i kind of doubt it. looks to me like people are soaking up the talking points, and repeating them so much on-line and in bar room conversations, that they have the patter perfect. also, the ttc is travelled by plenty of folks who are, for lack of any better words, mentally ill. functioning in society in general, but still mentally ill. they are desperate for conversation and recognition and validation, and ford and his kind seem like the perfect guys for them to get behind.
in another way, though, yes, ford has bought these guys. not directly, but things like peeling off $20s for the poor in TCHC is in a sense buying this kind of loyalty. these guys may not have directly gotten that cash, but they probably feel like they owe it to the mayor to defend him, seeing as somebody who is just as likely to be as poor as they are did.
