The Political Debate: Or Vote For Me Because..........

The Debate:

I missed half of the great debate last night between Cunnliffe and Keys but what I heard was not well controlled by Hoskings. I confess at the outset that I do have a biass towards Cunnliffe and Labour, and I did think that his telling remark to finish off the debate was that National is the past and Labour is the future. After 6 years of borrowing Keys promises a small surplus and repayment of debt. Labour had 9 years of surpluses. They repayed debt only to see National's borrowing for a "rockstar economy." Their rowing advert shows the rowers with their backs to the future and their faces to the past. But that's just my opinion.

Maori Debate:

I liked the Taihauaru debate of the candidates and yes, McKenzie fared better in that one for the Maori Party. However I suspect that Tariana Turia's legacy still reverberates. McKenzie will reap the benefit of that. It's similar to that of Rino Tirikatene the sitting MP  for Te Tai Tonga who is part of the Tirikatene legacy going back to Sir Eruera Tirikatene and his daughter Whetu. Rino will win again. I felt aroha for Georgina Beyer who I thought was a good Labour MP but she stood out in the debate compared to the rest. She had to explain why she was forced by party discipline to vote for the FS&SB Bill. Had all the Maori MPs representing Maori seats voted against that legislation the outcome would have been different.

The Polls:

I have given up on these  and the only one that will count will be election day. I can't assess their accuracy. Surely pollsters samples are based on access to subjects (why am I not rung up by them and not by somebody who wants to sell me something?) which cohort of the population, where they live, etc etc.  The biggest factor in the election is the turnout on the day. A 90% plus turn out will see a Labour led government. We used to have those in the past. A low turn out will see the forces of the right supported by Cameron Slater the winners. However, e hoa ma, HAERE KI TE POOTI.

Oops:

Judith Collins is gone by lunch time! My lunch time that is. I had that at 1.30pm. I don't know what the reason was but looks like it was one email too many. She didn't help matters with her arrogant smarts and simply bad, bad, attitude. To make matters worse she and some followers were planning to replace Key with her. For goodness sake, even National doesn't deserve that. Anyway good riddance and so far it's the best policy National has announce in this election campaign so far.