Kirk LaPointe continues bashing Gregor Robertson
Defeated NPA mayoral candidate Kirk LaPointe has revealed that his party's overnight polls had him ahead of Mayor Gregor Robertson on a couple of occasions.
But in the end, LaPointe feels that his party likely didn't have the "right combinations of ideas and machinery" to win control over Vancouver city hall.
"Their post-mortem spin was that Robertson’s apology for not listening to the community (they polled to make sure it was a decent idea) and his sudden glut of positive ads were the lifesavers," LaPointe wrote in an article on the Maclean's magazine website. "But that is a delusion. The last five days were utterly negative on the ground and via phones and emails. My dog hid, probably because she heard I kicked puppies."
LaPointe's article didn't show much respect for his chief opponent.
"He surrounds himself with testosterone in the party backroom and at city hall, and he doesn’t string together particularly lyrical responses to media or council questions, so he is often described as an empty suit," LaPointe wrote. "He runs what I called in the campaign a mullet government: pretty in front, lots of weird stuff happening in the back."
LaPointe stated that he talked too much like a journalist during the campaign and "too little like an advertiser". And he accused his opponents of engaging in a smear campaign, notably during Pride week when the left-leaning Broadbent Institute tried to characterize LaPointe as antigay.
The former Vancouver Sun managing editor also claimed that "some animus from former employees crept into the coverage without ample declaration of personal conflict". LaPointe didn't name names.
Late in the campaign, Robertson and Coun. Geoff Meggs launched a defamation suite against LaPointe for his characterization of a $34,000 donation from CUPE Local 1004. In his Maclean's article, the NPA mayoral candidate declared that the legal action was filed "to silence the campaign and suffocate the issue".
LaPointe attracted 73,443 votes, which is the fourth-highest total in Vancouver history and nearly 12,000 more votes than any other NPA mayoral candidate. But he still came 10,000 votes behind Robertson.
In the 2011 election, seven NPA candidates were elected. In 2014, that rose to 11: three on council and four on both school and park board.
Comments
27 Comments
ACMESalesRep
Nov 21, 2014 at 4:26pm
It's a shame LaPointe wasn't this candid during the campaign. Meena Wong might have finished in second place instead of him.
Forest
Nov 21, 2014 at 7:46pm
What a bunch of sour grapes. "The media was against me'? Really? The Vancouver Sun and Province went all out for the guy (i.e.: that Jeff Lee puff-piece) , but the NPA boat still wouldn't float. Now that Mr. Whiny-Hiney has thoroughly polished his checkered past in media and politics, perhaps he can begin polishing his resume, again.
TCG
Nov 21, 2014 at 9:57pm
My God, he's such a Douche. Blech.
James Blatchford
Nov 21, 2014 at 9:59pm
The fake tan killed LaPointe...they weren't counting on high def.
What is he yammering on about anyways?
Nov 21, 2014 at 10:22pm
He said he wasn't going to run again… next!
maclean's article:
Nov 22, 2014 at 12:10am
http://www.macleans.ca/politics/why-i-ran-and-how-i-lost-kirk-lapointe-l...
Bill McCreery
Nov 22, 2014 at 12:35am
I spoke to LaPointe for more than a few minutes mid-campaign. I told him a lot of undecided people wanted to support him, but he was being too tentative, and he had to give voters something to vote for, not just against. He told me that he had it all figured out and the next 2 1/2 weeks were going to change all that. Well, that was one big disappointment.
Disgusted
Nov 22, 2014 at 1:39am
I'm glad he got an 'at bat' from MacLean's. Especially after all the bs from the Mayor who was still snarking about the 'dirty' campaign---laughable if you read the Vision trolls on social media and heard much of the Vision ad mess.
While Lapointe wasn't cuddly---and yeah, prickly at times--, he did seem to have gotten up the noses/arses of certain of the ruling party. Just imagine what might have happened if the NPA ran like a real party.
AC
Nov 22, 2014 at 6:52am
He has some good points but spewing this vitriol after the fact is poor sportsmanship. He lacked personality as a TV news anchor and didn't come across as very affable even in a more natural setting. Your city got it right.
James Blatchford
Nov 22, 2014 at 6:57am
Oh, I get it...anyone who criticizes NPA/LaPointe's campaign is a Vision shill. Makes the world a much easier place to understand. Next up; what to do about those Vision-loving millennials? Damn kids today.