An Ipsos Reid poll, the first from a major company since the Ford brothers pulled their notorious campaign switch-up last week, puts Doug Ford tied with Olivia Chow trailing well behind John Tory. According to Global News, who commissioned the poll, the numbers for the main three candidates breaks down as follows: Tory leads with 43 per cent of the vote, Chow comes in at 29 per cent and Doug Ford is right there with 28 per cent.

It's noteworthy that these numbers are virtually identical to the last poll from Nanos, which included the younger Ford. As of September 3rd, that company had Tory with 42 per cent, followed by Chow with 28 per cent and the incumbent with 26 per cent of the vote. If these numbers from Ipsos are an indiction of anything at all, it's that it might indeed be possible to substitute one Ford for the other. Well, actually, given that Doug hasn't opened his mouth yet, that's still unclear, but if I were him I wouldn't be devastated by these numbers.

He's a long shot candidate, to be sure, but if he polls around what his brother was, there's a glimmer of hope for Ford nation. Just a glimmer, though.

Photo by BruceK in the blogTO Flickr pool.