Transtasman Campaign Winners and Losers
November 6th, 2008 at 2:20 pm by David FarrarTranstasman rates the campaigns:
Campaign Winners And Losers
Winston Peters: Harder to kill than Rasputin, but his number looks up. Often truculently silly (eg the helicopter business). So no win, or No, Win.
The Maori Party: Looks like hanging onto its four seats but may not add any more. They’ve done OK, but not as well as they were expected to.
The Greens: The billboard campaign “vote for us” was outstanding. They will pick up a lot of disaffected Labour voters. Light bulbs, water pressurre and how to bring up your kids also featured. A couple of extra MPs at least look likely.
Peter Dunne? A good Minister of Revenue: his strength and his weakness. Such types seldom build lasting political forces. Will be able to hold Caucus meetings in front of his mirror as he does his spectacular hair.
ACT? Toned down the flakiness we’ve seen over recent years, but still ran an erratic campaign. May peel some votes off the right of National on the back of law and order issues. Three seats, max.
Labour/Helen Clark: Can’t see a belt without hitting below it. Too much rhetoric about what happened 15, 20, 25 years ago. A nasty, negative campaign unworthy of the party’s better side.
National/John Key: Did two winning things: after a shaky start he shed the smart-alecky 6th former demeanour he often adopts, and he refused to get into the gutter with Clark. Best line: Rich is when you can payyour credit cards and your power bill.
A nasty, negative campaign indeed.
Related posts:
- Election Winners and Losers
- McCarten’s winners and losers
- Winners and Losers
- Coalition Winners and Losers
November 6th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Good for our side that the Maoris don’t look like getting seven electorates as the overhang would have moved the half way point maybe just out of reach.
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
WTF?
http://sunnyo.blogspot.com/2008/11/campaign-slogan-that-wasnt.html
http://www.lifestyleblock.co.nz/vforum/showpost.php?p=206437&postcount=83
http://www.publicaddress.net/system/topic,1484,hard_news_gods_squads.sm?p=77702#post77702
Coincidence no doubt.
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
We could always experiment with what kills Winston… in the interests of science of course.
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Starve him of publicity.
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Helicopter crash should work
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
IMO: Winston’s poor standing in the polls has more to do with John Key cutting him loose rather than the soap opera of Winnies dodgy dealings.
If Brash had done the same in ’05 I suspect he wouldn’t have crossed the line given he only got 5.7% (rounded).
Social conservatives tend not to be left-leaning – which is exactly where Winston has positioned himself. A rather unique place on the political spectrum.
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
That was a really good answer I must admit.
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Winston’s dead in the water and I think Labour have bowed to the inevitable as well. The Standard seems to be down…:-)
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Labour’s good side? Bullshit, Labour has no good side and never has (don’t give me that ‘betraying Labour’s original values crap, Labour has always been the party of high taxes and moral relativity, right back to the era of Mickey “Stalin’s BFF” Savage)
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Labour has a good side?
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Peters is a nationalist, an authoritarian and a narcissist. That makes him a dangerous pragmatist who adores big mirrors.
Good riddance.
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Murray- I thought it was salt for killing slugs?
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Probably busy destryong their backups, voicemail, incriminating emails etc. Also, if one listens carefully one can hear shredders working overtime in and around the 9th floor.
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
only 4 for the maori party, shame.
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
“A nasty, negative campaign indeed.”
True, the campaign’s been scrappier and more negative than I would have preferred, but if you think that’s nasty, you obviously haven’t been watching the US election very closely; Sarah Palin’s gutter-level, divisive, ugly hate-mongering in particular.
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
“Also, if one listens carefully one can hear shredders working overtime in and around the 9th floor.”
And the sound of sobs and cries of “It’s sooo, like, UNFAIR!!!! Don’t they realise that we do all this for their own good???”
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
The Standard is up and running.
They in beat up mode because Key called a Labour protester in Cathedral Square in Chch an idiot today.
