election graphics we won't get to use department

Timing is everything.

For weeks, local media has mused on whether John Tory would enter the race to replace David Miller as Toronto's mayor in this year's municipal elections. As late as Tuesday, the Globe and Mail's Marcus Gee was confident Tory would join the fray.

Yesterday I posted on Twitter that it was surprising no media outlet had devised a graphic to measure Tory's level of certainty about running. I imagined what a "Tory-o-meter" might look like and wrote it down on my lengthy list of things to do. Murmurs surfaced the night before about his decision not to run, but I figured it was more speculation.

Within ten minutes of posting, reports surfaced that Tory wasn't going to run, opting to chair the Toronto City Summit Alliance. Given Tory's crash-and-burn electoral track record, this was likely the right decision—we'll see how he does in the realm of civic advocacy.

Still, I couldn't let the idea die, so here's a quick rendering of a Tory-o-meter. Who among the remaining undeclared candidates is most worthy of a similar device? - JB