a very modern dance

i'd rather be either sleeping or reading my interpretive history of the american west, but i can't seem to focus on either.

nothing made me happier this weekend than sam sullivan's victory over christy clark. i think that we might now be able to have an election about the city, respective records of service, and respective ideas and plans, rather than personalities. a jim green v. christy clark race would be about one thing only: ambition. granted, i think that jim green would have a much easier victory over christy clark, but it would be a hollow victory, without a mandate or a real endorsement of any platform; jim green would have a mandate to not be christy clark, but little more than that. aside from generically 'staying the course'. for jim green, i think that a race against sam sullivan is better, because the campaign will be about vancouver. a christy clark victory would have offended my sense of justice; sam sullivan has paid his dues, and has, by all counts, earned the right to stand his record up to run for mayor. i'll say the same for jim green; he's got a record to stand on. most of all, i am happy that a 2000+ member nomination meeting solidly rejected glib media politics in favour of something more thoughtful and honest. feel free to call me on the hyperbole, but this is a blow against anti-intellectualism. this was a vote against lowest-common-denominator politics. the only persuasive argument that was put forward in christy clark's favour was the force of her star-power. the insinuation was that sam sullivan's record was irrelevant in comparison with that star-power; in other words, that the ability to sell was more important than actually having something to sell in the first place. i probably won't vote for him in november, but i absolutely believe that sam sullivan is the right choice for a mayoralty candidate.

i'm excited to watch this civic election from the front row as a citizen, as opposed to from the war room as an operative. i want to go to all-candidates forums to judge rhetorical ability and responsiveness to my pet issues. i want to hold my vote up in the air, and match my wish list with what's on offer. i honestly don't know who i am going to vote for in any position, and i look forward to building my ballot over the next two months.