Posts by chris
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In the same kind of way as – why lead with a policy that is this borderline? From the data it’s clear that there are many traditional Labour policies that garner much stronger support such as healthcare spending, energy company regulation, education spending. It's like flaunting all the accouterments of a centrist without ever looking at the job description.
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Polity: Meet the middle, in reply to BenWilson,
And my fortune, rounded to nearest billion, is the same as John Key’s.
ahem, but harking back:
I’m not optimistic, but I’m at least trying. It’s an extremely complex question. Perhaps precision is impossible. If so, I think that a data driven discussion is also impossible, and the whole thing comes down to shouting. So I’m just working on the assumption that this is not the case, because it’s the only hopeful position, since I’m not optimistic about my chances of shouting down the Internet.
I think data driven discussion is eminently possible, but with that much data, spanning 9 election cycles, addressing all manner of topics, why has Rob begun the discussion in the centre looking outwards instead of beginning on the perimeter and analysing policy and other preferences with the clear intent of working towards majority? Why begin this type of conversation based on these left/centre/right questions – in which an average of well over 25% fall into the missing/don’t know category, when there’s so much more tangible data to discuss? Why even lead with a hypothesis in this type of exercise?
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Hard News: Everybody has one, in reply to Jackie Clark,
Is it all this airy-fairy?
Yep. End of week one, Duncan gave Heather a hottie, Heather decided instead to give it away, Duncan looked hurt. Target age bracket 7-12.
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Hard News: Everybody has one, in reply to James W,
When did anyone think Hosking was a journalist?
I fear that this does work in his favour somewhat. In the parlance of the times – citing Google:
a person who writes for newspapers or magazines or prepares news to be broadcast on radio or television.
“foreign journalists had been expelled from the area”
synonyms: reporter, correspondent, newsman, newswoman, newspaperman, newspaperwoman, columnist, writer, commentator, reviewer, blogger; MoreI mean you couldn’t describe what he does as ‘high journalism’ if there is such a thing, but were the tables turned and his house raided and he pled journalist, I think that we could be fairly confident that the current judicial system would find him to be just that.
At least, as a journalist, if he is one, there is a code of ethics he should be expected to uphold.
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Hard News: Everybody has one, in reply to Russell Brown,
he is not, as is widely supposed a journalist
Channeling Simon Sweetman.
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Polity: Meet the middle, in reply to BenWilson,
I’d like to see this expanded upon actually:
To maintain an aloof abstraction about it is only possible if you:
1. Don’t actually care, or
2. Are naturally aloof, or
3. Are carefully maintaining aloofness for whatever reason.Some people are just too damn busy to spare sufficient energy, some people don’t understand or feel they aren’t (yet) informed enough to contribute more, others are perhaps biding their time until another makes their mind up for them, perhaps 3 could loosely apply there, heck some people are in prison, legally coerced into political aloofness. I’m seldom persuaded by limiting arguments of this nature when it comes to nature, could this train be worth pursuing wrt examining low turnout and swing voters?
We’ve got plenty of anecdotes…anecdotes for Africa are like coals to Newcastle (and cliches for Hollywood) in this debate.
Also the metaphors and similes, some quite profound in their enhancement of the issues such as your latitude post, very helpful, a case of a few words painting a thousand pictures - well, one very clear image.
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Polity: In defence of the centre, in reply to Steve Barnes,
It's probably worthy of a spot in the Dirty Politics thread all things considered.
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Polity: Meet the middle, in reply to chris,
Labour haven’t won an election since 1984
* As opposition, I should add, in case that’s fodder for rebuttal. So yeah, since 1987 – : The Cold War, Iran-Contra testimony , The Last Emporer, Wall Street, Got my mind set on you, King’s Cross fire, Black Monday. No majority. We can keep kidding ourselves that a tweak here and there will restore the glory days, but it no longer appears to be the way things work.
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Polity: Meet the middle, in reply to Steve Barnes,
That's fucked.
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Polity: Meet the middle, in reply to Rob Salmond,
And Mike Smith is certain NZ Labour’s supposedly sharp tack left won it the 1999 election, rather than, say, comically self-destructive opponents.
Except that Labour didn’t technically win that election, or any subsequent election for that matter. Labour haven’t won an election since 1984. In 1999, even with Alliance support, the collective was still two seats short of an absolute majority and was only able to form a new government with support from the Green Party.
In the 2011, Labour, The Greens, New Zealand First, the Maori Party, Mana and United Future combined had 61 seats, i.e a majority. It wasn’t a lack of votes from the general electorate that held back the centre left from holding office. It wasn’t a question of policy, it was quite simply a failure – as opposed to an incapacity – to successfully negotiate the formation of a Government.
Starting narrowly, anyone who looks at Labour’s successful 2005 platform and sees anything other than an appeal to the centre is dreaming.
etc..
