Rob

Rob Ford, Toronto, Oct. 27, 2014

I TRIED TO GET MY PORTRAIT LAST NIGHT, on assignment at the mayor's brother's election night party. It didn't happen. If you've ever covered an election night you'll understand the barely controlled chaos veneered with predictable ritual - the mannered striving to stop just short of gloating in a victory speech; the careful mixture of gratitude, dignity and defiance in a concession. Let's just say that this had it all.

Rob Ford did not look well. I'm not sure if a man battling cancer should have been out at all, but he arrived before his brother, after he knew that he'd been reelected in his old council seat. He made a speech, broadly hinted that he'd be back, waited for Doug to give his concession, then slowly made his way through the crush of cameras to the door.

I followed him with the last trailing scraps of press and staff, out to the parking lot, where he climbed into his SUV and made his exit. I don't know what Ford's future - political or otherwise - will bring. Right now, this will probably sum up the man, as we all last saw him:

Rob Ford, Toronto, Oct. 27, 2014