Hard News: The Politics of Absence
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merc,
http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2011/10/labours-hypocritical-complaint.html
I think NRT sums Labour vs National very well here. When the Govt. stands for nothing, the opposition must stand for something. -
Righto. Going for a bike ride to see who's got hoardings where in Mt Albert. Will report.
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BenWilson, in reply to
Who's 'forcing' them?
They're forced by the lack of other options. Also, commentators have been demanding policy elaboration for ... ever. When they actually get it, though, it's something to bash. But I don't expect this to last forever. National does eventually have to act.
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Sacha, in reply to
But they do have other options to convey why they would make a credible government. Seem to have backed themselves into a reactive mindset despite some good policy and people.
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Stephen Judd, in reply to
When the Govt. stands for nothing, the opposition must stand for something.
I see this as somewhat reinforcing what Ben has just been saying. The Nats have been very successfully idling, making the opposition do all the work and expose themselves to attacks from the government's bully pulpit.
There may be a successful attack line now in labelling National as the Do-Nothing Government.
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Hoardings have gone up in my area (Otahuhu, Mt Wellington). I note the National candidate is sharing his billboard with John Key. It really is a party of one.
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BenWilson, in reply to
But they do have other options to convey why they would make a credible government.
Well, being silent is an option, yes. But I don't think that would work for them either. It would be worse.
Seem to have backed themselves into a reactive mindset despite some good policy and people.
They need to change the people much more than they need to change the policy. I think voters mainly voted to end the Clark government last time around, certainly every swing voter I spoke to had nothing on their mind except for bad things about Labour, and a near total ignorance of anything about National.
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merc, in reply to
Doing nothing is doing something, and Labour have fallen for every turn.
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Carol Stewart, in reply to
There's a tiresome shortage of batshit crazy
Hey, there's the entire ACT party list.
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Sacha, in reply to
There may be a successful attack line now in labelling National as the Do-Nothing Government
Really? That's exactly the line that has been used for ages (and look at the results). It lets the government off the hook for all the stealthy public sector gutting they've been doing, behind the smiling and waving.
I'd rather see Labour put their energy into more like the Own Our Future campaign and show that they can work together as a team and with allies.
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Carol Stewart, in reply to
I totally agree, Sacha. I'd love to see them go for big bold visions of prosperity for everyone.
As for working with allies - it's been such a shame to see such factional squabbling between the various left-leaning parties over the years - Labour, the Greens, the Alliance - rather than focusing on the values that they share and that should unite them as allies. -
Craig Ranapia, in reply to
Hey, there’s the entire ACT party list.
They're more "get off my lawn or I'll released the suicide-bomber hounds" crazy. Even ACT at its worse has a way to go to catch up with the current Tea Bagged GOP where the utterly insane is mainstream.
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I bow to your encyclopedic knowledge of right wing craziness, sir.
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merc,
For me this from English in that article linked to above was most telling,
''In the UK and US, the reasons for that are reasons we wouldn't want to have to deal with. They've had a collapse in the housing market in the US and they have had big, big cuts in public sector and transfers to households in the UK, so that decrease in household debt in the UK and the US is primarily driven by fear,'' he said.
He sort of sets up the monster, fades out because it could be our monster, then ends with the F word, brilliant. -
3410,
see who's got hoardings where in Mt Albert
Note to Labour re hoardings: the Party Vote is the important one.
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Bart Janssen, in reply to
we’re back to discussing some dumb thing Clare Curran said
That wasn't my intent. For me it seems everything Labour says seems to express an idea that they should lead and not collaborate with other representatives in parliament. Curran just said it more crudely, but Goff and others have made the same point. Goff in particular when he refused to share the stage with "minor parties" ... wake up dude you are a minor party!
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Russell Brown, in reply to
I’d rather see Labour put their energy into more like the Own Our Future campaign and show that they can work together as a team and with allies.
Well, labour.org.nz has been defaulting to www.ownourfuture.co.nz for a while now, and that message dominates the home page there. I think they've put quite a lot into that pitch, to be honest.
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Sacha, in reply to
To be fair, any larger party has constraints that the smaller ones don't share. But they all have to at least look they they might work together to form an MMP government.
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Sacha, in reply to
I'd agree they have - on their own website.
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HOARDING REPORT, MT ALBERT
LABOUR = the standard hoarding with Shearer's portrait, electorate name, Labour logo. Labour has more out there and is the only party with hoardings on private sites (that I could see) -- but interestingly that doesn't include the usual site at the corner of Gt North and Moa Roads.
NATIONAL = Always two at a time. One with just Key and the other Key twinned with Melissa Lee. Both read "Party vote National".
GREENS = Only found one, cnr St Lukes and Sandringham. Read "Party Vote Green", with no candidate name or photo or even the name of the electorate.
ACT = MIA.
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We like to laugh at the Fox News syndrome in America.
HAHAHAHA- how can they think Iraq was behind the twin tower attacks???
Those crazy yanks.
But voters think overwhelmingly (I think it was 75%) that Auckland City was at fault for the debacle at the start of the cup.
I was equally disturbed to see about 60 % of Green Voters and National Voters actually want the other to go into coalition with each. It's almost as if their policies don't matter or exist.
Haven't they been following the local government democracy seizures, the clean water, the SOEs, the job creation, the minimum wage, the CGT tax or do none of those things really matter?
We are getting dumber, and we're about to get less media: no NZPA, less public service tv
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Russell Brown, in reply to
I’d agree they have – on their own website.
And on Facebook and YouTube and all candidate sites, and in speeches and launches. I presume it’ll turn up in the TV campaign and on billboards in the month before the election. They have downloadable posters now, and they're encouraging supporters to use the #ownourfuture hashtag. What else were you thinking of?
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Meanwhile, this pops up when you visit the National website.
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Sacha, in reply to
media :)
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Do those hoardings actually have much of an effect?
Seems to me that there's a lot of effort put into them - design, placing, compliance, etc.
What's the reward for all that effort? Is it actually worth it?
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