If I were National’s campaign strategist
National will not win by running on its rightwing principles and policy. For 20 years, New Zealanders have consistently said they do not […]
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election 2008
What would National do?: Emigration
Simon Power has hit on the fact that Stats New Zealand produces migration figures every month, and that means every month he gets […]
National makes work rights the defining issue
National’s strategy, the strategy of a weak party, is to present a ‘small target’ by promising to change virtually nothing if they were […]
Note to John: get a new lawyer
John Key: ‘ my lawyer actually does those things clearly [he] had the wrong information.’ That’s how Slippery John explained why legal documents […]
Ralston sez: leave poor Johnny alone
In the Herald today, Bill Ralston sticks up for poor John Key who has been the subject of personal political attacks recently. Like […]
Business to Key: ‘You’re ruining everything’
Business is starting to get worried. This was meant to, finally, be the year that they got the Left out of government and […]
Cost of benefit system plummeting
Continuing our benefits theme, here’s a look at how much the benefit system costs you. The figures are the combined expenditure by the […]
If I were the Maori Party’s campaign strategist
The Maori Party is in an enviable position going into this year’s election. It is likely Kingmaker, and the more seats it gets […]
Peters doesn’t trust National
Yesterday, Winston Peters said that in any deal with National he would require all National MPs to personally sign the agreement and that […]
Police confirm Brash email leak an inside job
Police have closed their investigation into the theft of e-mails from former National Party leader Dr Don Brash and have announced that they […]
Nothing personal, John
John Key’s latest line is to whine that Labour and others (including this blog) are launching personal attacks on him, and would we […]
Key’s record on Te WÄnanga o Aotearoa
The Herald is really doing its best to help out National. Today it proclaims ‘Key’s wananga visit undoes Brash legacy‘. That nice Mr […]
NZ Growing Faster Than Aussie, US, Japan, and UK
The Reserve Bank produces a series of helpful tables of economic data. One table compares our growth to that of Australia, the US, […]
Fair and balanced
The Herald could barely contain its self-satisfaction when National’s David Farrar complained to the Electoral Commission that the country’s largest private sector union, […]
Davey gets it wrong again
David Farrar’s latest political campaign on behalf of the National Party has, like so many of them before, foundered on the sharp rocks […]
If I were Labour’s campaign strategist
Part three of the ‘If I were [Party X]’s campaign strategist’ series brings us to Labour. The strategy for a major party is […]
April 1 changes boost wages and cut taxes
Today is a big day for government policy affecting Kiwis’ incomes: The minimum wage is now $12 an hour, up from $7 when […]
The parties’ climate change policies
‘Tis the season for surveys of the parties. Greenpeace sent a questionnaire to each of the parliamentary parties asking for their polices on […]
Interview the leaders II: The Greens
Well, we’ve made our decision on the two questions you wanted asked of Jim Anderton and one of the decisions we made was […]
The Kingmaker Debate
TV7’s Kingmaker debate was an opportunity for the leaders of the smaller parties to promote themselves without being overshadowed by Clark and Key. […]
Herald Digipoll
The New Zealand Herald reports that Labour has almost halved National’s lead in its latest DigiPoll survey, following a month “memorable for slip-ups and […]
Interview the leaders
We’re going to interview the leader of each party but we’d like to give you the chance to ask the questions. Starting next […]
National’s tax cut dilemma
If National are so keen to cut taxes and so critical of the Government for not doing so earlier, why are they being […]
If I were the Greens’ campaign strategist
This should be the Greens’ time in the sun. For decades, the Green movement has been concerned about the future impacts of climate […]
The 50 cent tax cut
This morning on Breakfast, John Key repeated his line that capping the size of the core public service (that includes planning staff for health, […]
Creative pitch
With John Ansell now flat out with ACT and the Free Speech Coalition it suddenly stuck me that there might be an opening […]
Kiwisaver breaks half a million
Congratulations to Kiwisaver’s 500,000th member, baby Remy Van Cruysen, whose parents, Jules and Megan, signed him up today. By the time Remy is an […]
Policy Summary: Labour v National
The Sunday-Star Times has an interesting list of the policies the election will be fought on and where the two major parties stand on them. Here’s […]
It’s your fault I keep saying contradictory things
Regular readers will remember that one of John Key’s excuses for he ‘we would love to see wages drop‘ quote was that the […]
Obama faces challenging times
Some commentators have been drawing parallels between John Key and Barack Obama’s style of appeal. That was all very well when it appeared […]
John’s quick act sets up another flip
Two days ago we ran a piece called ‘If I were ACT’s campaign strategist‘ which suggested ‘ACT needs to lay claim to the […]
Obama vs Key
With Barack Obama doing so well in the Democrat primaries and being seen as the candidate of change, National wants to paint John […]
Nats talk up crime, policy absent
As part of its ‘New Zealand sucks’ campaign, National is on its high horse over an international survey that shows New Zealand’s crime […]
If I were ACT’s campaign strategist
What strategy should the parties pursue ahead of the election? This series of posts will attempt to answer that question, party by party, starting with […]
Colmar Brunton
TVNZ had another Colmar Brunton poll last night. The gap between National and Labour remains substantial, but has closed by four points since […]
John Ansell’s reverse Midas touch
Oh dear. It started with Roger Douglas and now political ad-man John Ansell has got on board the ACT train to electoral oblivion […]