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Friday, September 8, 2023

JC: A National Win Should be There for the Taking


Except it isn’t, is it? Not according to the polls. The Roy Morgan poll had National at a measly, under the circumstances, 31. This is a decrease on the previous month while ACT, its coalition partner is up plus 4 to 18. This poll was the most accurate regarding the 2020 election result. National, like Mike Hosking, can choose not to believe it. I do believe it and alarm bells should be going off in the National camp, particularly at HQ.

This is National’s election to lose, for heaven’s sake. With the most useless opponents in history, it should be a walk in the park. Instead, it’s looking like a climb of Everest proportions. Why? What is going wrong? A lot. Their strategy to start with. They are losing their support base because they are out of touch. Not in the way the union hierarchical thickos would have you believe, quite the opposite. They are out of touch with their base because it would appear that the policies those voters want, National are too scared to implement.

The result is National is going down and ACT is going up. National is failing to convince the right that they will do even half of what they say they will. That is not a view I hold but many justifiably do. The Labour Lite tag is still being hung around National’s neck. For evidence, one only needs to read the General Debate or Backchat on The BFD. The blame does not rest solely with Luxon but the wider party. I think, if they got their policies right, Luxon has every chance of being a good Prime Minister.

People are dying for National to take a harder line on issues like the Treaty, co-governance (what another version is supposed to mean), climate change and social issues like transgenderism on which they look particularly woke. These are issues on which ACT and NZ First are leaving voters in no doubt about where they stand. The smaller parties are gaining votes as a result. I heard Nicola Willis being interviewed on the subject of transgenders in women’s changing rooms, and she wouldn’t pass judgment one way or the other.

It appears this reluctance to take a stand through fear is because National are under the misapprehension there is still some great ‘middle ground’ out there that they need to win. There isn’t. It’s gone and I’ll tell you why. The current lot, particularly the thankfully departed, vindictive and lying Jacinda Ardern, has so polarised and divided this country that the vast majority have now taken up a left or right position.

What the polls are telling us, not surprisingly, is that the majority have opted for the right. They are there because they want strong leadership that will have the nonsense and incompetence of the last six years well and truly gone.

They don’t want a watered-down version of it, they want a wholesale departure from it.

They want a government game changer. One only has to compare the policies of National and ACT to see which party is more in line with that thinking. It is ACT. In some cases, NZ First is beating National to the punch.

Whether you like National or not there is a salient point to be taken into account. To have a strong right-of-centre government we need National to be strong. That responsibility is on National, not the voter. National have to convince the electorate they can give them what they want. In terms of the right of centre voters, they are failing them. If they spoke out as strongly on core issues of importance to the right as Chris Bishop did on the union attack ads, confidence might start to be restored.

Their announcement of the foreign buyers’ policy should have been left until after the opening of the books. There are already questions as regards the successful funding of the policy which is somewhat central to their overall finance plans. If the books are really bad, and there is every reason to believe they are (having had a university student debater in charge for six years), the foreign buyers issue could be regurgitated. I hope the rest of their fiscal policy is not released prior to September 12. They need to see the books first.

The point of this article is not to say National are going to lose the election. They aren’t. Fortunately for them, the morons on the other side have determined that. My intention has been to highlight the dissatisfaction with the reluctance of the party to demonstrate a harder line on issues important to right-wing voters. It’s not just the cost of living but social issues and issues of race that are dividing the country. They must be dealt with firmly.

Without a change of tack National will continue to give ACT the inside running and in doing so, create hurdles for themselves. On October 14 National needs to win, not by a nose, but by the length of the track. To achieve that, I’d recommend a change of course.

JC is a right-wing crusader. Reached an age that embodies the dictum only the good die young. This article was first published HERE

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The party that will win this year’s election is the party that rationally sits down, watches the documentary “We came here for Freedom” and grasps with their own eyes the monumental grassroots support those protesters had as they journeyed from all corners of New Zealand, to Wellington to protest the covid vaccine mandates.
Thousands upon thousands of ordinary people from all walks of life stood for hours, many in pouring rain, cheering the people who were representing them; who were actually doing what they themselves felt deeply about but were unable themselves to take a greater role in.
To many New Zealanders, those people are deserved heroes and those people, every one of them, know exactly who supported them, openly and bravely, and who did not. Any politician who appeals to tecnicalities around their positive role in supporting this group for the purposes of electioneering is playing with fire.
These people may have been silenced ( for now) but they are not stupid.
The convoy footage, at the documentary’s beginning, is iconic. It is some of the most uplifting and inspiring footage we have seen in many decades, of New Zealanders coming together in huge numbers to fight for what is right.
It is up there with, and as important as, the anti- apartheid protests of 1981.
The beauty of it, for any curious and sensible politician wanting to truly understand the mood of this country, is that you only have to watch the beginning sequences to know all you need to know about what is important to huge numbers of voters.
I dare you…

Richard C said...

Well done JC, you self declared right wing. Pity we can't MSM to see it the same way. According to MSM, ACT are the "far" right, which most thinking people would realise they're not. Sadly National have an inexperienced believer and Nicola "get in behind, Maureen Pugh" running the Blue ship, and they are not the crew to turn even a little right. RC

Anonymous said...

no this is rubbish National take votes of the Left leaving space for ACT in aggregate they get a stronger coalition.
Its about the next election in 3 years and lets face it National is woke so every vote for ACT is a vote for a less woke coalition.
Its called democracy.
And Winston is in the mix, you work that out!

Ken S said...

3 reasons why I am voting Act.
1. The pledge card made no reference to co-governance or
5 Waters.
2. I believe that Luxon, Willis and Stanford are just as
woke as anyone stinking out the joint on the Labour seats.
3. ACT have promised that they will recall Mallard from Ireland.

DeeM said...

Luxon could make a good PM?
I seriously doubt that. He is weak, indecisive and WOKE.
He is ambiguous about co-governance, is fanatically pro-mRNA vaccination, and fully on board with the climate change scam.
Sorry, that's way too much for me.

Custer was better at making a stand than Luxon. At least he went down fighting. Luxon puts his hands up and starts apologising as soon as the media get rough.
Neither he, nor Willis are up to the job.