MSM are beating it up too.
Yawn….
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
“Key called a Labour protester in Cathedral Square in Chch an idiot today”
News Flash – politician caught on tape telling the truth….
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
He seems slugish enough to qualify Rakaia.
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Talking of campaigning, my thanks to Inventory 2 for alerting me to the fact that Winston is campaigning alongside Ron Mark in Rimutaka today.
Indeed “Winston” (I wonder if Frank Perry wears a pinstripe suit as he sits there pretending to be his lord and master?) boasts of his visit on “his” blog.
So I popped over and left the following comment. Wonder if it will make it through moderation:
If anyone’s in Rimutaka and feels like going to a meeting and asking the question on my behalf, I have abottle of wine here with your name on it
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Word is “Fingers” Mark is a goner in Rimutaka. Winnie giving him help will be the last nail in his coffin. The beardless youth will save it for Aunties heirs.
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
A bottle of wine with Winnies name on it would be better specially cracked over his brillcreamed skull.
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Johnboy… I’m happy to replace the label with one featuring Winnie (pity I never kept the gutrot plonk they bought by the gallon, steamed off the labels, replaced with pics of Winston and sold at hugely inflated prices to the faithful). What you do with it upon receipt is entirely up to you…
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
I would like to have slight disagreement regarding Transtasmans predication
But I will hold back
I am wondering if DPF will have a predictions thread/competition tomorrow or Saturday?
[DPF: Not a bad idea. WIll run it Friday]
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
“Key called a Labour protester in Cathedral Square in Chch an idiot today”
and the problem is??
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
The problem is the didn’t follow it up with a punch in the face for good measure.
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
OneStone just got a little harder to kill: I see the Free Speech Coalition’s billboard on Thorndon Quay has been taken down already…
[DPF: Yes elections do that]
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Perhaps he should have just called the protestor feral and inbred?
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
double d: Not Obama-like enough, apparently. This seems to be the new Gold Standard by which all political responses must now be judged. I expect they’ll open an online store soon, selling “WWOD” bracelets. Frankly, politicians dealing with hecklers can be one of the best parts of a campaign.
“You’re an idiot” is a bit tame, though. He should memorise this response from George Carlin in future
[definitely NSFW].
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
OK – I thought you had up until the day before the poll to take such things down is all…
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Sorry Rex, I have to disagree – that would never make it onto the News. I do, however, remember a retort from Harold Wilson, during my first election as a voter. Harold was our local MP, and like big meetings, especially without the competition being there! My very first was memorable! Someone started doing the Heck Elle, protesting some policy or other was anti-workers or something. Mr Wilson stopped mid sentence, turned toward the appropriate side of the hall, and said – very quietly – “Brother, if your mother had kept her legs together the national IQ would be higher and the workers movement would be a lot further forward”. God I miss that type of meeting.
Just for clarity – no, I didn’t vote for him.
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
LOL… that’s a good line, dave strings. Churchill, Wilson… they don’t make them like that any more. I wish Frasier Crane would leave radio and enter politics; his dry put-downs would sound so much better in a political environment.
One I remember went something like “You know, there’s a university which has a microscope so incredibly powerful that if you look through it and fire short blasts of electricity at an object, you can actually observe an image of the atom. If I were using that microscope right now, I still wouldn’t be able to locate my interest in your comments.”
Mind you, some heckles are bloody brilliant. When the obnoxious Bono was prattling on in one of his holier-than-thou rants, he said “Every time I clap my hands, a child in Africa dies”. And some bloke shouted, “Well stop bloody clapping then.”
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Rex: “If anyone’s in Rimutaka and feels like going to a meeting and asking the question on my behalf, I have abottle of wine here with your name on it.”
I’ve already done it, Rex. I asked him whether it was approporoate to accuse others of being paedophiles, when he himself has a conviction for carnal knowledge. I followed up with one about his concerns for the welfare of local families during the looming recession: I wondered whether his concern for families was a bit hollow, given that he had walked out on his own family to set up house in the Wairarapa with a Parliamentary staffer.
