Key’s performnace as PM has been an abject failure. He promised to change course from the previous nine years. He did not. He and his party reneged on election promises. On that basis, he deserves to be rolled out (which will not happen) or to lose the election.

He promised change and delivered none. Key has been a big disappointment.

Shearer is a buffoon, so what choice do we have come election year? Tweedle dum blue or Tweedle dee red?

How very glum.

Referenda are expensive to mount. That fact seems lost on its proponents, who usually seem to have never served in public office and seem willing to spend other people’s taxes to suit their pet prejudices.

And no, I don’t particularly like the Labour/Green asset sales referendum idea, either. IMHO, the centre-left should be spending far more time elaborating its Capital Gains Tax proposals as a meaningful alternative to asset sales.

The difficulty it seems to me is that National’s political instincts appear to be to go left at each and every opportunity. On issues like gay marriage, treaty settlements and Palestinian sovereignty, they are just as left-wing as the Labour Party.

They have not touched anything of the Labour governments legislative program of the previous 9 years. Here is some right wing things they could do, that would be good for this country.

Bring in youth rates to get our young people into work at an affordable cost for employers.

Do something about our debt situation by cutting back on unnecessary welfare programs – the middle class social welfare program known as working for families comes to mind.

Restore the authority of parents by repealing the anti-smacking legislation.

Give some much needed attention to national defence. Having an air force would be a good idea. At the moment the only person with combat aircraft I understand is Peter Jackson.

Drop all of the incredibly controversial social legislation that is being introduced by the Labour Party. Get it all out of Parliament.

And maybe do what they said they were going to do – settle all treaty of Waitangi claims by 2014. Full and final, shut the book. We are done. Give the tax payer some relief.

Less government and then we could lower taxes. The individual could keep more of what he or she earns – a radical concept I know, but a good one.

Never seen that before …

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Helen_Clark_2.jpg

Shit job in government if you ask me – Re-invent the failed policies of 1984 – 1999 and hope New Zealanders don’t notice because John Key smiles a lot.

And the polls mean nothing in that regard, people think differently responding to a poll (spur of the moment choice of party) compared to considering electoral options.

And the two polls have slight differences, I’ve compared and pondered them – Pondering the polls.

Smile-and-wave Key needs to get his act together. Less aloofness and more decisive measures are required on his part. Firing incompetent ministers (e.g., Wilkinson, Parata) would also help.

Or it could mean that he did a good speech at the conference and actually announced some policy for the first time since he became opposition leader.

I know Wellingtonians and pundits seem to think that things like leadership battles and caucus votes are really important to the average voter – but most people really don’t care.

If you cut out the noise from minor parties and just look at the left and right blocks then it seems that there has been a shift of perhaps 1-2 percent towards Labour.

Given that Shearer announced a 2 billion plan to invest in affordable housing and that a substantial chunk of middle ground voters care about housing affordability it’s not a particularly surprising result.