The general election will, as widely predicted, be held on November 8. And in Helen Clark's announcement of that fact we got a pretty clear look at the message Labour will take to the voters.
Some of it's far from new: we're standing on our record, and they're secret agenda-holding flip-floppers. But she several times characterised National as putting the clock back, being "backward-looking" and seeking a return to the past. In short:
"We can be trusted with the future of New Zealand."
And there was also this:
"Labour is ambitious for New Zealand. National is ambiguous."
Is she saying "they pinched our policies, so we're pinching their sales pitch"?