Written By: - Date published: 6:01 am, July 4th, 2008 - 65 comments
Categories: election 2008, john key, spin -
Tags: crosby/textor
In four separate interviews this week, John Key used more or less exactly the same line to divert from questions on his use of Crosby/Textor: ‘I’m the Leader of the party and I’ll set the tone of the campaign. And it will be a positive, ambitious, outlooking campaign because that fits with my personality‘ OK, everyone can see that’s classic Crosby/Textor – hollow and misdirecting – but where is this supposed positivity?
For the entire remainder of those four interviews Key is entirely negative:
He calls the Government vindictive (again a pre-prepared line, identical language in each interview and Key doesn’t use words like vindictive)
He paints himself as a victim of smears, when people are only challenging him to represent himself honestly, rather than do what his Aussie handlers tell him to do.
He attacks the rail deal
He attacks SPARC, using figures that have been proven incorrect
In fact, when was the last time you can recall Key saying anything positive at all? All I can think of him doing is making dishonest attacks and never, ever offering a real solution, only vague promises that he will magically make everything better.
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‘I’m the Leader of the party and I’ll set the tone of the campaign. And it will be a positive, ambitious, outlooking campaign because that fits with my personality‘
So not only is he a liar but a narcissist to boot. Oh joy.
Are cartoons criticising John Key illegal?
htttp://monstacartoons.wordpress.com/
[lprent: Nope - but I don't like non-relevant link-whoring, so I've adjusted your link]
Blar, are you friggin’ kidding?
“I like how you fail to engage with the substance of Key’s claim but rather choose to label it as negative because it is “pre-prepared”
So you think there’s substance to Key’s claim that he won’t confirm he’s using spin-PR C/T because a ‘vindictive’ Labour government would refuse them business??
Classic, what a joke! Please, for the love of humankind, tell me you don’t believe his line there…
Pray tell, as has been pointed out, what the Opposition should do if they can’t oppose?
daveski, they could give a few solutions and ideas, visions for the future. I guess if they can suck people like you in with warm fuzzy notions of being ‘ambitious’ they might not want to, but don’t criticise other people for calling them up on it – we’re not all as easily pacified!
IT
What’s narcissistic about about being positive and ambitious ?
hs
It’s narcissistic because these are qualities he seems to lack yet he continues to talk them up like he is god’s gift to politics. Whatever happened to modesty?
What’s narcissistic about about being positive and ambitious ?
I dunno – making a vanity piece DVD about it? C’mon – it’s just a teeny bit narcissistic don’t you think?
vto: I sincerely hope though that if the nats get in they dont burn people by doing something different to what they promise
So do I vto, so do I.
Pray tell, as has been pointed out, what the Opposition should do if they can’t oppose?
The claim was that the job of the opposition was to oppose everything the government does. Instead, they can offer an alternative vision for the country, and hold the government to account for the things it does to realise its vision. It’d be a pretty poor opposition that opposed the government at every turn regardless of the merits of the proposal (and National hasn’t done this, although they have opposed for the sake of opposition a number of times).
r0b said “I agree about that, though I don’t recall her public statements about it.”
r0b – Did you recall Michael Bassett saying that both Helen Calrk and Michael Cullen voted IN FAVOUR of the privatisation of Telecom when in Cabinet?
“I sincerely hope though that if the nats get in they dont burn people by doing something different to what they promise
—
So do I vto, so do I.”
vto, r0b, what you should really worry about is the fact that they’ve said nothing about what they’ll do. Many people seem content with this, and might end up paying a heavy toll for their mood for a ‘change’.
I was hoping somebody would rebut the original post by telling us:
“You’re wrong. John Key IS ambitious for New Zealand. He has the following plans for our future …”
I guess the first two sentences would be easy – they are just assertions. But the third would require evidence.
Damn.
Matthew Pilott:
We have heard a few things. Like ACC, doctors fees etc. Just the tip of the iceberg really. I honestly don’t trust him when he says he won’t privatize anything during his first term. He’s proven to be slippery and is always the first to cry fowl to the media claiming he was misquoted (not once, twice but thrice – perhaps freedom of the press isn’t something Key supports).
BS (now that’s appropriate
) It’s semantics but I did say can’t oppose. By definition, the Opposition has the right to oppose which in itself is not negative, which is the criticism that is being levelled at National.
Second, policy. I agree that in a perfect world, we would sit down and compare policies and make rational decisions based on a raft of analysis. Have you read Blink??
The fundamental point is that this is politics not policies. The All Blacks didn’t win the RWC because of policies (we don’t win with drop goals, we want to win by playing the better rugby).
There is a political analogy here that can be levelled at both Labour and National. Within reason, do what you can to get in power. Let’s call it realpolitiks to take it back to the 19C.
A lot of the criticism of National appears to me criticism of the fact that they are currently playing the best politics, something that Labour has done remarkably well for some time. Hence, the calls for National to change tack when they are doing so well in the polls legitimately comes across as naive and desperate.
I2 I’d really like Basset to release all his notes to another historian, or simply into the public record, so that someone a little less involved in the story could look at them.
Obviously the notes he took are his property and he can do what he like with them. But to pretend that he is either objective or that he is telling the whole story would be naive.
And we shouldn’t assume that his notes are the whole story in any case. They are the self selected notes of an interested participant, made with an eye to shaping the narrative.
If he has released all those notes I’d like to see them, if any one knows where they might be seen.
Blar makes all the right points.
Pierson obviously accepts that his position is flawed, thus the floundering in his response: I can’t be bothered reading the rest of your post.
