If you hear him on Goldhawk, he manages to stay on message and say the right things to amplify the anti-City Hall sentiment and then appear as the solution. He's saying the right things for many casual voters. You and I know what a nut case he is and how his ideas would never lift off but most people hear: lower taxes, less wasteful spending, subways instead of streetcars.. and so on.
It doesn't appear as though none of the candidates will drop out at this point. Rossi was most pressed to do so a few weeks ago and chose not to and he was rewarded by a boost in the polls. Sarah Thomson has all the money in the world to go to the end. Pantalone is the only flag bearer for the left, and Smitherman has the highest numbers so he'll remain in it to the end. So, if Ford can hover around 35% to 40%, the other candidates will take away from each other, and nobody else will be able to get within that percentage. Ford will win this election, if that likely scenario plays out.
The only way to save this election, is if Ford's opponents were to get behind one candidate. That's unlikely to happen but it's possible that their high profile supporters can abandon lower performing candidates and get behind the one in second place. John Tory can still be a white horse in this race by coming in an endorsing a candidate and campaign with them.