sometimes the best and most revealing content never gets on the air because it takes place before and after the “real formal thing.”

Doug walked in at 7:30 a.m. on Friday during the commercial break and while saying hello began complaining about my/our post-analysis of the City News debate.

I had concluded that the debate was flat, that Doug was more subdued than normal and that John Tory had avoided any devastating moments that could have derailed what the pollsters are predicting will be a significant victory on Monday night.

Ford was telling me how wrong we all are to conclude the polls are correct so when the time to begin the interview arrived, I simply turned on the mic and let the audience know that they were now welcome to “eavesdrop ” on an exchange that had already been underway between the two of us.

While asking Doug to explain why he took issue with my assessment of the debate, he acknowledged that he was a little more subdued because he had hammered Tory enough times to make his points.

What he then revealed is that his own internal polling puts him in a dead heat with John Tory or even slightly ahead while making the point that the winner will be the one who can get the out.

He didn’t go as far as to suggest I had a bias, but he left no doubt that he thinks the media generally has a bias in favor of John Tory.

So, folks, let me be perfectly clear as we head into the weekend before the vote. I have no bias for or against any of the candidates. I am not endorsing any of them, but when I am asked who I think is going to win. I answer John Tory.

I come to this conclusion because after the longest campaign in Toronto’s history with all of its twists and turns and despite the myriad issues that have been debated ad nauseam, I really believe the core issue has been more Ford or no Ford. If not, then who?

Given that Olivia Chow has not found a groundswell of support by any measure and that Rob Ford’s cancer treatment took him out of the race, I sense Tory emerged as the default candidate for the fiscally focused outside of Ford Nation.

As for Doug, he is a force of nature who never gives up and truly believes he is going to win on Monday. I just don’t think he is as endearing a character as his brother and is not attracting new support outside of the Ford Nation. He told me this morning that I will be proven wrong on Monday night and that the pollsters will once again be embarrassed

We shall see.