Hard News: "Evil called: Can you make a meeting at 11?"
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As I lay awake contemplating the likelihood of a Key government, I thought of who would be in the cabinet. Fresh faces such as McCully, Nick Smith, English, Williamson, Lockwood Home. The 90s called, they want their CR limos back.
Same old, same old, with just Key as the figurehead ostensibly in charge. Then I thought of the word 'puppet', and the great tune "I'm Your Puppet" came to me. Would work well on YouTube as a viral video with images of Key prevaricating, Williamson on his shoe phone, etc. -
Yes, Helen Clark is good if not a great politician (only time will tell on that)
But I think we might find that come election day the electorate are over thatInstead of smart/sharp one answers we want someone who can guide the country through the tough times that are upon us
Not sure that Key is the man for that but someone who has lived in the real world (outside the beltway) is felt ot be more likely to do a better job that a bunch of academics etcPeople really do feel that Labour do not know what it is like to try and raise a family, drive a car and keep a their heads above water
I think this perception is the real problem for Labour
And trips to Queenstown and expertese on the snow are not likely to change their minds -
You forgot those other paragons of altruism Holly - Brownlee, Ryall and Collins.
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Raymond, Crosby/Textor will be delighted. You've just repeated their talking points without even realising you've been told what to think.
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People really do feel that Labour do not know what it is like to try and raise a family, drive a car and keep a their heads above water
I think this perception is the real problem for Labour
Well, I think that's precisely the perception the advisers have been seeking to propagate.
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Quite. Key can take on all the message discipline the experts can provide; it will likely win him the election. But it won't save him afterwards, and it's hard not to feel, as you hear Key meander and "y'know" his way through unscripted interviews (in general, the longer the interview goes, the more likely that his concentration will dissipate), that he'll get creamed if and when he has to answer the really hard questions as Prime Minister..
OTOH, Russell, it's not hard to feel that folks are getting pretty damn sick of the slick, punchy and totally content free soundbite that Clark is very, very good at as well.
Nor, as I said elsewhere, are the media doing themselves any favour with their obsession with soundbite-driven 'gotcha!' non-stories. I don't know about anyone else, but I found this morning's Herald editorial the most delicious slice of unintentional irony.
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but I found this morning's Herald editorial the most delicious slice of unintentional irony.
Well, at least since this effort on September 28, 2004, which contained this eye-wateringly disingenuous complaint.
Mrs Fletcher says the mayoralty race is causing Auckland to become a laughing stock. If that is something of an overstatement, it is undoubtedly true that the city's voters have not been well served. In particular, they still do not know enough about the policies of Mr Hubbard. His approach has been sketched with only the broadest of brushes. We are still, for example, as much in the dark about his ideas for solving Auckland's transport woes as when his candidacy was announced more than a month ago. [Emphasis mine]
One might have expected a little honest self-examination of what role the ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN AUCKLAND played in bringing about that state of affairs, but you would have been suicidal if you held your breath waiting.
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Raymond - there's the interesting (but seldom asked) question of what National would do differently that would assist those struggling to keep metaphorical heads above allegedly-rising economic waters.
So far they haven't even backed a populist move like removing GST from petrol excise.
I wouldn't trust McCully et al. not to apply a firm boot to the top of a few heads, myself.
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Not sure if this is the place to ask, but did anybody else notice the blatant dog whistling on 3 News last night?
For nine years Mr Cullen has been labelled a scrooge in his role as Finance Minister, but when it comes to treaty settlements, he is quick to put pen to paper.
It is obvious Maori see the opportunity that the Deputy Prime Minister and the man with the chequebook brings. He is high enough to get stuff done, and with the polls showing a possible new government by the end of the year, many want to get in before any change.
In other words, he's tight with your money, but look at how generous he is with the Maaris.
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So far they haven't even backed a populist move like removing GST from petrol excise.
And HTF is that a bad thing? Sorry, dc red, but I'm going to give thoroughly bipartisan props to both National and Labour for not falling for that particular piece of cheap, nasty pandering. Unlike Senators Clinton and McCain, Senator Obama sharply went up in my estimation when he called bullshit on that con.
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there's the interesting (but seldom asked) question of what National would do differently that would assist those struggling to keep metaphorical heads above allegedly-rising economic waters.
Tax cuts 5 years ago, not in 12 months time when it is too little too late.
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Not sure if this is the place to ask, but did anybody else notice the blatant dog whistling on 3 News last night?