Are those questions good enough?
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Well don’t keep us in suspense any longer Duxton. What were his answers?
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
In each case, just a snort and a sneer – just like he used to give whenever he was sitting behind Peters in Parliament.
Each time the Labour hacks who always m,anaged to grab the front seats starting hooting abuse in support of him.
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Duxton: My hat’s off to you, and that’s putting it mildly. Well done. Was this with Winston present? At a joint candidates’ meeting?
Labour hacks are stacking NZF meetings now? God that’s sad. I can remember when I could pull 150 people to a hall on a cold Waikato night just to hear me… when I brought Winston to town it was standing room only. Now they need Labour’s rent-a-crowd.
And how, I wonder, does the Labour candidate for Rimutaka feel? Hasn’t the boss lady told the boot boys and gals to drop the stinking carcass of NZF and start pushing for votes for their own candidate.
I’m happy to send you a nice bottle of Aussie Shiraz for your efforts, if you want to email me at RexWiderstrom [at] hotmail.com with a delivery address.
When last I spoke to them my stepdaughter and ex-partner were off to try and track down the weasel and the poodle in the Rimutaka electorate and ask the same questions at a public meeting. They’re both formidable Maori women so (no disrespect to you though, Duxton) they might be able to elicit more of a response.
Figuring the media would know where the meeting was (Winston would always rate the success of a meeting on the number of journos present) I contacted a few media colleagues for the venue. None knew, and one commented that Peters and Mark seemed to be actively avoiding telling the media where they were going to be.
Pathetic.
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
Bravo Duxton, bravo!
I see Labour were still running their ‘Mother tells us John Key is a dogy, untrustworthy currency trader’ ad on TV3… soon after the very presidential segment where he came across natural, warm, in-control and approachable. Keep it up Labour. You campaign is working. For us.
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Dream on. ACT are going to do far better than that. What kind of knob dream up/projected that number?
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Hey Rex: On my way to work this morning the Liarsparty renta scum were at the top of the Wainui Hill with their pathetic placards. Needless to say I gave them a salute. If they are there tomorrow would you like me to give them one for you too?
Vote:Cheers Mate
November 6th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Rex
Thanks mate. Aussie Shiraz is one of my two favourite wines (the other is a good Kiwi Pinot Noir).
It was at a ‘meet the candidates’ meeting. And no, Winston wasn’t there. Pteres recently spent an hour or so in the Upper Hutt Cossie Club, where he stood out amongst the other alcoholics as the only one wearing a tie. Ron Mark has also put in a couple of appearances there. Mark is playing on his Army past (the electorate includes trentham Camp and a large number of NZDF personnel), without realising that most us think he is a dick.
Delivery address to follow……
Vote:November 6th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Johnboy… Yes please. One involving a pair of buttocks if that’s not too much to ask
Duxton: Ahh the little sergeant (who pretends he’s a major) is strutting round Trentham hmmm? Pity Winston saw fit to let Laws give an insulting list place to Ross Gluer, who really was an officer (a Captain) and, amongst other things, was awarded a US Army Commendation Medal by Ronald Reagan in 1984.
Gluer actually put Mark up for consideration as a candidate (they were both from Canterbury, and I guess there was the military connection. I was sent to evaluate him and recommened against it BTW) but whereas Gluer was amongst those of us who stood against Laws and Peters’ intention to betray the party’s principles, Mark quickly made it plain he’d go along with anything he was asked to do including feeding information about Gluer’s “disloyalty” to Laws and Peters.
His loyalty didn’t go unrewarded, as evidenced by Mark (unknown outside Christchurch) ranking 11 and Gluer (a nationally known spokesperson) ranking 25.
Mark isn’t fit to shine the boots of a real soldier like Gluer – a name that might be worth dropping if you ever run into the weasel again.
Vote: