Body of evidence

10 comments on “Body of evidence ”

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1. ad 1

   11 June 2012 at 9:28 am

   John Key will discipline his Cabinet with a reshuffle at the end of the year. He will also amplify that single narrative about achieving a surplus as the single dominant story of the Government. He will lead that line as if everyone else in the country has to lower their debt as well, which they must do.

   If there is a more sustained poll trend to December, I thnik he will go for a snap election mid-2013 to cut his parliamentary losses.

   Can Labour and the Greens look like a single narrative-in-waiting? Not yet so far.
   • Kotahi Tane Huna 1.1

     11 June 2012 at 9:55 am

     Does the National Party look like a single narrative-in-government to you?

     To me it looks like a mendacious incompetent mess.
     • ad 1.1.1

       11 June 2012 at 10:04 am

       Yes I was imaging I was John Key, trying to get out of a death-dive. I agree with you they are utterly without visible coherence at the moment.

       Mind you, just to turn the focus for a moment, with so much going wrong, I would have expected the leader of the opposition to be an absolute star by now.
       • Kotahi Tane Huna 1.1.1.1

         11 June 2012 at 10:18 am

         Really, would you? Why, what was Helen Clarke’s popularity rating in 1997? Or are you basing your expectations on a big bag of air?

         I imagine I’m John Key, trying to get out of a death dive, and then I realise I don’t give a fart because as soon as I quit I’m outta here. Now my incompetence is on view for all the world to see I’m bored; it was only ever supposed to be a favour to a few rich mates and an entry on my cv anyway.
   • Draco T Bastard 1.2

     11 June 2012 at 10:23 am

     If there is a more sustained poll trend to December, I thnik he will go for a snap election mid-2013 to cut his parliamentary losses.

     The only reason Key will call a snap election is if electorate MPs start crossing the floor and that’s not likely to happen. To be more precise, it’s only likely to happen with asset sales and the NACT MPs actually do want to sell our assets no matter what the people say.
2. ad 2

   11 June 2012 at 10:27 am

   The context isn’t comparable. I am basing my expectations of Labour’s leadership on the fact that National have had a most spectacular run of mismanaged issues ever since they were re-elected. I definitely agree that the party stakes have improved. I am impatient for an alternative government to look like it could form and take over.

   I agree with you that John key could easily think that way as well. Just too sad to contemplate.
   • Kotahi Tane Huna 2.1

     11 June 2012 at 10:36 am

     The context is entirely comparable. Bill English’s breathtaking incompetence was dragging the economy down in 1997 just the way it is now. The National Party was following its ludicrous fantasies in every policy arena, then as now.

     We could outsource the government to a call centre in India and they’d do a better job, and the time to assess the next government will be after its first budget.

     Labour are up in the polls, so are the Greens. National are down. What’s your benchmark again?
3. ad 3

   11 June 2012 at 10:52 am

   I agree the party polls are definitely better, more hopeful. But it’s just not enough to presume National will fail, this far out.

   I’m not honestly sure what my benchmark for Opposition leadership is, only that it ought to be better than this. When I look back on the scale of economic decline that we face, this feels more like the years before the Great Depression or the 1974 oil crisis than 1997. Nice isn’t enough in a leader.

   I can’t have a Norman Kirk just because I want one, granted. But the Greens and Labour should be competing less, and cooperating more. And for me that goes for their leadership as well.

   I want to see an integrated political platform. Why not hold a joint party conference in November? I really want more of Shearer than just watching the other guy die.
   • bbfloyd 3.1

     11 June 2012 at 4:17 pm

     still using the old populist paradigm ad? it still disappoints me that people still cling to those old reactionary standards of political debate……

     Does it not register that the loudest show pony isn’t usually the person best suited for leadership of anything save a travelling roadshow?

     I’ve said this before, and will keep repeating it…. go and check film of micheal joseph savages speeches….. by todays “standards” he was wooden, to say the least, yet can anyone, apart from the most hidebound tory deny the long ranging benefits that his government had on our development into a first world society?

     why does david shearer have to become just another trained monkey to be effective? look at the way johhny sparkle is handled, and prepped with spin lines….. has that made him into a real leader?
     • Draco T Bastard 3.1.1

       11 June 2012 at 4:51 pm

       John Key was never meant to be the leader – he was, and is, the nice mask placed to hide the ugly reality that is the National Party.

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