TORONTO

Keep your name on the ballot, Mayor Ford.

Have faith in today’s medicine and the hell with the War on Forders telling you to step away now.

You bet they want that. They can just taste the celebratory champagne.

There is nothing we have in this life except for our next breath so it’s arrogant for them to predict anybody’s future health.

Mayor Rob Ford needs to stay in this mayoral race — no matter what the medical reports say.

If I were talking to Rob, that’s what I would tell him. And as I write this in a Starbucks near Mount Sinai Hospital, others are saying the same.

“Definitely, the mayor should stay in,” said Karissa Cashion. “The race would be a bore without this guy and, whether people admit it or not, he makes politics interesting. The man is special.”

That said, I don’t have any problem with a contingency plan should he decide he just can’t do it.

But Mayor Ford does not have to take his name off the ballot Friday as so many were saying — even if he decides to pull out of the race later for health reasons.

And, in case Mayor Ford does not have the health to run, there is nothing stopping his brother, Councillor Doug Ford, from also putting his name formally on the ballot before 2 p.m. Friday.

This is an option the Ward 2 councillor is considering but, some close to him say, has yet to decide upon.

“Doug has some decisions to make,” said a source close to him. “His number one priority, of course, is that the incumbent mayor be on that ballot.”

But should Mayor Ford be tied up fighting a serious and perhaps life-threatening medical situation, a Plan B of having his brother step in is an option.

Ford family lawyer Dennis Morris said while he was not privy to discussions, it would make perfect sense to him as a back-up plan for Doug to register.

Meanwhile, the mayor is at the beginning stages of a medical battle.

“It is serious,” said several sources. “But it’s not clear to him the exact diagnosis or what treatment options are open to him.”

It would be a lot to ask of the mayor to step aside now and then find out he is a candidate for a full recovery.

Treatments today are better than when his father died. That said, however, the mayor and his family are bracing for bad news.

The tests being conducted include a scan to the chest area.

It will likely be a week before doctors know what they are dealing with and are able to map out a plan.

The pesky problem they all have is the deadline to be on or off this ballot — now just hours away.

If Doug Ford decides to go down to the register, I am told, it will not necessary mean he would run for mayor.

“All of it is on the table but it is Rob’s decision,” said the source. “No decisions have been made. They need to get a complete report from doctors and that’s what the focus is on.”

After all that this mayor has been through, him dropping out of this mayoral race while he doesn’t really know his medical diagnosis is not how the story should end.

He certainly can do it later if he chooses it to be the best course of action. If he ends up being in need of surgery or chemotherapy, the extra burden of a campaign may seem daunting.

But people know his name and he hardly needs to pound the pavement to get his message out. There is no reason why he can’t keep in the race if he chooses to.

“Jack Layton did it very well when he campaigned after surgery so I don’t see any reason why Rob can’t,” said Scarborough Ford Nation campaign office co-ordinator Louise Boehler, adding Ford Nation would also move over as a 100% slate to Doug Ford should there be need to pass the torch from his brother.

The transition to Doug would be seamless and he would be a strong candidate to win the mayor’s job.

That said, Boehler said, hundreds of people called and dropped in Thursday to send the message to the mayor to “get well soon” and to not leave the race.

My message to Mayor Ford would be to listen to them.