If you think Fantino wouldn't beat Miller in a mayoral race, then you don't know the city, at all, beyond the boundaries of the downtown core. It wouldn't even be close if Fantino ran even a competent, John Tory-like campaign.
Homeowners who delivered Lastman, Holyday, et al. mayoralities in the old Metro (and who still, let's not forget, elect councillors like Mammoliti, Ford, Hall, Holyday, Jenkins, Feldman, and even Thompson in Scarborough during each election) would elect Fantino in a heartbeat, and would not care less what NOW or Spacing or other downtown types dredge up about Fantino's past. If anything, they would be *more* likely to vote for Fantino out of spite just to put people like them in their place, people they view as threats to the city, not assets. In fact, Fantino would probably bring out voters who may have stopped voting out of despair from seeing Miller not having any chance of being beaten. I can just see Fantino using a slogan similar to the one Miller used when he first ran (something about taking back the city).
It would be divisive, certainly, and ugly, but certainly not a cakewalk for Miller, no way in hell.
