Another theory why Sam Sullivan lost the NPA crown

This morning in the Globe and Mail, Gary Mason claimed that he has talked to hundreds of people about Mayor Sam Sullivan.  

Mason  concluded that  the people he ran into  "simply just can't stand" Sullivan, even though they're unable to articulate why.

People don't dislike Sullivan personally. The reality is that he was done in by the Vancouver establishment who control the NPA and who don't like political  lone wolves.

Sullivan and his council colleagues committed a cardinal sin in politics: they didn't do enough gladhanding and schmoozing with the glitterati who show up regularly in Malcolm Parry's column in the Vancouver Sun.

A lot of these people are federal Liberals. These are the people  whom Mason often talks to; these are also some of the people who take out memberships in right-wing political parties, and who get ornery when they don't get enough face time with the people running the show.

Sullivan is the latest in a long line of politicians who paid a price for not schmoozing enough with the media and the glitterati. Often, these politicians are brighter than their peers, and prefer reading books to demonstrating their wit  at cocktail parties.

Examples include  former NDP MLA Tom Perry, former B.C. Liberal leader and NDP cabinet minister Gordon Wilson, former COPE councillor Fred Bass, former NPA councillor Jennifer Clarke, and Liberal Leader Stephane Dion.

Some in the media  dislike these types of politicians because they don't play the game like the schmoozers (i.e. John Reynolds or Jim Green), who are always willing to phone a reporter with a news tip.

Instead,  the more introverted types often focus on public policies. And then they end up getting hammered for it.

Comments

1 Comments

sleepswithangels

Jun 10, 2008 at 2:29pm

In a public appeal to Mr. Sullivan: I am imploring you sir...take that cash rich war chest and run as an independent. You owe it to the city..to the people...to the many sidewalk curbs that still need to be ramped at intersections.