The leading mayoral candidates have so far shown a stunning lack of understanding of the force that fuels Rob Ford’s unlikely grip on the Toronto mayor’s race.

They call him names. They mock him. They tell anyone with a microphone and a pen that the rambunctious councillor is a buffoon with foot-in-mouth disease, a one-trick pony incapable of competing in the sophisticated world Toronto must navigate.

As if the voters don’t know this already. Ford’s been a councillor for 10 years. His file of verbal indiscretions is thick and well worn.

In fact, with every effort like George Smitherrman’s launch of the FordonFord.com website, intended to showcase the celebrated gaffes of the councillor from Etobicoke North, Ford gains in popularity.

The Toronto electorate, circa 2010, is not looking for a silver-tongued prophet with a vision of an ascendant Toronto. They had one for seven years and are decidedly unhappy with the result. That’s the reality. And any reasonably skilled candidate for mayor, especially an outsider or someone looking to change direction at city hall, should have been able to capitalize on this gift.

When Ford says there is corruption at city hall, it is understandable that Mayor David Miller would rush in to defend his legacy. Ford’s irresponsible, Miller says. But why would a mayoral candidate pile on and condemn Ford?

The correct response should be something like: “Corruption is a strong charge that probably requires some evidence. But Rob Ford has been at city hall for 10 years. He’s part of that record. And if corruption exists at city hall, he has failed to end it. I’m running to change all that. In my administration, there will be no secret deals, no sole-sourced contracts to friends and political supporters. And I pledge to make the awarding of contracts the most open and transparent in Canada. What city hall needs is a new pair of hands on the till, not the same players crying wolf as taxpayers’ money is wasted.”

Voters want someone to “end the wasteful spending”—straight-forward and simple. And they get that message time and time again from the mouth of Rob Ford — the simple, bumbling, uncouth, rough-around-the-edges politician.

The symbol of the waste is the city councillor and his/her bloated office budget and intemperate spending and paying each other’s legal costs against the advice of the city solicitor and integrity commissioner.

Elect me and “the party is over at city hall; the gravy train will end,” Ford says.

It helps that he has been howling at city hall spending from the day he arrived as a rookie councillor. But there is room on that pony for more than one rider.

Oh, but Ford can’t do that by himself. The mayor has just one vote, his critics say. He can’t get councillors to work together to implement his mandate — not when he’s alienated so many of them for so long.

That, in the end, may be Ford’s great failing. But a growing number of Torontonians seem willing to take a chance that his actions can match his rhetoric. They have nothing to lose. They hear little or nothing from the other candidates that comes close to that resonating message.

A campaign strategist from one of the leading candidates this week revealed an attitude that explains why the challengers trail Ford. “We think many of Ford’s supporters will go to the voting booth and have second thoughts about voting for him.”

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Yes. And John Tory — or David Miller — is waiting in the wings to ride in and topple the barbarian at the gate.

Royson James usually appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Email: rjames@thestar.ca