election 2011

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Key cooking the books on asset sales

Written By: - Date published: 11:47 am, October 30th, 2011 - 37 comments

National has already booked the revenue from asset sales – despite people opposing them 4 to 1. The Budget docs say capital spending will be funded from the ‘balance sheet’: ie. buying new assets like schools and hospitals with revenue from selling the power companies. Key will re-announce this today. But, in the long-run we’ll be able to afford more schools and hospitals if we don’t sell our profit-generating assets.

Update: as expected, Key has re-accounced what is already in the Budget and given it a fancy new name.

Winning the debates

Written By: - Date published: 8:52 am, October 30th, 2011 - 43 comments

The first of the leaders’ debates is on tomorrow (it would have been on Thursday on Labour’s savings policy, but Key refused to show). Key’s strategy is clear: ‘I’m a safe economic manager, these guys will fuck it up’. Goff can’t let a single attack slide. Every time Key disses Labour’s or ups his own record, Goff just needs to cite one of these facts.

More opening addresses

Written By: - Date published: 5:41 pm, October 29th, 2011 - 42 comments

Opening addresses from the remaining parties screen on TV1 starting at 7:30pm. Should be good fun for political junkies, make sure you tune in…

This is how you win

Written By: - Date published: 2:14 pm, October 29th, 2011 - 68 comments

Sprout’s post says it all. Labour’s opening address blew National’s out of the park. But I can’t help myself, I have to put in my analysis of why National’s was so awful and Labour’s so good. Almost out of nowhere, Labour has seized the discourse. It is dictating the run of play with its policies, its framing, and, now, with its marketing. This is how you win.

Heart and balls

Written By: - Date published: 9:41 am, October 29th, 2011 - 106 comments

Labour’s opening address shows that the Party has rediscovered its heart. It’s policies show that its rediscovered its balls as well!  Win or lose, right now Labour is a party to be proud of.

Opening addresses for your convenience

Written By: - Date published: 8:31 am, October 29th, 2011 - 32 comments

In case you missed them last night, here are the National, Labour and Green election opening addresses, collected for your convenience.

Labour Opening Address

Written By: - Date published: 8:16 pm, October 28th, 2011 - 246 comments

Amazing. Brilliant. I’ve seen a lot of political television, and that would have to be the best piece of contemporary political television by a political party I can remember. Could not have been better. National utterly trounced.

TV1 at 7:50 – Opening Address

Written By: - Date published: 4:58 pm, October 28th, 2011 - 67 comments

Labour’s election Opening Address will be broadcast on TV1 at 7:50pm tonight.  Labour is hinting that the address will be something different, and unlike anything we have seen before.  Given their gutsy campaigning so far, anything could happen!  Make sure you tune in…

Ride that pony

Written By: - Date published: 12:10 pm, October 28th, 2011 - 44 comments

On RNZ today: Mr Goff said Prime Minister John Key did not have the “guts” to debate him. “It’s time to make a decision that will build a stronger future for New Zealand. We’ve got the balls to do that. John Key doesn’t.”

Campaigning on policy – what a concept!

Written By: - Date published: 9:55 am, October 28th, 2011 - 27 comments

Labour has once again broken the mould and chosen to focus its election campaign on policy. As a country we’ve been saying for a long time that elections should be about policies and not personalities.  Now we’ve got a chance to try it.  If the media is up to the challenge, of course.

Labour’s savings & retirement policy

Written By: - Date published: 6:37 am, October 28th, 2011 - 100 comments

Well, they said they were going to run this campaign on policy and make the bold moves, and Labour proved that with their savings policy. National is been left floundering. Brand Key is unraveling while Labour starts to dictate the play for the first time since Orewa. But the substance of the savings policy wants a closer look, it has both good and bad aspects.

Cult of personality deficit

Written By: - Date published: 11:40 am, October 27th, 2011 - 37 comments

It’s not surprising that National are trying to run a presidential, personality based election campaign – after all, their policies aren’t going to win many votes from those middle and lower income kiwis who understand them. And up till now, presidentialism has worked very well for National. But it’s also starting to become apparent to […]

Not quite beyond parody

Written By: - Date published: 10:37 am, October 27th, 2011 - 18 comments

There’s almost too many excellent parodies of National’s silly billboards and ads.

A campaign launch for the times

Written By: - Date published: 6:56 am, October 27th, 2011 - 135 comments

Labour’s cleverly wrong-footed Brand Key with a policy-based campaign launch. Key will look out of touch playing messiah at his campaign launch while the economy burns. Labour’s ads are great. The Tories are in panic mode: they don’t feature Goff enough moans Key; they feature Goff too much cries Clare Robinson; the lighting’s wrong whines Hoots. They’re afraid to take on the message.

There, fixed it for you

Written By: - Date published: 12:15 pm, October 26th, 2011 - 23 comments

NoRightTurn: Election choices

Written By: - Date published: 11:16 am, October 26th, 2011 - 6 comments

I/S looks at two dividing lines between left and right that may help your choice in a month’s time. The first is Afghanistan. Labour has promised to bring the SAS home within 90 days. National won’t commit to withdrawing. The second is water: National wants more subsidies to polluters; Labour and the Greens want businesses to pay for their use of public resources.

