Posts by James Littlewood*
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Yes, yes, yes. And yes.
If Parliament can't set the standard for open access, what's the darn point?
Mojo's election to parliament filled me with pride, for her, and the rest of us.
Speaking of: if you like parliamentary diversity that reflects the rest of us, don't forget to tell the mmp review.
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Mainstream New Zealand broadcasting has been allowed to slip down the slope of commercialism since 1987
It's easy to attribute the evils of the world to the 4th Labour gummint, and usually accurate, too. But didn't NZ's ride down the slippery slope of commercial TV began within months - or weeks - of the first NZBC public broadcast in 1960?
Two different strategies have failed:
1. Making quality public service pay its way
2. Making a political commitment to it, regardless -
Hard News: The Next Labour Leader, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
shifting the centre of political gravity – slowly, painfully and unevenly – is also what green politics is about
Probably. But where? Many greens get very bored with L-R spectral politics and dogma. But at the cost of policy theft? Perhaps.
Certainly, the Greens have proven that there is a viable strategy for policy gains in opposition under MMP.
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Hard News: The Next Labour Leader, in reply to Moz,
the Greens vote went up, both absolutely and as a percentage
Yeah, absolutely! And yes, some hundres of thousands also saw fit to vote for Winston. But that doesn't feel like the full story to me. To vote Labour in 2011 you had to be staunch. Green: adventurous. Winston: amnesiac.
But to vote National? You had to like Key enough to not mind him doing everything he says he'll do (or actually want to see state assets sold). But didn't somebody's poll find that asset sales are opposed by 80% or something?
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@Russel & @Craig
Maybe. Just that his withdrawal put public & media attention squarely on the personalities of the Davids, when it was primed and ready and waiting to go on to things like values, beliefs & policies.The debate is now about leadership qualities. Experience and power versus freshness and affability (or something). Basically: CVs.
Parker's withdrawal fast forwarded the race through the best bit.
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Hard News: The Next Labour Leader, in reply to BenWilson,
What Ben said (although I wouldn't necessarily label someone stupid just because they got it wrong).
Also: the low turn out suggests that all parties collectively failed to provide something meaningful for many voters.
Obviously, Greens and Labour somehow let down the centre left. But also, what about National supporters who might have opposed asset sales? I'd understand if a few hundred thousand of them stayed home. All they had was NZ1st.
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Good post.
Y'know, it could have been a contest of ideas. The race would have built on the positioning they established in the election campaign: the party that grasps nettles and talks hard policy. About the good, the bad and the necessary.
I vote Green with a passion, but even I admire the way Labour did that.
By withdrawing, and doing so in a partisan way, Parker undid 6 months campaign work by reverting too soon to politics of personality.
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Any thoughts as to why it didn’t affect poll results?
Some of his supporters are rich, so act out of pure self interest. Although, plenty of Labour voters also vote from the wallet, rather than the head or the heart.
Green voters tend to be more mindful of society as a single system. If they are self interested, it is more out of a sense of shared well being, than individual well being.
I also met one woman in the supermarket queue who flat denied that Key would sell assets. Which suggests either ignorance or lack of trusted alternatives. I think Key finds support amongst a very conservative social set: people who don't like generation gaps, social or sexual deviance, etc.
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Last Wednesday night. Simultaneously feeding self, kids and working. Phone rings. Fuck me, it's the Prime Minister, in his best radio, Branson-interviewing, shock-jock voice:
"Hi! It's John Key here just calling to remind you to vote on Satur ..."
John Key on automatic voice message. No *almost* about it. I gagged on my pasta.
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Key's so-called presidential leadership style doesn't bug me so much. And what Labour voter didn't feel the same way when Helen sailed in to power in 1999? Voters love strong leaders.
But, golly, I despise his tendency for suppressing fundamental & relevant information, passing his selfish agenda under urgency, and crashing over the top of his interviewers with condescending, bombastic, non-answers.
Talk about Muldoon style soft-fascism.