Ladner vs. Robertson = McCain vs. Obama

Welcome to the wacky, west coast world of Vancouver Politics. All of a sudden, Sam "I Will rip out their throat" Sullivan has been ousted as quick as you can say Eco-Density, or Extraordinary Rendition for that matter. As the media quickly isolates itself from any lingering ties to Sam Sullivan you'll start to notice that the NPA is all of a sudden off the hook; unaccouuntable for its disastrous mangement of the city. Much like down south, where McCain is so far removed from Bush that it gives the Republicans carte blanche. Meanwhile, Gregor Robertson's rhetoric is too good to be true. How much can the mayor of Vancouver really accomplish? This trend of gentle rub and tug between soft left and soft right, the Tony Blairs, Bill Clintons, and Paul Martins of the world; this post Cold War melange of moderates, has finally trickled down to the civic level, where an ambivalent public shrugs off yet another round of 'milquetoast for mayor'.

In the states its the mushy middle, that grey zone where populism and consensus are king. By now its not enough to have seen successive mayors fail to tackle the issue of homelessness, drug use, and mental health; that ever elusive panacea that will cure the Downtown Eastside. No, we still let the legacy of Campbell's cuts bleed out while he turns into Al Gore, all the while raking in billions in oil and gas revenues. Same thing federally, while the Oil Sands float the country just above the bubble, the feds are stashing it away under the guise of fiscal prudence.

Will Gregor just wrap himself in the Olympic Rings? Or will he use the games to produce real change? Will Ladner be a departure from his nemesis, or will the party's Westside elite dominate his agenda? And what of council? In Suzanne Anton you have, in my opinion, one of the stupidest people ever grinning and smiling inanely behind a lame duck mayor. Then you have anti-poverty superstar David Eby entering the fray, lending a serious dose of credibility to Vision. Former Green Party Schoool Trustee Andrea Reimer has also thrown her hat into the ring.

Then there is the mildly-spicy news that former Vision mayoral candidate Allan De Genova's daughter Melissa has defected to the NPA. The NPA will do their best to paint Vision as an extension of Big Labour and the NDP, which is a bit of a moot point considering the party's Mayoral candidate is a former NDP MLA.

Otherwise, unless the Dance Party Party, or the Nude Party, or Brian Godzilla Salmi comes out from the woodwork, it will be another meaningless event in a city desperately in need of meaning.