Notice a lot of opinion pieces (etc) putting the boot in to Labour lately?
Duncan Garner’s effort yesterday was a confused mess. Apparently it is a bad thing that the caucus is unified and there is no leadership challenge. Anyway, the piece has been discussed here already, so enough of that. (Thought for a post: After a year on TV3 Garner’s Story has lost the ‘everyman’. Nah.)
Today brings us Tracy Watkins, an effort which is if anything even worse:
So much for the wave of almost giddy optimism that has swept the Left in the wake of Brexit, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump.
I must have missed that wave. Too busy weeping into my beer.
But two polls this week tell a different story.
Really? You think that’s how it works? Wow.
At a fractious front bench meeting on Monday, Little shouldered responsibility as leader for Labour’s polling slump.
There was lots of finger pointing. But there was also a sense of urgency about breaking the cycle. There was talk about taking risks. Even “breaking the rules” as one insider put it.
Good – a sense of urgency is required!
The nature of those rules was not spelt out. But we can guess. Dirty politics, personal attacks, fabricating news and other “facts” – those were the story of the US election campaign. And it worked.
But the suggestion is that Labour MPs balked at going down that road.
If that was even considered (“we can guess”?) – then of course it was ruled out. While Nat supporters seem to be comfortable voting for dirty politics, Labour supporters would not be, it would destroy the party. And if that’s what it takes to win right now then I for one would rather lose, and wait. Because although it may work in the short term, the backlash against the conditions created by the sorts of people who use such tactics is going to be rather ugly. (Let’s talk about how successful Trump is in 4 years time.)
Other risks will be taken, however.
Good.
Finding issues that connect with voters is Labour’s bigger problem. It has run hard on issues that should be resonating – housing, inequality, transport infrastructure, wages, and the future of work. They are not sticking.
Quite. And therein lies an interesting puzzle. I wonder if the dumbing down of the media and the constant barrage of negativity has anything to do with it? “Mike’s minute” rules, Campbell live is axed. Just a thought.
Anyway, while it is certainly time to try and break the political mould, good on Labour for sticking to the high road while doing so.
I’ll leave you with a couple of interesting tweets to ponder…
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