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But members will get over a screwed-up convention. June 7 is a long way away. And there is no reason Ford can’t win. He ran a relatively calm, measured campaign. He stuck to his talking points. On occasions when the campaign was said to get “ugly,” it certainly wasn’t ugly by Ford’s standards. One is reminded of his plan to take on John Tory, as described to Toronto Councillor John Filion: “I’m going to latch on to his ass. He’s going to take off the sheets in bed at night and find my teeth wrapped around his nuts.”

If Ford can keep his teeth away from other people’s nuts, so to speak, Ontarians who weren’t familiar with him before might not be turned off. Perhaps he can even win over some of the haters. The things Liberals imagine could derail him — musings about notification of parents for minors seeking abortions, tearing up the sex ed curriculum, opposing carbon pricing — are probably more popular than they believe. And maybe the desire for change, any change, is so strong among Ontarian voters that just about any human can fulfil it.

Photo by Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network

But if the Liberal attack machine can still stir up the Ontario electorate the way it did against Tim Hudak, Stephen Harper and other conservatives … well, let’s just say it has never had more live ammunition to work with. For starters, the new Ontario PC leader enabled and still proudly associates himself with his late brother Rob’s administration at Toronto City Hall, which produced easily the most insane series of events in modern Canadian political history. Tory ran successfully for mayor against Doug by promising serenity instead of lunacy. The Liberals and New Democrats will no doubt promise the same, and they will have a point.