Is Kathleen Wynne’s last-ditch appeal to NDP voters working?

I spent Monday in the New Democratic stronghold of Toronto-Danforth trying to figure out if the Liberal leader’s plea for a common front against Tim Hudak’s Progressive Conservatives is having any traction.

My unscientific survey didn’t produce a definitive answer. For many I talked to, the June 12 election boils down to a choice among evils.

Still, three broad themes emerged. First, many NDP voters are sick at heart about the direction their party has taken.

Second, that does not mean all are heeding Wynne’s call to abandon the New Democrats and vote Liberal.

Third, some are.

For years, this east-end riding has been ground zero for the NDP. Its federal MPs have included former party leader Jack Layton as well as Bob Rae (when he was still a New Democrat). New Democrat MP Craig Scott represents the riding in Ottawa now.

Provincially, it has been an NDP fiefdom for at least 25 years. New Democrat Peter Tabuns has held the seat since 2006. In 2011, his margin of victory over the nearest challenger, a Liberal, was 8,693.

All of the voters I spoke to this week said they assumed Tabuns will win again handily on Thursday. But still . . .

“I think I’ll vote Liberal,” film technician Nick Jones told me as we talked on the sidewalk. “Not that it will matter. There’s no way you’re going to kill the orange monster in this riding.

“But any vote against Hudak is a good vote.”

Jones said he usually votes NDP. But not this time. I don’t like (NDP leader Andrea) Horwath very much. I don’t think she has much integrity.”

Farther south, on Logan Ave., retired civil servant Michele DeLorenzo said that for the first time in her life she won’t vote NDP. She plans to cast her ballot for the Liberals instead.

“I’m not too impressed by Horwath calling an election without looking at the (Liberal) budget,” DeLorenzo said. “I’m very disillusioned.”

On Gillard Ave., writer Frances Share echoed this sentiment. “Ms Horwath lost my support when she voted against the budget,” said Share, who has supported the NDP in the past. This time, she plans to vote Liberal because of Wynne, whom she calls the best leader on offer.

“My decision has nothing to do with what the Liberals have been doing and everything to do with what the NDP is doing and has done,” she said.

“I’ve voted NDP every election in my life,” land surveyor Paul Kidd told me on his doorstep. “I’ll probably vote Liberal this time . . .

“In this election, Horwath attacks Wynne and lets Hudak off the hook. We’re going to end up with a Hudak government . . .

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“The NDP has lost their mind. Completely flipped out.”

“If the Conservatives get to power, we’ll never forgive the NDP,” added his wife, visual artist Kim Chan. She plans to spoil her ballot.

And on. Retail manager Sean McSweeney voted NDP last time. But this time, he plans to vote Liberal — in order to avoid another minority government.

Former teacher Ron Wakelin is an NDP supporter who says he’ll vote Liberal. “I feel someone has to stop Hudak,” he told me.

None of this is to suggest a tidal wave against the NDP in Toronto-Danforth. In the war of lawn signs, New Democrat Tabuns is well ahead.

On Oakdene Cres., Robert Dinsmore, another retired teacher, plans to vote — as usual — for the New Democrats. “I’m quite happy to have the NDP holding the balance of power,” he said.

Anglican minister Jeannie Loughrey, a self-described Liberal-NDP voter, is undecided — although she said recent revelations of the Wynne government’s involvement in bailing out the charity behind the MaRS Discovery District, “gives me pause about the Liberals.”

On Langley Ave., construction worker Gus Mantelos says he expects to vote again for New Democrat Tabuns — although he might “throw to the PCs.”

“I’d like to see a new face in government. A Hudak minority would be OK. I don’t want Kathleen Wynne. The Liberals have been in there for too long.

“It’s time to trim the fat.”

Thomas Walkom's column appears Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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