Democracy in action

Written By: - Date published: 1:22 pm, November 11th, 2011 - 20 comments
Categories: act, don brash, election 2011, john banks, john key - Tags:

Today, the Prime Minister and National Party leader  sits down with a homophob and racist ex-National minister and failed mayoral candidate in a desperate attempt to signal to National voters that they shouldn’t vote for the National candidate they prefer and, instead, vote for the homophobic racist so that he can bring in on his coattails his new leader in the ACT party, who was the National Party leader’s leader until he rolled him as an electoral liability.

National’s leader believes that sacrificing votes to ACT is worthwhile to get ACT’s leader back in Parliament, despite him being the one who booted him out, despite the ACT leader having all the political nous of a gnat, and despite the fact that ACT has only survived with life support from National for three of the five MMP elections.

National Party leader won’t sit down with the ex-National, now ACT leader, to signal to National voters in the seat he is running in to vote for him because nothing can help that three time loser win directly.

Democracy, you’re soaking in it.

But it still beats the fuck out of FPP.

20 comments on “Democracy in action ”

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  1. King Kong 1
    11 November 2011 at 1:45 pm

    I dont get the moaning. No one is putting a gun to the heads of the voters in Epsom. They can vote however they like. If a majority of them vote tactically because the leader of the National party suggests they should then so what.No difference to what the Greens are doing in Ohariu.

    • Tom Gould 1.1
      11 November 2011 at 3:25 pm

      I guess if MonKey was taking his own advice and voting for Banks you might have a point, but he isn’t, so why would anyone else in Epsom?

    • wtl 1.2
      11 November 2011 at 3:27 pm

      I dont get the moaning. No one is putting a gun to the head of King Kong and forcing him to read The Standard. He can read whatever he wants. If he doesn’t like what the post on the Standard says then so what. No difference to Alice in Wonderland.

    • Tigger 1.3
      11 November 2011 at 9:43 pm

      Actually it’s more like what National is doing in Ohariu.

    • mikesh 1.4
      12 November 2011 at 1:08 pm

      The situation in Ohariu is different. Hughes has no chance whatsoever of winning that seat and is therefore only interested in promoting the Green party vote, the implication being that Green supporters should vote in Labour’s Chauvel as their electorate MP. In Epsom National’s supporters are being asked to vote against the candidate they would normally prefer and who would normally be expected to win the seat.

  2. chris73 2
    11 November 2011 at 2:18 pm

    Well the people of NZ will have their to say exactly what they think of National doing this (out in the open, before the election)

    Mind you some could say its another good arguement for tweaking some of MMPs rules (or changing it for another system)

    Not that Labour would ever do a deal like that…

    • Ari 2.1
      12 November 2011 at 6:24 am

      The only rules we should be changing with MMP are to let smaller parties in with a smaller threshold, to force parties other than the Greens* to hold votes on their lists, and maybe eventually to eventually switch to an open list without electorates.

      If Labour had their way, the change we’d get is a ditching of electorate lifeboats and the threshold staying exactly where it is, making life much harder for parties that aren’t one of the big three.

      * The Greens already hold a vote among their members for their list.

  3. aerobubble 3
    11 November 2011 at 3:31 pm

    Council says tents not allowed. The council wants to dictate to
    protestors the form of their protest. If Police enforced the bylaw
    what next? A bylaw banning walking on the grass? A bylaw
    banning graffiti on placades in the public square???
    It has always been the practice of the powerful to speak for
    the oppressed and impose their views over them.
    Public protest is far more important than a camping ban,
    geez, get perspective.

    As for Banks, still don’t see why anyone in Epson except
    the ideological dogmatic would vote for him. Past elections
    had tax cuts to buy them off, and look how they turned
    out, unaffordable, costing jobs, and made Epson voters
    look greedy and econmically stupid (as they are now
    saddle with higher government debt as taxpayers,
    and having to pay back substantial debt thanks to
    National-ACT ignoring the potential collapse of
    our foreign markets).

    If we can’t make ends meet while commodity
    prices soar then there is something seriously flawed
    in the legislative tax and reward system.

  4. Sunny 4
    11 November 2011 at 4:24 pm

    “Vote John…get Don” as they say….

  5. hoom 5
    11 November 2011 at 4:25 pm

    And there it is
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5948536/PM-and-Banks-have-their-Epsom-cup-of-tea

    Carefully stage managed with a bunch of ACT/Nats sitting there & typical bullshit weaselling from Key.

    “The outcome of the election is a matter for New Zealand voters. But if we were in a position, post 2011 to be working alongside the ACT Party again, along with the Maori Party and United Future, I wouldn’t be at all unhappy about that,”

    Ugh, I feel dirty. I get lunch from that part of Newmarket frequently, was hoping it would be off on the other side that I don’t go to much.

    Heh on the brighter side from the Herald:
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10765308

    About half a dozen protestors also showed up at the meeting, with one bearing a placard showing a picture of Mr Key that said “The key thing in life is sincerity, once you can fake it, you’ve got it made.”

  6. ianmac 6
    11 November 2011 at 4:31 pm

    In a word “Sick.”

  7. fender 7
    11 November 2011 at 4:39 pm

    The main casuality of this is MMP.

  8. Craig Y 8
    11 November 2011 at 7:28 pm

    Oh, I see. Key is living in a fairytale*, so he’s having an imaginary tea party with characters that don’t actually exist! What a wonderful metaphor for the ACT party! Well done!

    *I believe it’s called Phantomrecoveryland…

    • Colonial Viper 8.1
      12 November 2011 at 7:06 am

      Well, for the 1%’ers the recovery has been very real, in fact there was barely a dip to start with. And what dip there was they’ve subsequently smoothed over with increased takings from the 99%.

      Life is good.

  9. Paul Campbell 9
    12 November 2011 at 7:14 am

    Wait which one’s Key? – I’ve basically decided that National is the Cheshire Cat party … all the substance has gone but the smile

  10. mikesh 10
    12 November 2011 at 1:16 pm

    Jam tomorrow, but never jam today.