Why are the Right acting like losers?

Written By: - Date published: 9:35 am, October 26th, 2011 - 165 comments

It was meant to be so easy. With high polling and several possible support partners, National would breeze into a second term thanks to Brand Key. The man himself would carried around the country by crowds of adoring locals. It would be more coronation than campaign. So, why are National weather-vanes, Farrar and Slater, hitting the panic-button?

PREFU

Written By: - Date published: 2:59 pm, October 25th, 2011 - 94 comments

The Pre-Election Fiscal and Economic Update is out. It shows that National has broken its promises on the economy once again. Under National, we are under-performing woefully and their only response is to continue to promise that brighter future is just around the corner. Time for parties with real plans: Labour and the Greens.

Nats in a world of their own

Written By: - Date published: 8:01 am, October 25th, 2011 - 87 comments

National’s new online ad campaign shows a roadworker with a stop sign, supposedly representing Labour (he has a red hat and red swandry so you get the point) and another roadworker with a go sign meant to represent National (although his sign is green … searching for a support partner?). It’s pretty bare-faced cheek from the party with the worst economic record in this country’s history.

The austerity death trap

Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, October 25th, 2011 - 89 comments

In response to tough economic times, Government austerity programmes do more harm than good.  It’s a pretty simple equation based on the debt / GDP ratio.  With an election coming up soon, NZ needs to look for economic competence and a willingness to try new ideas, rather than muddling along deeper into the austerity death trap.

Friends like these

Written By: - Date published: 12:38 pm, October 24th, 2011 - 66 comments

Act president Chris Simmons on Don Brash’s sudden trip to Europe: Brash’s skills were in economic management, not in “glad-handing rugby players and tickertape parades” which he would happily leave to Prime Minister John Key.
John Banks: “I’m going to do the photo opportunity with Richie McCaw,” he laughed. “I need the votes more than Dr Brash.”

Leaks and leaks

Written By: - Date published: 11:52 am, October 24th, 2011 - 69 comments

As more oil leaks from the Rena, National’s beginning to leak too. I’ve just been hearing about their latest internal polling, and it ain’t pretty. As the earlier Horizon poll suggested, the Rena has been an inflection point for National and the masses of soft support they’ve accumulated is drifting away.

Questions for leaders’ debate

Written By: - Date published: 8:37 am, October 22nd, 2011 - 46 comments

TV1 is calling for submissions of questions for their televised leaders’ debate.  Want to give them a hand?

Mishandled Rena costing Nats votes

Written By: - Date published: 8:02 am, October 21st, 2011 - 51 comments

A recent poll confirms that the expected loss of Nat votes over the Rena disaster is a real effect.

Death cab for Banksie

Written By: - Date published: 9:43 pm, October 20th, 2011 - 170 comments

Another Epsom poll has ACT’ stuffed. Goldsmith: 37%; Banks: 24%; Parker: 17%. However, it also says the blue-rinsers will obediently tick Banks if Key explicitly tells them to. But will he? Will the chance of saving 2% ACT be worth the nationwide loss of votes from linking Key’s brand to that mess of a party? His equivocating suggests the Nats haven’t decided.

A new low

Written By: - Date published: 11:46 am, October 19th, 2011 - 44 comments

Last election, National promised to subsidise a treatment for the rare and deadly Pompe disease. Now, they won’t even meet with the sufferers. The truth is that New Zealand can’t afford ongoing treatments that cost $1m per patient per year. National promises us whatever we want to hear to get our votes. Knowing from the start they’ll never deliver.

No pay rises under Nats

Written By: - Date published: 1:26 am, October 19th, 2011 - 81 comments

St. Augustine said “Lord, give me chastity, but not yet”. Was reminded of that reading the Tories’ reaction to Labour’s work and wages policy. Tories say they want you to have higher wages. But not yet. It’s always later. Once you’ve earned it. In the ‘brighter future’. And they’ll scream blue murder any time you demand what you deserve today.

Time for a Government

Written By: - Date published: 9:05 am, October 18th, 2011 - 38 comments

Last election it was “Time for a change”.  After three years of incompetence and inaction, our priorities should be different this time…

Parallels with the Past

Written By: - Date published: 11:08 am, October 17th, 2011 - 12 comments

On Sunday the 10th of May 2008, John Key gave a speech at the Southern Regional Conference explaining National’s platform for the looming election. It’s an interesting read, and looking back to consider words from the past can uncover some revealing realities about the present

What the BSA said – Key on RadioLive

Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, October 14th, 2011 - 112 comments

The Broadcasting Standards Authority has decided that Key’s hour-long promotional programme on RadioLive was not an election programme.

It will now be very interesting to see what the Electoral Commission decides in relation to advertising complaints.

What the Commission said – Key on RadioLive

Written By: - Date published: 3:30 pm, October 11th, 2011 - 64 comments

Key’s staff spun to media that his Radio Live show was ok if he didn’t discuss politics, saying the station had received advice from the Electoral Commission that “political content’ could breach rules. That didn’t sound right to me, so I asked the Commission what they actually said.

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