Nasty
On Tuesday, Helen Clark was asked what she thought of the fact that both John Key and Bill English have been unavailable for […]
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john key
It’s not ok
Is it a sign of a successful campaign regarding family violence – that “it’s not ok” – which sees broadcaster Tony Veitch taking […]
Chief Press Sec O’Sullivan leaves Key questions open
Today’s Herald sees Fran O’Sullivan making another valiant effort to dig her hero, John Key, out of the hole he’s in over his […]
Silence those media lambs
Media bleating about Labour’s ‘personal attacks’ is getting tiresome. Some journalists seem to forget from one election to the next that an important […]
Havoc interviews Key on Crosby/Textor
Here’s some great audio of Key running Crosby/Textor lines to avoid answering Havoc’s questions. Around the half way point my personal favourite C/T […]
Mr Key, where is your ‘positive, ambitious campaign’?
In four separate interviews this week, John Key used more or less exactly the same line to divert from questions on his use of Crosby/Textor: […]
Real John vs Brand Key
Let’s go back to the heart of this story: it is not about push-polling or whatever, this is about how Brand Key has […]
What’s the future for Brand Key?
Crosby/Textor, an outfit renowned for its anti-democratic, secretive practices, has built the public image of John Key (Brand Key) from the ground up. […]
Crosby/Textor Spin Bingo
John Key has his round of five interviews tomorrow morning (Breakfast, Sunrise, ZB, KiwiFM, bFM) and will undoubtedly face questions on his use […]
Crosby Textor spin the use of Crosby Textor
I wish some journo would ask Key whether Crosby/Textor helped him with lines on how to handle questions about his using them – […]
Mr Key’s real concerns
While more questions will no doubt be asked about Mr Key’s choice of hiring infamous Aussie spin-stars, Crosby/Textor, (no doubt some more of them will […]
Brand Key shows a contempt for ordinary Kiwis
It comes as no surprise that Brand Key has been a Crosby/Textor project from Day 1. The hit and run, the bait and […]
John does a Don
Remember Noelle McCarthy’s 95bFM interview with Brash in which she got him to admit to knowledge of the Brethren pamphlets? Student radio has done it […]
Hollow politics at work
Brand Key on Waatea news: “A National government will be a lot more demanding about educational standards, a lot more demanding about under-performance […]
Nat response to C/T scandal right from C/T playbook
There’s a standard formula that Crosby/Textor has its clients use when damaging information comes out. a) refuse to engage. The most senior public […]
The cost of Crosby/Textor
So Crosby/Textor has been designing Brand Key from Day 1, isn’t this just what every party does? No, it isn’t – Crosby/Textor uses […]
Misdirection
There’s a technique that sits at the heart of conjuring tricks called misdirection the act of drawing attention away from the trick itself. […]
Key’s principled stand
A good cartoon by Mike Moreu this morning about Key’s confusing stance on the smacking referendum. Though of course, as a_y_b pointed out […]
Protecting ‘brand Key’
For the first second third time, National is trying to shut down the reporting of things they feel don’t cast them in the […]
Same thing?
In an attempt to cover for John Key’s ignorance of New Zealand history, National’s Gerry Brownlee has pulled out a quote from Michael […]
Key denies Land Wars
Mr Key on NewstalkZB: “We’re not a country that’s come about as a result of civil war or where there’s been a lot […]
No consistency needed
Colin Espiner’s just posted an entry headed “National’s position on smacking confusing”. It is – but only if you’re expecting philosophical consistency. Key’s […]
Johnny Key and the magic $500 million
Whenever John Key is asked to explain how he will fund some new spending or his still secret tax cuts, he says ‘we’ll […]
Deja vu
I was having a look through some old campaign PR yesterday and found this gem: It seems John Key ripped off more than […]
Hollow Men film to premiere next month
The Unionist reports Nicky Hager’s book The Hollow Men has been made into a film and will be screening as part of this […]
The definition of irony
When a band who sued after their work was famously plagiarised by a certain leader of the National Party is themselves sued for […]
EFA lets voters know who bankrolls parties
National has announced that John Key donated $30,000 to the party this month. That’s all well and good; Helen Clark donates a similar […]
Key promises productivity magic
Key reckons he could bring down inflation by targeting ‘low quality’ government spending. How? To counter inflation, you need to increase productivity. Inflation […]
Slippery John’s “after-tax incomes” line
You’ll have noticed that Key only ever talks about increasing ‘after-tax incomes’. Even when he’s asked about wages for government employees, like doctors, […]
Matt McCarten from the Herald on Sunday
Worth a read: Remember when George Bush’s administration promised the world that the invasion of Iraq would be over in a few weeks? […]
Key’s slippery promises on waste
National has staked it all on delivering bigger tax cuts than Labour. To remain credible, they need to deliver $20 a week on […]
Treating the voters like children
Keith Holyoake used to say “tell the people, trust the people”; be honest about the benefits, trade-offs, and costs of policies and trust the people […]
Why Key really wants super-fast broadband
Remember National’s broadband ‘plan’ that reads like it was drawn up on the back of a napkin? Notice how the only gains they […]
Anyone for more pork pies?
On TV3 last night John Key was continuing to tell outright porkies about how advanced National is with its “policy” development compared with […]
Brand Key
We got this in from the ‘sod and we like it so here’s the guest post we swore we’d never give him (taking […]
What’s Behind Key’s Cheesy Grin?
Ever since Labour’s budget was released, John Key has been talking cheese. I’ve been wondering why all his talk of blocks of cheese has been […]