Again, Paul, I really think you should open both eyes here. While I don't think coverage of the so-called 'Treelords deal' has exactly been overwhelming in its depth and substance, you could hardly say it's been particularly hostile to either "Maaris" or Cullen personally.
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I see that the deeply unlovely folks behind the Family Party (you know, Philip Taito Field's crowd) have jumped on the GST off staples bandwagon, too. At least if the men with banners and placards on the Mangere Bridge offramp are to be trusted.
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I can't see Key lasting the full term, but he'll win the election, but with Williamson who needs Selwyn MP Connolley?
I don't mind Brownlee (he's my MP although I've never voted for him), and I like English. Nick Smith is a bit sensitive to the sun & needs a high collared shirt but not too bad.
I just dread Lockwood, his hand has been exposed with Clydesdale but I just hope English may play some part in controlling him.
And I'm not going to be ballanced here - Labour are on a hiding to nothing & I'm voting Green.
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Paul - agreed, the start of the story was a more-or-less blatant dog-whistle. But as it went on, the sheer "good news factor" of it all, tempered the perspective.
A quick note to the effect that a couple of hundred million isn't that much for a group waiting over a century for the return of some valuable property might have helped?
Craig - it "would help ordinary, hard-working New Zealanders" (TM).
I didn't know the esteemed US Senators had weighed in on the issue of NZ's GST though, interesting! ;-)
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Not sure if this is the place to ask, but did anybody else notice the blatant dog whistling on 3 News last night?
That was Scott Campbell again.
In the same report he described the Treelord settlement as "a highly lucrative contract" and blathered on about Cullen being "the man with the chequebook".
For goodness sake, every government since 1984 has been more or less willing to resolve these grievances. To imply that they're election-year pork is just fatuous.
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Toms
Some times the truth is the truth TomAnd as for worrying about the dead wood that a National win might expose us all too
Both parties have plenty of that (Judith Tizard anyone) but when you have seen quite as many changes of government as i have you will find thata change of government is not quite as traumtic as you might imagine
The two parties have more in common that they have differences
The sky will not fall
In fact new Labour Governments are much more likely to introduce change than the so called right who mostly just like to have a go with the handles of power and hang on to those by doing as little as possible -
I see that the deeply unlovely folks behind the Family Party (you know, Philip Taito Field's crowd)
The Family Party is Destiny. Taito Philip Field is the Pacific Party.
Russell - evil? Seriously? On the day on which Robert Mugabe was 'elected' you're flinging that at a political consultant?
Aren't you just playing their game of heightened rhetoric - making every election seem like the most important ever, a turning-point in national or international history?
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Ah. My bad - thanks for the correction Graeme. At least it seems I know 'deeply unlovely' when I see it...
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Russell - evil? Seriously? On the day on which Robert Mugabe was 'elected' you're flinging that at a political consultant?
You may have mistaken my tone: I wasn't being entirely serious. But Crosby/Textor have been involved with some bad politics in their time.
Aren't you just playing their game of heightened rhetoric - making every election seem like the most important ever, a turning-point in national or international history?
Read the bit about keeping things in context. I actually don't really think any focus groups have been asked which political consultancy they most strongly associate with the word "evil". It was a joke.
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I didn't know the esteemed US Senators had weighed in on the issue of NZ's GST though, interesting! ;-)
Heh... But, sorry, I'm willing to give credit where credit's use when any politician, anywhere doesn't actually fall for cheap pandering. (And nice of Clinton and McCain to bag the opposition from right across the political/economic spectrum by people who actually know WTF they're talking about as "elitism". Classy - if you drop the C and the L.) Doesn't happen as often as I'd like, but there you go -- and I'm yet to see any convincing argument that cutting GST on petrol would have any meaningful impact on prices. Cullen and English sure seem unconvinced.
Anyway, folks, here's some intercepted footage from a strategy meeting at Crosby/Textor
[MODERATOR'S WARNING!! Spoiler alert for people who don't download Doctor Who!! RB]
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The two parties have more in common that they have differences
The sky will not fall
Indeed, it won't.
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IMHO, there is a growing resemblance between Key's unscripted, meandering sentence fragments in some reports and those of a guy elsewhere a lot of people "misunderestimated". Key's lack of precision is increasingly apparent and good on the Herald for noticing out loud.
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Anyway, folks, here's some intercepted footage from a strategy meeting at Crosby/Textor
Excellent! I think you've gauged my tone better than Graeme did ...
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Raymond: Key in the "real world"? London trader to wealthiest MP? That one spun right off my screen and thumped onto the floor.
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