The hardest thing about lying, Pierson, is the scrutiny that shows it up for what it is. Tut tut
Lol, another post dedicated to John Key.
He’s got you guys in an absolute frenzy, like some of your supporters are even starting to say steve – concentrate on what labour is doing well – surely not a difficult task at present.
My argument is Key says he will be positive but he isn’t. You can refute that claim by pointing to the many times when he has been positive and how these outweigh the times when he is negative, or you can admit that you can’t find one.
No-one has shown that Key is positive and ambitious for New Zealand.
mike. Yeah post scheduled to come up on the poverty numbers. Down 50% under Labour-led governments.
I2:
What does that have to do with a site prompting cartoons with a similar name but offshore?
dontvotelabourcartoons.com is not the same as dontvotelabour.org.nz
Different country and a different name.
I hate to say this (because I do value your comments) – but you’re as bad as Whale. He thinks that a domain I’ve owned since the early 90′s is the same domain as one owned by a political party.
I could be a pedantic programmer (in fact I am – all programmers are pedantic), but they look completely different to me in both cases. They do to the domain registries and domain name servers as well.
Carol – “Desperation? From where I’m sitting any desperation seems to be coming from Key supporters, now that his inadequacies for the role of PM are being highlighted and substantiated.”
So what government department are you sitting in Carol?
How can Key’s inadequacies for the role of PM be highlighted when he isn’t the PM and has never been one? He is the opposition leader.
I don’t think Ms Clark is very positive this week, she is very negative in parliament this week with Mr Key. On television last night on tv3 the reporter said Labour is running a secret internet attack campaign against John Key, that is a very negative campaign and I think New Zealanders are sick of it.
[lprent: The reporter is welcome to talk to me or Steve. I find it hard to conceive of a 'secret' internet campaign though. The whole point of this site is not to be 'secret' but to be visible on the web all of the time. Personally I think that the Nat's just don't like people pointing out how stupid they look after you get past the flim-flam. Just my opinion]
Dilip:
While conveniently ignoring the Clark hate-videos which out number those critical of Key 2:1.
1) How can it be secret if it’s been on TV?
2) I can’t believe that you would be worried by a secret campaign – after all if it’s secret it’s not gonna be very effective is it?
Oh sorry about your mate John, maybe he’ll buy you a beer one day – that is if he really give a flying f about you.
Dilip
Read this linked blog post, and the first comment, with examples of videos pouring abuse on Helen Clark.
http://stuff.co.nz/blogs/insidethebeltway/2008/07/03/the-new-front-in-political-warfare
As you claim to detest sewer politics and nasty attacks, you will of course condemn these, and the people who are spreading them. Then you will want to ask who these people are.
Won’t you?
Everybody is knowing who whale is gobsmacked, they don’t know who are putting together the anti john key videos. I did not like what the exclusive brethren did in two thousand and five because they lied about their identity and were not honest about them being involved in campaign. It is now ms prime ministers friends who are lying about their identity and that is wrong.
Everybody is knowing who whale is gobsmacked
So Dillip – do you approve of whale’s videos and pictures?
It is now ms prime ministers friends who are lying about their identity and that is wrong.
back that wee gem up, will you?
And stop blustering about the filth from the right – I’m going to call for a good old fashioned denouncement here, or assume you’re a wholehearted supporter of it all. I doubt it’s all whale…
Dilip “On television last night on tv3 the reporter said Labour is running a secret internet attack campaign against John Key”
actually (if i remember correctly) the story said that there were suspicions that it was orchastrated by labour.
key word there – “suspicions”.
The best the news story got to as far as explaining its source was that it was made by someone with a knowledge of modern media and editing software.
That narrows it down to 100thou or so people
GS
Regarding your link – the journalist comments sagely that…
“Some of the clips are extremely clever; some very funny; and some are downright sad. The sad ones – and by sad I mean ugly and bile-filled – I’m assuming to be the work of those who are particularly tribal, and therefore mostly of interest to other tribal types. I’m not sure whether they’d exert much of a subterranean influence on the outcome of the election, other than to reaffirm the views that people already hold.”
And as for Pete Hodgson and Trevor Mallard ‘krumping’ in their defence most of us middle aged whities have had similar sad experiences when chaperoning kids at discoes ……. no wonder the kids think we’re all a bit odd !
Inventory2: The ‘slur points’ used against Labour are either unfounded or highly debatable. I have looked into each as they arose and decided they weren’t up to much and certainly nothing there to base my vote on one way or the other.
In contrast, National has avoided anything resembling substantive policy. National has repeatedly misdirected debate and / or misrepresented current policy – as with SPARC.
On top of that, National’s plans to involve the private sector in public services has lead, under other conservative governments, to a “biddable” pool of contractors beholden to the governing party to win contracts. No big *exclusive* donations? Go to the back of the queue. Transparency dies due to “commercial sensitivity”. Profit is guaranteed while service provision is not.
I’ve been there and seen this PPP approach in other jurisdictions…and the results have been more cost, loss of accountability and reduced levels of service. Labour has the good sense to avoid this sort of nonsense. National is chafing at the bit to bring this about.
Your issues with labour are trivial compared to what I’ve seen as a consequence of PPPs elsewhere. Don’t even get me STARTED on drivers license testing in the province of Ontario, in Canada!!!
The REAL corruption is about to get underway if National wins the election with an outright majority.
Labour will look like saints.
John Key misleads public over shares sale:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0807/S00108.htm
No smear from HC, more lies from JK.