Oh, how the mighty have fallen. The NPA barely escaped with just four candidates elected in what will be remembered as the slaughter of 2008.

This was an even worse performance than 2002, when the NPA managed to capture two seats on council and two seats on park board. This year, the NPA elected only one councillor, Suzanne Anton, and one park commissioner, Ian Robertson. Ken Denike and Carole Gibson were reelected to school board.

Over the next three years, they'll be able to hold NPA caucus meetings in a Toyota Echo.

This clears the way for the party to undergo a major rebuilding exercise. The temptation will be for the downtown property owners and the Vancouver Board of Trade to take control and install one of their own as the next mayoral candidate.

I think the NPA would be better off to ignore the mostly white downtown establishment and build a grassroots party that resonates with a cross-section of Vancouverites.

In 1986, that's what NPA mayoral candidate Gordon Campbell did when he recruited candidates from across the spectrum. Gordon Price, a left-leaning gay activist in the West End, was brought into the fold. Nancy Chiavario, another community activist, was put on the slate for park board. The NPA later reached into the Chinese community to recruit candidates like Sandra Wilking and Tung Chan. It didn't hurt having Carole Taylor sit on council as an independent who mostly voted with the NPA.

Under Campbell's leadership, the NPA could credibly present itself as a party that reached out to the city. In those days, the NPA strove to run candidates of South Asian descent as well, something that fell by the wayside in later elections.

Gregor Robertson can be defeated, but it's going to take someone who is bright, energetic, and willing to take risks. 

NPA councillor Suzanne Anton will be an obvious candidate, and perhaps she deserves a chance for merely surviving the slaughter of 2008.

But keep an eye on Colleen Nystedt-Hardwick, daughter of legendary Vancouver councillor Walter Hardwick. She sat out this election, but she might be ready to run in 2011. 

A longshot NPA mayoral candidate is two-term B.C. Liberal MLA  Lorne Mayencourt, notwithstanding his high negatives with left-wing voters. Mayencourt is a tireless campaigner and he did surprisingly well for the federal Conservatives in Vancouver Centre.

An even longer shot is Mayor Sam Sullivan, who could make the case that the NPA lost because it failed to connect with multicultural communities and voters on the East Side. Sullivan, a polyglot who learns languages as a hobby, was raised on the East Side and he has three more years to brush up on his Cantonese, Punjabi, Italian, Tagalog, and Chinook.

But whoever it is will need a diverse set of candidates, and not just Johnny-come-lately types who are recruited at the last moment to fill out a slate.

Vision Vancouver will have a cozy relationship with organized labour. That will give the NPA an issue to take to the electorate in 2011. We haven't necessarily seen the beginning of a Vision Vancouver dynasty.